It's been awhile since I've done a Rant & Recommendation, and since the topic of Spider-Man pops up around here as often as Facebook updates, why don't we take a look at two cartoons starring the Web-Slinger and see which one sticks. Yeah, I've made that joke too many times.
Ultimate Spider-Man is a television show loosely-and I mean very loosely-based off a comic of the same name. This show premiered April 1st in 2012, the April Fools premier date should be a clear indicator of what this show turned out to be. The show starts off with Peter Parker/Spider-Man joining The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (Shield, for you word-smiths). Under the tutorship of Director Nick Fury, Spider-Man is assigned to a team of young heroes and mentored into becoming the best hero he could be. With characters like Iron Man, Thor and Captain America seen as idols by aspiring heroes like Spidey, I can see the angle this show is trying to pull, sadly the only thing it can pull is the attention of a stump because Ultimate Spider-Man severely suffers from many missteps. On the good side the show has a decent cast with Nickelodeon veteran Drake Bell voicing Spider-Man, which as a "Drake & Josh" fan throws me for a loop every time Spidey makes a quip. Something else that'll grab your eye is the animation as it balances bold coloration and fluid movement flawlessly. But with the good stuff out of the way, it's about time I get to what I don't like. With any Spider-Man adaption there needs to be a balance of three things: Comedy, Responsibility and Action. Ultimate Spider-Man lacks the focus on Peter Parker's life and sacrifices it for the occasional teen-sitcom situation. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind watching Spider-Man fight Sandman while also attending his prom, but that's not enough and not something you occasionally dip into when you need a side-story. Responsibility is something Ultimate Spider-Man occasionally brings up with one-and-done episodes being focused on family, relationships and school. Ultimate Spider-Man shows potential for action with it's smooth and expressive animation, but often that exciting choreography is interrupted the "comedy". It's not right to say Ultimate Spider-Man shines with comedy, it glimmers. The brand of comedy the show presents are cut-away gags and breaking of the 4th wall. This kind of comedy is more suited for Deadpool than Spider-Man, which makes it redundant when Deadpool shows up on this cartoon. That's another thing, so many Marvel characters show up on this show! The Avengers, Wolverine, Blade, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Howard the Duck for crying out loud! Having such a connected cartoon universe may seem appealing, but all it does is make me wish the Cinematic Universe could be this connected, and with the sloppy comedic tone of this show it only makes these crossovers seem undeserved. Yes, Spider-Man is a character who excels in character interactions, but this version of the character is far too disjointed from his source. Spider-Man isn't clever in this show, he's immature and selfish, never progressing as a character and never worthy of what he's given.
This show had a lot of potential for what is showed, but since it's premier it seems more like Marvel and Disney are just trying to say, "Look, we did it! We got these characters on TV for the first time, we put Spider-Man in the Avengers". It comes off as desperate, in reality all this show does is sell toys and entertain kids who are too young to watch Family Guy, it's a product before it's a story. But fear not Spidey fans, because the Recommendation I have should make up for this scarlet stain.
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