"The Spectacular Spider-Man" is more than just a great Spidey animated series. It's also setting records and breaking records by including things not seen before on any other Spider-Man animated series. Here's what they've done so far and what records they've done on this show:
- First animated appearance of the Tinkerer. This is, to date, the only animated series to ever use Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer, who made his appearance waaaaaaay back in "The Amazing Spider-Man", vol. 1, #2 back in 1963!
- First animated appearance of Captain George Stacy. Okay, so they used him before on the 1960s "Spider-Man" cartoon, but this is the first time they've done it correctly. On the 1960s series, he was the uncle of Mary Jane and his appearance kept changing due to recycled animation from another cartoon series at the time.
- First animated appearance of Kenny McFarlane, a.k.a. "Kong" or "King Kong". In this series, he's called Kenny Kong. While he's not a part of the "classic" Marvel Universe, Kenny's an active supporting member of Peter Parker's high school classmates in Brian Michael Bendis' popular Ultimate Spider-Man comic book series. While this series, to me, is more in the tone of the classic 1960s Stan Lee and Steve Ditko/John Romita Jr. era of the comics, it's nice to see modern characters added into the mix too.
- First animated appearance of Mark Raxton/Molten Man. At least, he will make his first appearance on "The Spectacular Spider-Man" in the last arc of season two. Surprisingly, neither Mark Raxton or his alter-ego Molten Man have ever appeared, or even been mention, on any Spider-Man cartoon series prior to this series.
- First time Sandman makes multiple appearances on a Spider-Man animated series. This one's a nice surprise for me, but to be honest, I'm even more surprised it took all these years for Sandman to pop up in more than one episode on a Spider-Man cartoon series! No other Spider-Man cartoon show has ever had Sandman appear in more than one episode...until now. And since Sandman was noticeably absent in Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" series (he, along with Electro, was supposed to be a villain in Jim Cameron's script for "Spider-Man" written in the mid-1990s and Sandman wasn't allowed to be used on the show, but Electro later was in season five), it's nice to see that this show has been able to include Sandman at all.
- This is also the first time that Sha Shan ever appears on any Spider-Man animated series. In the comic books, she is the leader of a band of assassins, she saves Flash from an execution and even dates him for a while. It has been confirmed she will appear in the second season of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and might have a crush on Flash like her comic book counterpart.
More Notes will be listed soon. Promise.
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RECORDS - VILLAINS
Every good villain pops up again and again, but sometimes, even the most classic Spider-Man villain gets overused or underused as an animated series progresses. Here's what's happened so far with the villains of "The Spectacular Spider-Man".
[Please note: The Number of appearances section includes episodes where they had either not become a villain yet or were seen not in costume]
[Please note: The Number of appearances section includes episodes where they had either not become a villain yet or were seen not in costume]
CHAMELEON
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 1
[in "Persona" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 12 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: It's unlikely that "Spectacular" will break this record, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Chameleon popped up so many times on the Fox Kids "Spider-Man" show, you kind of wanted to have him go away after seeing him for the umpteenth time.
VULTURE
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 2
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 9 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Robert Englund's take on the Vulture is easily the best yet, and oddly enough, the Vulture on this series looks a lot like Mr. Englund! Sure, Vulture may have popped up eight times on the Fox Kids "Spider-Man" show (and his cameo in the second Tablet of Time episode makes his ninth appearance), but I'm sure the "Spectacular" crew will at least tie that record before the series ends.
DOCTOR OCTOPUS
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 6
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS OTTO OCTAVIUS: 4
[in "Survival of the Fittest", "Competition", "The Invisible Hand" and "Catalysts" in season one]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS DOCTOR OCTOPUS: 2
[in "Reaction" and "Group Therapy" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST NUMBER OF APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED SERIES: 15 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Doc Ock may have had 15 appearances in all, but Efrem Zimbalist Jr. only did the voice of Ock for 12 episodes. You see, Doc Ock didn't speak in the episode "The Secrets of the Six" or in parts 1 and 3 of the "Secret Wars" storyarc. Peter MacNicol has already provided the voice for Doc Ock for six episodes in season one, and will provide the voice of Ock for more episodes in season two. So really, it looks like Mr. MacNicol will be the one to set the new record for most appearances of Doctor Octopus. And since Doc Ock has always been my favorite Spider-Man villain, that's sure fine by me.
SANDMAN
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 4
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS FLINT MARKO: 2
[in "Survival of the Fittest", "Market Forces" in season one]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS SANDMAN: 2
[in "Competition" and "Group Therapy" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 1 [on the 1960s "Spider-Man" show, as well as the 1981 "Spider-Man" series and the 1980s "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" series]
THE VERDICT: As I mentioned here and also above in the Records section, this record has clearly been broken. Nobody's ever used Sandman for more than one episode, and no previous animated series ever did a better job of giving us a great take on Sandman. Since we got to know Flint Marko even before he became Sandman on this show, the character development of this season easily makes this the best animated incarnation of Sandman to date.
