History WesternAnimation / SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries

** In the comics, the Black Marvel and the Thunderer had no powers, although the latter did have a glorified flashbang setup he used to tilt the odds in his favor. In the series, they possess ComicBook/CaptainAmerica-like super-physiques and [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic blast abilities]] respectively.

*** The Thunderer was an American patriot who used a costume with a [[MakeMeWannaShout voice-amplifying techno-collar]] and a blinding light-generating "lightning gun" to stun and disorientate his foes.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Felicia's voice [[PowerMakesYourVoiceDeep deepens when she becomes the Black Cat]].

** Season 5: The Red Skull for the ''Six Forgotten Warriors'' arc; Doctor Doom during the ''Secret Wars'' three-parter; and Spider-Carnage in the ''Spider Wars'' finale.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: In the episode of "The Haunting of Mary Jane Watson", Miranda Wilson, a disfigured former actress, plans to kidnap Mary Jane and use a device to transfer her mind into Mary Jane's young and beautiful body with help of Mysterio. [[spoiler:Despite Spider-Man's best efforts, she succeeds... but then the device does nothing. Mysterio tells her that what she wanted was scientifically impossible.]]

* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: The new field of "Neogenics" is responsible for creating several vilains, such as the Lizard, Scorpion and Morbius, though it is also responsible for Peter becoming Spider-man as well.

* CasualDangerDialog: Spider-Man, of course.

* TransformationDiscretionShot: In the episode "Enter The Punisher", Spider-Man's growing spider mutation kicks in at a bad time while he's trying to get away from the Punisher. Eventually he ends up in a warehouse and the transformation begins to ensue to which we see his hands ripping through his costume as they turn to claws. We only see him from his back afterwards as he grows bigger, his arms change colors and he rips through his face mask. By the time Punisher has found Spider-Man, he finds himself face to face with a feral bipedal arachnid.

** He calls Jameson a bad friend to Norman for reporting Norman's creation of chemical weapons, but that doesn't make Jameson a hypocrite or a bad friend, just a journalist who does his job. Now if the Goblin had called out Jameson for creating the Scorpion, he'd have been right on the money. However, neither the Goblin nor Norman is aware of the Scorpion's origins.
** The Goblin accuses Anastasia of funding Dr. Octopus, but Octavius became Dr. Octopus after Anastasia stopped funding his work. In Season 4, it is revealed that Anastasia was married to the Cat, a known thief and it is implied much of the Hardy fortune is from things he stole. Had the Goblin known about this, it would have made for a much more reasonable charge to levy at Anastasia rather than falsely blaming her for creating a supervillain.

Being made in the 1990s, and not being ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the Saturday-morning cartoon came under heavy censorship -- heavier, in fact, than even [[WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries other Marvel cartoons of the time]]. Spider-Man almost never threw a punch, and most of the action sequences was either DeadlyDodging or swinging kicks. NeverSayDie was in full force and there was even a joke among the staff that they couldn't even disturb any pigeons on the rooftops for fear one might have been hurt. The corner-cutting animation also often left a lot to be desired, featuring static movement, constantly recycled sequences, bewilderingly fast conversations and scenes, and all manner of video goofs.

* BalefulPolymorph: Due to his mutations Spider-man grows an four extra arms and eventually becomes Man-Spider, a hulking monster with immense strength but lacks Peter's mind to control it. It's not easy for Pete in any way.

* StoryArc: Several. Multi-episodes storylines were appropriately titled.

* In the final story arc, Spider-Carnage wants to kill himself, [[OmnicidalManiac the planet]], and the entire ''multiverse'' because he [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds cannot cope with his own pain]]. He ultimately just [[DrivenToSuicide kills himself]], sparing the multiverse. It helps that he's ''completely'' insane.

* ShipTease: ComicBook/{{Rogue}} flirts with Spider-Man in the ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' crossover.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: The Green Goblin calls Jameson and Anastatia hypocrites. He is right about them being hypocrites but wrong about what their specific hypocrisy is:
** He calls Jameson a bad friend to Norman for reporting Norman's creation of chemical weapons but that doesn't make Jameson a hypocrite or a bad friend, just a journalist who does his job. Now if the Goblin had called out Jameson for creating the Scorpion, he'd have been right on the money. However, neither the Goblin nor Norman is aware of the Scorpion's origins.
** The Goblin accuses Anastasia of funding Dr. Octopus but Octavius became Dr. Octopus after Anastasia stopped funding his work. In season four, it is revealed that Anastasia was married to the Cat, a known thief and it is implied much of the Hardy fortune is from things he stole. Had the Goblin known about this, it would have made for a much more reasonable charge to levy at Anastasia rather than falsely blaming her for creating a supervillain.

