History Trivia / SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries

** Outside of Creator/QuintonFlynn, the WesternAnimation/FantasticFour were recast, along with Daredevil and Doctor Doom.

** The three-part adaptation of ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' had Creator/QuintonFlynn reprise his role as the Human Torch from the second season of [[WesternAnimation/FantasticFour the 1994 Fantastic Four cartoon]].

** Captain ''America'' is voiced by the very ''Canadian'' Creator/DavidHayter. Yes, ''[[Franchise/MetalGear that]]'' David Hayter.

* FirstAppearance: Whilst the series is widely regarded as creating the concept of both Man-Spider (a Spider-Man that has mutated into a humanoid spider) and Spider-Carnage (Spider-Man possessed by the Carnage symbiote), they both actually debuted in the comics. Spider-Carnage first appeared in the four-part storyline "Web of Carnage", which was released in April 1996 across 4 titles: Sensational Spider-Man #3, Amazing Spider-Man #410, (Adjective-less) Spider-Man #67, and Spectacular Spider-Man #233. Man-Spider, in contrast, debuted all the way back in Marvel Fanfare #2 in ''1982''.

* FlipFlopOfGod: When drafting ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'', writer Dan Slott and editor Nick Lowe decided that ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManUnlimited'' was "logically" the sequel to ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', and killed off the show's Spider-Man to show how dangerous a threat the Inheritors were. A few years later, the 1990's animated series' Spider-Man cameoed in ''ComicBook/XMen92'' with no explanation whatsoever as to how he was still alive.

** Within the '90s Marvel cartoons, War Machine fall under this, with the character going back to his first voice on ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'', Creator/JamesAvery.

** In the French dub, with the exception of Michel Bedetti as WesternAnimation/IronMan, none of the voice actors from the other 90's Marvel cartoons reprised their roles here. Oddly enough, Claude Chantal (the first voice of Storm in ''X-Men: TAS'') and Bernard Tiphaine (the voice of Beast in that same cartoon) were instead given the roles of Madame Web and Doctor Doom respectively.

** Creator/JamesAvery reprised his role from the first season of ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' as War Machine, likely because of his successor, Dorian Harewood, voicing Tombstone.

** Iona Morris reprised her role from the first season of ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' as Storm in the "Secret Wars" three-parter. That said, she is not the first actress to play the character in this series, as her replacement in ''X-Men'', Alison Sealy-Smith, voiced Storm during the team's earlier guest appearance in "The Mutant Agenda" and "Mutant's Revenge".

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** The adaptation of ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' was originally going to feature a number of additional characters, most notably the entire X-Men roster [[note]]Only Storm made the final cut[[/note]], the Hulk, and Mister Sinister. These were later scrapped for numerous reasons -- namely costs since Sinister's voice actor, Creator/ChrisBritton, is Canadian-based (the cast of the ''X-Men'' series had previously been flown to LA from Canada for their appearance in the crossover, which proved expensive. Storm got to appear because she's a case of TheOtherDarrin, and her ''former'' voice actress was in LA.) Likewise, the Hulk having a series on the competition UPN network forbade him from appearing; his role in the story ended up being given to the Lizard.
** The first showrunner that John Semper replaced before actual production on the show started intended for Norman Osborn to become The Hobgoblin, which likely meant the Green Goblin never would have shown up! This was probably due to the Green Goblin being dead at the time the show started. When Semper came in, it was too late to prevent the Hobgoblin since toys were already being made, but he did rectify it by having Norman Osborn create the Hobgoblin's weapons instead of being the Hobgoblin. Some elements from Hobgoblin’s two-parter debut episode also imply that the script was originally written with Green Goblin in mind, especially the major plot point of Hobgoblin putting Aunt May in a coma and thus making Peter’s beef with him a lot more [[ItsPersonal personal]] than with any prior supervillain (at that point), as well the ominous ending, where Hobgoblin flies off into the night sky while ranting, “[[ArchEnemy Don’t forget me, Spider-Man. I’m not going to forget you]]”.
** The Sandman never appeared on the show and Electro's incarnation was drastically different from his comics counterpart because of James Cameron's attempt at making a Spider-Man movie with Sandman and Electro as the villains. One can only guess how things would have been if the Sandman got to appear on the show and if Electro's origin and identity stayed true to the comics.
** Season 5 was going to feature an episode where Spider-Man teamed up with Ghost Rider to stop Baron Mordo and Mysterio (who had survived his apparent death in the previous season) from freeing Dormammu from his home dimension. The episode was never made because Creator/{{UPN}} was planning on making their own Ghost Rider series and Fox didn't want to promote a character on a rival channel.
** Proposed ideas for the unproduced sixth season:
*** The Mary-Jane Watson subplot would have been resolved by having Spider-Man find her in 19th century England and bringing her home with Madame Webb's help. The episode also would've revealed that [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Carnage was Jack the Ripper]].
*** The villains the Beetle, Puma, and the Rose were considered to appear in the series. Interestingly, Beetle did appear in tie-in merchandise for the series, including the video game and the comic book adaptation ''The Adventures of Spider-Man''.
*** Norman Osborn would have returned from limbo and reclaim the identity of the Green Goblin from his son Harry.
*** Because of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1996'' ending its run at the time, there was a chance that the Hulk might have finally made a guest appearance instead of just being mentioned.
*** John Semper thought about doing an episode spoofing ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' that would've had Creator/FrankWelker and Kathy Garver reprise their roles as Iceman and Firestar and would've ended with the three heroes going their separate ways after agreeing that they're better off not working as a team.