LIZARD
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 1
[in "Natural Selection" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 8 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" cartoon series]
THE VERDICT: Well, unless we get some more storyarcs to feature the Lizard, this record won't be broken any time soon. Still, since Lizard's had plenty of good stories over forty-six years and counting, I'm sure we'll see Lizard pop up again soon enough.
ELECTRO
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 2
[in "Interactions" and "Group Therapy" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 3 [in the 1960s "Spider-Man" cartoon series]
THE VERDICT: Well, since Electro shows up as a member of the Sinister Six in season two, this record's already been tied. And since we may see Electro even more as the series progresses, this record might be broken fairly shortly...
MYSTERIO
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 1 (the season two episodes haven't aired in the U.S. yet)
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS QUENTIN BECK: 1
[in "Persona" in season one]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS MYSTERIO: At least 2
[in "Blueprints" and "Reinforcement" in season two; possibly more?)
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 4 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" cartoon series]
THE VERDICT: Well, Mysterio will be in at least two episodes in season two, so we could see this record broken eventually. Then again, so many Spider-Man villains have been lost in the shuffle as an animated series went on and introducing new characters every season doesn't help the chances of seeing more Mysterio on this show. Only the writers and creators of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" can break this record, and with season three yet to be confirmed, this record may not get broken.
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 1 (the season two episodes haven't aired in the U.S. yet)
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS QUENTIN BECK: 1
[in "Persona" in season one]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS MYSTERIO: At least 2
[in "Blueprints" and "Reinforcement" in season two; possibly more?)
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 4 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" cartoon series]
THE VERDICT: Well, Mysterio will be in at least two episodes in season two, so we could see this record broken eventually. Then again, so many Spider-Man villains have been lost in the shuffle as an animated series went on and introducing new characters every season doesn't help the chances of seeing more Mysterio on this show. Only the writers and creators of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" can break this record, and with season three yet to be confirmed, this record may not get broken.
KRAVEN
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 2
[in "Destructive Testing" and "Reinforcement" in season two; possibly more?]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 4
[on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" cartoon series]
THE VERDICT: Like Mysterio, his record could easily be broken, but honestly, it all depends on how many episodes actually include Kraven as the series progresses. Since Kraven's stories can be pretty intense, especially "Kraven's Last Hunt", it's up to the writers on how they want to handle Kraven and how much they want to use him on the series.
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 2
[in "Destructive Testing" and "Reinforcement" in season two; possibly more?]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 4
[on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" cartoon series]
THE VERDICT: Like Mysterio, his record could easily be broken, but honestly, it all depends on how many episodes actually include Kraven as the series progresses. Since Kraven's stories can be pretty intense, especially "Kraven's Last Hunt", it's up to the writers on how they want to handle Kraven and how much they want to use him on the series.
SCORPION
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 12 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: You can't break a record if you haven't even made one appearance on an animated series yet. And since it won't be until season three (if there is one) until we see Scorpion debut, I doubt this record will be broken at all, considering he'd have to make at least a dozen more appearances between season three and five. Still, this isn't a bad thing. Scorpion got so overexposed on the Fox Kids "Spider-Man" series, especially in season five, that it wasn't even funny. Granted, Doc Ock has appeared in even more episodes on that series, but unlike Scorpion, Ock wasn't trying to cure himself of his super-powered condition only to pop up later as a villain in later episodes afterwards. So, if this one isn't broken, that's fine by me. I just hope the writers come up with enough good stories for Scorpion... but not give him too many, either.
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 12 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: You can't break a record if you haven't even made one appearance on an animated series yet. And since it won't be until season three (if there is one) until we see Scorpion debut, I doubt this record will be broken at all, considering he'd have to make at least a dozen more appearances between season three and five. Still, this isn't a bad thing. Scorpion got so overexposed on the Fox Kids "Spider-Man" series, especially in season five, that it wasn't even funny. Granted, Doc Ock has appeared in even more episodes on that series, but unlike Scorpion, Ock wasn't trying to cure himself of his super-powered condition only to pop up later as a villain in later episodes afterwards. So, if this one isn't broken, that's fine by me. I just hope the writers come up with enough good stories for Scorpion... but not give him too many, either.
RHINO
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (to date): 5
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS ALEX O'HIRN: 3
[in "Survival of the Fittest", "Market Forces", and "Competition" in season one]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS RHINO: 2
[in "The Invisible Hand" and "Group Therapy" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 9 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Well, this could go either way. On one hand, John DiMaggio is a series regular as the voice of Captain Stacy, so he could voice Rhino for more episodes easily. Rhino also pops up in more than one episode of season two, so he's going to get more screen time. On the other, more popular A-list foes of Spider-Man get more episodes devoted to them (just look at Doc Ock and Green Goblin). Still, there's one advantage to Rhino's credit. Like Doc Ock, Don Stark did the voice of Rhino on the Fox Kids "Spider-Man" series, but didn't provide the voice of Rhino for two of the episodes that Rhino appeared in ("The Six Fight Again" and "The Price of Heroism", respectively). In fact, in "The Six Fight Again", Rhino's only line of dialogue was said not by Mr. Stark, but by Richard Moll, who was the voice of Scorpion that season! Weird. Still, I love it whenever Rhino pops up on this show and I look forward to seeing more episodes of Rhino on the future of this series.