** In the comics, Dr. Jonathon Ohwn, the Spot, was a willing associate of the Kingpin's who attempted to defeat Spider-Man to earn his boss's respect, whereas in the cartoon, he is tricked into assisting him and initially tries to leave Fisk's employee before being forced to battle Spider-Man to save the woman he loves. He ultimately makes a HeroicSacrifice to prevent the planet from being swallowed by a pseudo-black hole.

* AbortedArc: The last season introduced elements that indicated they were going to develop ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' with a cloning scientist getting a sample of Spider-Man's blood. The plot of the GrandFinale even included took this story in TheMultiverse as another incarnation of Spider-Man (fused with the Carnage symbiont) having an identity crisis from his universe's Clone Saga and trying to go OmnicidalManiac.

The series' legacy lives on. Not only is it one of many '90s cartoons responsible for introducing a new generation of fans into the world of comic books, but several of its plot elements were later integrated into [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy the blockbuster films]] that followed it. And despite getting ScrewedByTheNetwork, [[LongRunner at 65 episodes, this was for the longest time the single longest lasting Spider-Man cartoon]] until ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' and the second-longest Marvel AnimatedAdaptation after ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries''. Even after being cancelled, it continues to have reruns going to this day in the U.S. and in various other parts of the globe. (Of course, the reruns are even ''more'' censored.) It also inspired the visual style of ''Ride/TheAmazingAdventuresOfSpiderMan'' ride at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's Islands of Adventure]] theme park, even after its 2012 refurbishment.

It is also noteworthy for being the first adaption of Spider-Man to feature the premise of the character teaming up with alternate versions of himself in the ''Spider Wars'' arc. This idea would later be used in ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMen'', before being [[UpToEleven taken to it's logical conclusion]] in ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderGeddon''. ''Spider-Verse'' would be loosely adapted as ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' while ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' would show three versions of the character from [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy seperate]] [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries film]] [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse series]].

** The season 1 finale titled ''Day of the Chameleon'' shows ComicBook/NickFury’s obituary printed in the Daily Bugle. [[FreezeFrameBonus On pausing the video at the right moment]], viewers can read that Fury “died in a '''[[UpToEleven violent crash]]'''” and that his “body was completely burned and identified with dental records”.

** Spider-Man himself. [[NarmCharm Not that there's]] [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools anything wrong with that]]. It goes UpToEleven when Spidey gets the Symbiote costume, [[DarkerAndEdgier making him more aggressive.]]

* [[IWillProtectHer I Will Protect Him]]: Norman Obsorn's Green Goblin SplitPersonality is quite like this, obsessed of protecting him from harm by attacking anyone who dares to oppose him like Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, and Kingpin.

* BigNo: Blade lets out a particularly, unintentionally hilarious one of these in the season four episode, "The Vampire Queen". And Spider-Man has a ''far'' more effective one when [[spoiler: the Mary Jane clone dies.]]

** Jonah Jameson hates Spider-Man and verbally abuses his staff in every episode he appears in, but he loves his son, goes out of his way to prove Robbie innocent of a frame-up and (secretly) pays Peter's legal bills. [[spoiler: And, after Peter and Mary Jane get married, his gift is a Daily Bugle van for them to take a honeymoon in.]] It's occasionally implied that he sees Peter as a [[{{Irony}} surrogate son]].

** [[spoiler: Miranda actually commits suicide, as does Mysterio by choosing to stay with her.]] We also get a ContinuityNod to something you'd think they'd want swept under the rug, as [[spoiler: Mysterio]] being "no longer with us" is why the [[spoiler: Insidious Six]] is in need of one more member.

* SequelHook: Along with LeftHanging, Madame Webb was going to lead Spider-Man to Mary Jane and it's implied that is what they do. More ambiguous is the end of "The Return of Hydro-Man" where [[spoiler: the doctor responsible for cloning Hydro-Man got a sample of Spider-Man's DNA, supposing they would pick up with the Clone Saga had the series continued.]]

However, even while hampered by the vehemently severe censorship and shoddy animation, even while given strict instructions to keep the cartoon as simplistic as possible, story editor John Semper and his writing team managed to "sneak in" everything that made ''Spider-Man'' the series it is, that being compelling character development and story arcs. It condensed the major Spider-Man stories from the comics in a very efficient manner, so much that this version of those stories became engrained over the originals. There was a great number of recurring characters from all over the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, each of whom have a particular [[ADayInTheLimelight spotlight episode]] or even story arc the series followed, all the time keeping a strong focus on Spider-Man and his interactions with all of them. This hit the spectrum from obscure minor characters to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/NickFury and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}, plus concurrent Marvel animated shows at the time like ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries X-Men]]''.

It is also noteworthy for being the first adaption of Spider-Man to feature the premise of the character teaming up with alternate versions of himself in the ''Spider Wars'' arc. This idea would later be used in ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMen'', before being [[UpToEleven taken to it's logical conclusion]] in ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderGeddon''. ''Spider-Verse'' would be loosely adapted as ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' while ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' would show three versions of the character from [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy seperate]] [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan film]] [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse series]].