* QuoteSource: FatBastard

** The first showrunner that John Semper replaced before actual production on the show started intended for Norman Osborn to become The Hobgoblin, which likely meant the Green Goblin never would have shown up! This was probably due to the Green Goblin being dead at the time the show started. When Semper came in, it was too late to prevent the Hobgoblin since toys were already being made, but he did rectify it by having Norman Osborn create the Hobgoblin's weapons instead of being the Hobgoblin.
*** Some elements from Hobgoblin’s two-parter debut episode also imply that the script was originally written with Green Goblin in mind, especially the major plot point of Hobgoblin putting Aunt May in a coma and thus making Peter’s beef with him a lot more [[ItsPersonal personal]] than with any prior supervillain (at that point), as well the ominous ending, where Hobgoblin flies off into the night sky while ranting, “[[ArchEnemy Don’t forget me, Spider-Man. I’m not going to forget you]]”.

** Several key cast members on this show also played major characters on WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries. These include Creator/EfremZimbalistJr (Alfred Pennyworth) as Dr. Octopus, Creator/MarkHamill (the Joker) as Hobgoblin, Creator/DavidWarner (Ra's al Ghul) as Dr. Landon, Creator/EdwardAsner (Roland Daggett) as J. Jonah Jameson and Creator/RichardMoll (Two-Face) as the second voice of the Scorpion. Additionally, Creator/JohnVernon (Rupert Thorne) and Creator/MaryKayBergman (the second voice of Batgirl) voiced Doctor Strange and Gwen Stacy in their respective guest appearances.

* RelationshipVoiceActor: Several voice actors who would go on to be in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' franchise are involved here. Among others, [[Creator/DavidHayter Captain America]] is Solid Snake and Naked Snake, the Green Goblin is Col. Volgin, [[Creator/JenniferHale Black Cat]] is Naomi Hunter and Emma Emmerich, [[Creator/CamClarke Mr. Fantastic]] is Liquid Snake, [[Creator/QuintonFlynn the Human Torch]] is Raiden, the Red Skull and the Beyonder are Sergei Gurlukovich, [[Creator/GreggBerger Mysterio and Kraven]] are the Pain, and [[Creator/RobPaulsen Hydro Man]] is the Cyborg Ninja.

*** Some elements from Hobgoblin’s two-parter debut episode also imply that the scrip was originally written with Green Goblin in mind, especially the major plot point of Hobgoblin putting Aunt May in a coma and thus making Peter’s beef with him a lot more [[ItsPersonal personal]] than with any prior supervillain (at that point), as well the ominous ending, where Hobgoblin flies off into the night sky while ranting, “[[ArchEnemy Don’t forget me, Spider-Man. I’m not going to forget you]]”.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/DavidWarner, who is of Jewish descent, voiced the ComicBook/RedSkull, a literal Nazi.

* FanNickname: "''Spider-Man: The Animated Series''" is a nickname that serves as a ShoutOut to ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. The show's official title is simply ''Spider-Man''.

