When I heard that an Ultimate Spider-Man series would be replacing the brilliant The Spectacular Spider Man, I was mixed. It would feel very redundant after the last show had a somewhat similar premise. When I heard it was more team-up focused and that Paul Dini would join, I felt optimistic about it, having enjoyed Batman's previous show that served more to showcase the larger DC Universe. But nothing would prepare me to what I was about to witness.
To be frank, this is one of the worst animated superhero series I've seen in a long, LONG time. It really feels like it panders to the lowest common denominator. The style of humor that is painfully forced in the episodes kills any pacing, and the jokes themselves are very unfunny, only appearing to be put into cheap joke GI Fs. Nothing is ever subtle or clever, just annoying, loud, and gross. The blatant toy placement is also horrible, cramming in idiotic junk like the Spidey-Cycle and other useless Spidey-themed gadgets from SHIELD. The art and designs are very detailed, but also very generic and boring. Don't even get me started on the blatant pandering to the movie crowd, with designs ripped off from the successful movie franchise. The animation also isn't that impressive.
Probably one of the worst aspects of the show is the unlikable characters. Spidey and his band of young heroes are one-note stereotypes with little to no development, and are constantly obnoxious and rude towards each other. By the time the finale comes and Peter claims how "they're family" to him, I laughed, because I never got that feeling in the show itself. The weak, screechy voice-acting from Drake Bell probably doesn't help. Everyone else is either OK or sounds bored.
Even when the show tries to have serious moments, it fails, since they're either very melodramatic (the season finale), or just fall flat. The writing is very sloppy and full of plot holes, with no sense of consistency in tone or characterization. Considering that Man Of Action was writing and working on it, though, shouldn't surprise.
This series is just a major disappointment after the recent, great Marvel shows coming out, and it does make me worry about the new direction Marvel Animation is taking.
Ultimate Failure
When I heard that an Ultimate Spider-Man series would be replacing the brilliant The Spectacular Spider Man, I was mixed. It would feel very redundant after the last show had a somewhat similar premise. When I heard it was more team-up focused and that Paul Dini would join, I felt optimistic about it, having enjoyed Batman's previous show that served more to showcase the larger DC Universe. But nothing would prepare me to what I was about to witness.
To be frank, this is one of the worst animated superhero series I've seen in a long, LONG time. It really feels like it panders to the lowest common denominator. The style of humor that is painfully forced in the episodes kills any pacing, and the jokes themselves are very unfunny, only appearing to be put into cheap joke GI Fs. Nothing is ever subtle or clever, just annoying, loud, and gross. The blatant toy placement is also horrible, cramming in idiotic junk like the Spidey-Cycle and other useless Spidey-themed gadgets from SHIELD. The art and designs are very detailed, but also very generic and boring. Don't even get me started on the blatant pandering to the movie crowd, with designs ripped off from the successful movie franchise. The animation also isn't that impressive.
Probably one of the worst aspects of the show is the unlikable characters. Spidey and his band of young heroes are one-note stereotypes with little to no development, and are constantly obnoxious and rude towards each other. By the time the finale comes and Peter claims how "they're family" to him, I laughed, because I never got that feeling in the show itself. The weak, screechy voice-acting from Drake Bell probably doesn't help. Everyone else is either OK or sounds bored.
Even when the show tries to have serious moments, it fails, since they're either very melodramatic (the season finale), or just fall flat. The writing is very sloppy and full of plot holes, with no sense of consistency in tone or characterization. Considering that Man Of Action was writing and working on it, though, shouldn't surprise.
This series is just a major disappointment after the recent, great Marvel shows coming out, and it does make me worry about the new direction Marvel Animation is taking.