Spider-Man has had a hold on our pop culture for decades with a whopping seven live-action theatrical films, thousands of comics and plenty of animated shows to entertain us all with the ongoing adventures of Peter Parker. These past few years have seen an incredible high for the character and the Spider franchise as a whole with his entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his reunion with Mary Jane Watson in the comics (at long last!), a new video game, and the popular iteration of him in Into The Spider-Verse.
One medium of entertainment, though, has almost always provided fans of the wall-crawler plenty of delicious content: cartoons. A character like Spider-Man is practically bred for animation, and with nine series already out, we began to wonder which were the best of the best. So, we consulted the Internet Movie Database and ranked every Spider-Man cartoon per its rating by fans and critics. Let’s get swinging!
Marvel’s Spider-Man (6.1/10)
Ranking the lowest is the web-slinger’s most recent adaptation, Spider-Man premiered in 2017 as a replacement for Ultimate Spider-Man. It’s still on air, but is slated to be rebranded as Spider-Man: Maximum Venom later this year.
Spider-Man features tons of iconic characters from Spidey lore, even including characters like Miles Morales and Anya Corazon. And since they have spider abilities too, Pete definitely isn’t swinging into danger without back-up anytime soon.
Spider-Man Unlimited (6.4/10)
Ranking the second-lowest is the 1999 series Spider-Man Unlimited. It ran from October 2nd, 1999 until March 31st in 2001. The series had Spidey leaving his earth in order to bring back John Jameson from the “Counter-Earth” that was found on the other side of the sun.
Once there, it turns out that the Counter-Earth has a lot of problems of its own — problems that influence John’s decision to stay on the Counter-Earth until they’re eliminated, so Spidey is forced to stay behind as well. The series ran for only one season with a total of thirteen episodes and had a complicated run on television.
1967 Spider-Man (7.4/10)
Chances are, even if you haven’t watched this cartoon you’ve probably seen a few memes from it — that’s right, the double Spider-Man meme originated from this cartoon.
Spider-Man ran on ABC from 1967 until 1970, giving fans a total of three seasons to cherish. It’s no wonder that this charming series ranks so well on IMDB since it was a pretty faithful adaptation of the comics. Even though nowadays it’s best known for being chock-full of meme potential, we still appreciate it for its foothold in Spidey history.
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends had quite the run over on NBC and premiered new episodes from September 1981 until November 1983. It’s arguably one of the sweetest additions to this list, as its core theme was the friendship between Peter and his college roommates, Bobby Drake and Angelica Jones.
It wouldn’t be a Spidey series if there weren’t costumed antics though, and this series has plenty — especially thanks to Bobby and Angelica’s alternate identities: Iceman and Firestar! The trio of friends (known as the Spider-Friends) has been seen a few times after the series ended, namely with Firestar appear prominently in the comic Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (Iceman makes a quick cameo, too).
Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man was a Disney-XD series and ran for four seasons. Two of those seasons gave the series subtitles, like Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors and Ultimate Spider-Man vs The Sinister Six.
Ultimate was the first Spidey cartoon since Spectacular Spider-Man was canceled, and featured a unique storyline of Peter being recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. (this was years before his school trip would be hijacked by Nick Fury in Far From Home). It also included Phil Coulson (voiced by Clark Gregg) in a recurring role, and later an episode featured FitzSimmons from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D(voiced by Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge).
1981 Spider-Man (7/10)
The 1981 Spider-Man cartoon served as a kind of sister series to Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends since both aired during the same time. It was a mostly faithful adaptation and featured several iconic Marvel villains like Magneto, Red Skull, and even Doctor Doom.
Unlike its counterpart series Amazing Friends, Spider-Man was left to syndication, and only premiered 26 episodes during its run from 1981 to 1982 — even today, it is considered to be one of the most obscure Spider-Man cartoons and is often forgotten among all the rest.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (8.3/10)
The second shortest-lived series on this list, The New Animated Series lasted only for thirteen episodes in its 2003 run. It took place after the events of the first Spider-Man movie and allowed audiences to see where Peter, Harry and Mary Jane ended up after the film’s end.
The series is also unique in the sense that it used CGI animation with a focus on cel-shading, giving it an overall different aesthetic from previous adaptations. Furthermore, the series found its home on MTV instead of channels like ABC or even Fox Kids Network.
1994 Spider-Man (8.3/10)
One of the most iconic and longest-running series of this list is the 1994 Spider-Man, which found its home on the Fox Kids Network during its strong run from 1994 to 1998.
This series ran for five seasons and was a loose but faithful adaptation from the comics it originated from. Like all other titles on this list, it saw iconic figures from Spidey lore make appearances: such as Mysterio and Vulture, or even love interests like Mary Jane Watson and Felicia Hardy.
Spectacular Spider-Man (8.1/10)
“Living on the edge, fighting crime, spinning webs,” is the opening lyrics to what is arguably the best Spider-Man theme song ever, and it happens to belong to the final addition to this list: the short-lived but never forgotten Spectacular Spider-Man.
Spectacular is praised by many Spidey fans to be one of the best-animated adaptations there is, for good reason. The animation was great, and the storylines were masterfully crafted. Unfortunately, the series was fated to only last for two seasons, with its first airing on Kids’ WB and its second on Disney XD.
Next: Spider-Man: 5 Reasons Marisa Tomei Is The Best Aunt May (& 5 Why It’ll Always Be Rosemary Harris)
