In prior reviews I’ve probably made it abundantly clear that
I am a marvel girl, one hundred and ten per cent. However there is one
superhero I loathe above all others and he happens to be a marvel creation,
none other than Spiderman. The core problem of this franchise is that it is a
singular protagonist show, unlike say x-men or the avengers. If (like me) you
don’t like the primary character, if (like me) you think the explanation for
his superpowers is a little far-fetched/completely stupid, then you probably
should avoid the entire product.
And then along came Spectacular Spiderman. The success of
this rendition was truly in its character department (ironically enough) and
keeping the action as low key as possible. The decision to focus almost
exclusively on the teenage life of Peter Parker and his relationship with his
peers was to the shows credit, compared with other teenage heroes – x-men
evolution, Teen Titans and Young Justice, in which the interaction as regular
teens can be limited and sometimes entirely absent. Spectacular Spiderman chose
the other rout and ultimately this made the character more likeable, it made
his school-chums more three dimensional, it made me rethink my position on
Spiderman.
Unfortunately Spectacular Spiderman was cancelled after a
mere 24 episodes and we were then gifted with this monstrosity, Ultimate Spider-man.
It’s like everything that ever was or ever could be bad about Spiderman has
been squeezed into 24 minutes. Peter Parker is an annoying, obnoxious douchebag
who blunders about the set, spamming the audience with the obvious and the
unfunny. I mean how are we supposed to invest in a character that’s its nearly
impossible to like? Take the episode Doomed for example. Spiderman = total
douchebag.
Whereas the characters in Spectacular Spiderman are what
made the show so special, the characters in Ultimate Spider-man are what make
it so flat and one-dimensional, regardless of how many marvel cameos we receive.
Also neato that we’re back to the one girl per two/three guy’s ratio, talk
about progress! Hey maybe we could even have Mary-Jane and White Tiger exchange
a single line with each other, wouldn’t try be edgy? And nice job stereotyping
Nick Fury as the angry black guy!
As for my understanding of the premise of Spiderman, isn’t
he supposed to be a lone hero, a self-taught vigilante shouldering the burden
of his uncle’s death? Sure the idea of Shield offering Spidey a job/training is
interesting, but so far it only uses this premise to point out what a lame
pussy Spiderman is. Fuck it, I’m only watching this for Agent Coulson and the
eventual Loki & Quicksilver cameos.
Initial Rating: 5/10
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