Available for streaming on both Netflix and Disney+ (via Collider), The Spectacular Spider-Man is a terrific 21st-Century edition of Peter Parker’s adventures, especially as they pertain to his web-slinging alter ego. The Marvel Comics series was developed for TV by Greg Weisman and Victor Cook, and is based principally on the Stan Lee’s Amazing Spider-Man era. It’s a lovely balance of action, drama, and comedy in the familiar high school setting, while drawing on inspiration from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics as well as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man film series.

As we await Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s release — an entirely separate animated project from the franchise — here’s a closer look at why The Spectacular Spider-Man would still work well if rebooted by Disney. Despite its critical acclaim, the series had been canceled. With all the other animated content in the works, would a Spectacular Spider-Man reboot attract a large enough following? We think so. Here’s a closer look at why.

History of The Spectacular Spider-Man

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Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spidey first appeared in the anthology comic book in 1962, and has since been featured in films, TV shows, novels, video games, and plays. For those not familiar, “Spider-Man” is the alias of Peter Parker, an orphan raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City after his parents died. In his origin story, Parker gets superhuman spider-powers and abilities from a bite from a radioactive spider; these include clinging to surfaces and ceilings, superhuman strength, and speed. He can also detect danger with his precognition ability called “spider-sense.” After the personal tragedy of his Uncle Ben, Peter began using his spider-powers to fight against crime.

The Spectacular Spider-Man premiered in 2008 on The CW Network. The series then aired its second season on Disney XD and ended its run in November 2009. Although five seasons were originally planned, the series was canceled before production could begin on the third due to legal problems between Disney and Sony Pictures Television.

Nevertheless, The Spectacular Spider-Man received widespread acclaim from both critics and fans, particularly for the faithful portrayal of Spidey based on the comics, the talented voice cast and clever writing. Added to that, the series also pays homage to classic stories from the O.G. comics. The series rightfully won a handful of awards and is ranked high on IGN’s list of Best Animated Series ever.

Why Disney Needs to Revive The Spectacular Spider-Man

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) kicked off a wonderful mini-franchise and proved that the web-slinging superhero doesn’t need to be live-action to win our hearts. The Oscar-winning animated film has a highly anticipated sequel in the works and opened up a whole “Multiverse” of possibilities in terms of potential characters down the line. Given that The Spectacular Spider-Man draws on inspiration from other versions of the web-slinging superhero, as previously mentioned, the series has a world of options on its own. Already, the existing episodes incorporated villians like Venom, Electro, Dr. Octopus, Sandman and Rhino.

“The over the top action sequences and the length of them (they were not short), the cleverness of them and the quality of the squash and stretch animation,” The Spectacular Spider-Man producer Victor Cook once told Comics Online in describing his proudest achievements with the series. “Being the first in animation to feature a teenage Peter Parker/Spider-Man, updating the classic Ditko-Lee / Romita-Lee eras and reimagining many of the characters with a diversity of ethnicities. Putting on screen for the first time many of Ditko’s symbolic graphic touches.”

Future of the Spider-Man Franchise

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Spider-Man’s fans are eagerly anticipating the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The film introduces a whole new cast of spider-variants in addition to returning cast members. The character list includes Miles Morales, as played by Shameik Moore; Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen, played by Hailee Steinfeld, Spider-Woman, played by Issa Rae; and Spider-Punk, played by Daniel Kaluuya.

Besides the animated Spider-Verse films in the works, a new live-action trilogy has already entered development at Sony and Marvel Studios. It’s a lucrative, money-making machine that works just as well via animation as live-action. Only time will tell if the celebrated Spectacular Spider-Man will return to the masses. Check back here for updates!