SHOCKER
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 3
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS MONTANA: 1
[in "Survival of the Fittest" in season one]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS SHOCKER: 2
[in "Market Forces" and "Group Therapy" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 10 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Technically, the Fox Kids record won't be broken. This isn't the Herman Schultz Shocker we know and love on "Spectacular" - it's a member of the Enforcers, Montana. This might set a new record for the Shocker, but in a totally different way. Still, maybe Herman Schultz will pop up on this show and replace Montana at one point, but that's unlikely.
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 3
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS MONTANA: 1
[in "Survival of the Fittest" in season one]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS SHOCKER: 2
[in "Market Forces" and "Group Therapy" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 10 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Technically, the Fox Kids record won't be broken. This isn't the Herman Schultz Shocker we know and love on "Spectacular" - it's a member of the Enforcers, Montana. This might set a new record for the Shocker, but in a totally different way. Still, maybe Herman Schultz will pop up on this show and replace Montana at one point, but that's unlikely.
KINGPIN
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: Series regular, too many to count
[on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Well, Mr. Weisman says he's not allowed to use Daredevil or the Kingpin due to legal reasons, so don't hold your breath waiting for Kingpin to appear on the series. In fact, Tombstone's role as the Big Man on this show is supposed to serve as a substitute for Spidey's crime boss opponent, due to Kingpin's absence. Still, if they ever get the legal rights to have Kingpin guest star, maybe he'll make an appearance or two. But for now, this is a record that won't be broken any time soon.
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: Series regular, too many to count
[on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Well, Mr. Weisman says he's not allowed to use Daredevil or the Kingpin due to legal reasons, so don't hold your breath waiting for Kingpin to appear on the series. In fact, Tombstone's role as the Big Man on this show is supposed to serve as a substitute for Spidey's crime boss opponent, due to Kingpin's absence. Still, if they ever get the legal rights to have Kingpin guest star, maybe he'll make an appearance or two. But for now, this is a record that won't be broken any time soon.
HAMMERHEAD
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 7
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 4 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Since Hammerhead is virtually a regular character on the show, this record's already been broken, as stated above. The only question isn't "how many episodes will Hammerhead be in to break the record?". It's "how many episodes will he appear in on this show?"
HYDRO MAN
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 3
[on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Mr. Weisman isn't saying when Hydro-Man will appear, but since Hydro-Man technically only popped up once on the Fox Kids Spider-Man show (the other two episodes had a Hydro-Man clone), I'm sure it'll be easy to break this record when he pops up on "Spectacular".
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 3
[on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Mr. Weisman isn't saying when Hydro-Man will appear, but since Hydro-Man technically only popped up once on the Fox Kids Spider-Man show (the other two episodes had a Hydro-Man clone), I'm sure it'll be easy to break this record when he pops up on "Spectacular".
HOBGOBLIN
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 7 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Mr. Weisman has admitted that Hobgoblin will make his debut in season three of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and Roderick Kingsley, the man who becomes the original Hobgoblin in the comics, will appear at some point in season two. But it's going to take time for Hobgoblin to break his previous record, and I don't know if that'll be possible. Still, it's time that will tell on this one.
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 7 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Mr. Weisman has admitted that Hobgoblin will make his debut in season three of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" and Roderick Kingsley, the man who becomes the original Hobgoblin in the comics, will appear at some point in season two. But it's going to take time for Hobgoblin to break his previous record, and I don't know if that'll be possible. Still, it's time that will tell on this one.
TOMBSTONE
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 7
[David Keith was the voice of Tombstone in "Survival of the Fittest" in season one; Kevin Michael Richardson, the permanent voice actor for Tombstone, has provided the voice of Tombstone in "Market Forces", "The Invisible Hand", "Catalysts", "The Uncertainty Principle", "Intervention", and "Nature vs. Nurture" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 4
[on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man" animated series]
THE VERDICT: Like Hammerhead, Tombstone has already broken his previous record with ease, and he will be popping up even more in several episodes of season two. And since Mr. Richardson is doing an excellent job providing the voice of Tombstone, I sure don't mind seeing more of Tombstone on the show.
VENOM
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 10
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS EDDIE BROCK: 9
[in "Survival of the Fittest", "Interactions", "Natural Selection", "Market Forces", "The Invisible Hand", "Catalysts", "Persona", "Group Therapy" and "Intervention" in season one; though he did not speak in "Catalysts"]
NUMBER OF EPISODES AS VENOM: 2
[had a brief cameo as Venom in "Intervention", then made his first full appearance in "Nature vs. Nurture" in season one]
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 7 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man Unlimited"]
THE VERDICT:
CARNAGE
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 7 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man Unlimited"]
THE VERDICT:
NUMBER OF APPEARANCES (TO DATE): 0
CURRENT RECORD FOR MOST APPEARANCES ON A SPIDER-MAN CARTOON SERIES: 7 [on Fox Kids' "Spider-Man Unlimited"]
THE VERDICT:
More Information Coming Shortly
Last Updated 3/9/2010
