MCU: 8 Things From ‘90s Animated Spider-Man Series That No Way Home Should Incorporate

Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe increased in popularity, Marvel’s greatest mainstream successes were the animated adaptations of its comic book characters. Spider-Man: The Animated Series remains a beloved show that aired during the ‘90s and is the quintessential version of the superhero for some. 

The third solo MCU movie for Peter Parker, Spider-Man: No Way Home, will be taking the direction of the series in a new direction, and adapting aspects from the ‘90s show should do it well. This ranges from the general aesthetic of the scenes to how the characters are presented. Bringing in tried-and-tested elements from a hit show should enable Tom Holland’s latest outing as the titular character to be the best one yet.

8 Spider-Man Assembling Heroes Of His Choice

With No Way Home taking place across the multiverse, it makes sense for Spider-Man to seek help from heroes that exist in other realities. In the animated series, Peter frequently came across the likes of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and The Avengers.

At one point, he was given the option to assemble his own team to fight off a multiversal threat and chose his team members, with Peter primarily going with all Fantastic Four members. The MCU can adapt this to bring both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to the series by having Peter learn about their existence and seek their help from across universes. It would be an easy way to introduce the teams to this series.

7 Supporting Characters Developing Superhero Personas

Almost all comic book characters eventually develop a superhero or villain persona, even if they’re supposed to be part of the supporting cast. Spider-Man: The Animated Series saw Eddie Brock become Venom, Felicia Hardy become the Black Cat, and Harry Osborn as the next Green Goblin.

The MCU version has placed Peter’s friends MJ and Ned firmly as normal people but it’s worth turning them into superheroes in their own right. It would give them more to do than just rely completely on Peter during conflicts and set up a potential climax where MJ and Ned stand with Peter in battle against the villains.

6 Antagonistic Relationship Between Spider-Man & J.Jonah Jameson

This is one of the storylines from the Spider-Verse that the MCU needs to adapt, as J.J.J.’s part in Peter’s life has always been part of the Spider-Man experience. Far From Home’s stinger did introduce J.J.J. in the MCU but No Way Home needs to play it up further.

The animated series had J.J.J.’s antagonism of Spider-Man cause real problems for the superhero, as even Aunt May bought into the Daily Bugle’s claims of Spider-Man’s supposed villainy. With the platform already set in the MCU for this aspect through J.J.J.’s accusal of Peter as Mysterio’s killer, they can emulate the dynamic the characters had in the animated series of being at each other’s throats.

5 Villains Attacking Spider-Man Simultaneously

It didn’t matter if it were low-level criminals or Spider-Man’s biggest villains from the comics, as the animated series usually had the protagonist face overwhelming numbers. This made the action fast-paced and carried an adrenaline-inducing presentation, where Spider-Man had to do quick thinking to get out of precarious situations. 

The MCU has largely protected Peter in his battles, with the protagonist never really being brought to his knees by great numbers. Since No Way Home will be bringing multiple villains, it would do well to emulate the animated series to feature at least one battle where Spider-Man has to contend with all the baddies at the same time.

4 Big-Time Spider-Verse Event

There’s little doubt the thing fans want to see most in Spider-Man: No Way Home is the prospect of multiple Spider-Men sharing the screen. While the Spider-Verse was popularized by the 2014 comic book event, it was the animated series that first brought this to the forefront.

It served as the finale to the show and many different versions of Peter Parker – featuring villainous variants as well – turned up for the event. No Way Home takes place in MCU’s Phase Four, at a time when the multiverse is the overarching plotline, which means adapting the animated series’ Spider-Verse will be an organic way of telling the story.

3 The Presentation Of The Spidey-Sense

The Spidey-Sense has been all over the place in the MCU, with Spider-Man: Far From Home finally giving it a name: “Peter Tingle.” This ability is a trademark move of the character that signals danger and it would be better if the MCU treats it as such.

The animated series presented it as Peter’s sense going all off, with his surroundings turning into a blur of color and premonitions. It would work well in live-action if Peter can also bring back the phrase “My Spider-Sense is tingling!” It would tie into the “Peter Tingle” name while also making the moments of danger out to be the real deal for viewers to sense the gravity of the situation.

2 The Presence Of The Sinister Six

While far from being known as underrated villains of Spider-Man, the Sinister Six group comprises antagonists who have been beaten by the wallcrawler. The animated series brought Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Shocker, Chameleon, Rhino, and Scorpion as part of the roster, with the faction renamed as the Insidious Six.

The MCU doesn’t need to adapt the exact same characters, but the inclusion of Doctor Octopus in the story provides a good opportunity for the group’s formation. Electro, who is a core member of the Sinister Six in the comics, will also appear in No Way Home, further bringing up the possibility of the villainous faction. The animated series antagonists had targeted Peter to get to Spider-Man, which is something they can do in the MCU as well.

1 A Reunion With Uncle Ben

It was finally confirmed in What If…? that Uncle Ben did exist in the MCU. To this end, it would make sense for Peter to have a reunion with him as a way of getting a proper goodbye. Spider-Man: The Animated Series did just this in its series finale, with the prime Peter Parker finding an Uncle Ben variant to prevent the symbiotic Spider-Man from destroying the universe. 

Much like the MCU, the animated series didn’t make reference to Uncle Ben before this moment, but that didn’t stop it from being emotional. The same effect will come about should No Way Home incorporate this aspect and fans will appreciate the series finally bringing Uncle Ben to the screen.

About The Author

Saim Cheeda
(1347 Articles Published)

Saim Cheeda is an entertainment writer covering all of Film, TV, Gaming and Books. He’s been a writer for Valnet since 2017, contributing 500+ articles for The Gamer, The Things, Game Rant, Comic Book Resources and Screen Rant. Apart from freelance writing, Saim is a lifestyle blogger, co-owning the blog 3 States Apart.

http://3statesapart.com

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