** After the [[AuthorExistenceFailure deaths]] of Philip Abbott and Linda Gary, Jack Angel and Julie Bennett replaced them respectively as Nick Fury and Aunt May.

** While TheOtherDarrin within this series, similarly during the "Secret Wars" arc, Storm went from her second ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' voice actress Alison Sealy-Smith (who voiced the character during the X-Men's guest appearance) to her original voice actress, Iona Morris.

** A very notable example for the Japanese dub is that none of cast members for the ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' cartoon reprise their roles for the crossover episode.
** In the French dub, with the exception of Michel Bedetti as WesternAnimation/IronMan, none of the voice actors from the other 90's Marvel cartoons reprised their roles here. Oddly enough, Claude Chantal (the first voice of Storm in the ''X-Men'' cartoon) and Bernard Tiphaine (the voice of Beast in that same cartoon) were instead given the roles of Madame Web and Doctor Doom respectively.

* FanNickname: "''Spider-Man: The Animated Series''" is one, serving as a ShoutOut to ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. The show's official title is simply ''Spider-Man''.

** While the Hobgoblin was popular in both the comics and the show, [[http://marvel.toonzone.net/spideytas/interviews/sempergoblin/ John Semper]] ''hated'' the character (both then and now) and only used him because toys were being made based on decisions made by his predecessor.

** Another example is Carnage. In the comics, he was a mass-murdering psychopath, but in the series he wasn't allowed to kill anyone -- instead he sucked out their "essence" through his hands, which was restored to his victims after he was sucked into a portal. In the scene where he acquires the symbiote he attacks some prison guards; he picks one up and makes some knives with his fingers but instead it shows him busting through a wall.

** Why Sandman never appeared and Electro was an altered character. When the series started, James Cameron's movie was going to feature the two as villains (though with heavy tweaking), so the writing team were told not to use either. However, by the end of the show's run, it looked like the James Cameron movie wasn't going to happen, so the showrunner snuck Electro in as the BigBad of one of the story arcs, and got away with it. Sandman, meanwhile, was replaced entirely by Hydro-Man.

** As stated above in ExecutiveMeddling, the Sandman never appeared on the show and Electro's incarnation was drastically different from his comics counterpart because of James Cameron's attempt at making a Spider-Man movie with Sandman and Electro as the villains. One can only guess how things would have been if the Sandman got to appear on the show and if Electro's origin and identity stayed true to the comics.

** Some say the writers weren't allowed to use the words [[NeverSayDie death, die, or kill]]; hence, when Peter found out Uncle Ben had been killed, it was shown as a police officer shaking his head and saying "I'm sorry, kid. The guy was armed." Also, realistic guns were out, so even petty thieves were armed with [[FamilyFriendlyFirearms futuristic lasers]].
*** Oddly, the word "kill" was actually used more than once, when referring to "killing" a news story, and briefly when Spider-Man asks why Black Cat doesn't want to kill him if she worked for the Kingpin. Also, when Flash complains to his girlfriend about how Michael Morbius almost "killed" him. Mac Gargan (who would later become the Scorpion) said he'd "kill for the chance" to get back at Spider-Man. Given the abundance of assumptions online that several specific creative choices in the show were down to censorship, it's possible this is yet another common misconception, so take this with a pinch of salt.

** Another example is Carnage. In the comics, he was a mass-murdering psychopath, but in the series he wasn't allowed to kill anyone -- instead he sucked out their "essence" through his hands, which was restored to his victims after he was sucked into a portal. In the scene where he acquires the symbiote he attacks some prison guards; he picks one up and makes some knives with his fingers but instead it shows him busting through a wall. In all fairness to Fox, the NYPD's description of Cletus Cassidy implied his psychopathic tendencies, not to mention his mannerisms and laughter were still pretty creepy in their own right (''especially'' the laughter). So while Carnage could not kill anyone, the censorship didn't stifle his sadistic personality.
** It's worth noting that there's a common misconception that Spider-Man wasn't allowed to punch anyone, as it would make the show too violent. This is very much not the case, as the showrunner, John Semper Jr., often reiterates online; the lack of punching was a deliberate creative decision to make the fights more creative, and visually interesting.
** One positive effect occurred when the writers were forced to introduce the Hobgoblin in season one rather than the Green Goblin, to match the toys that had been ordered. This allowed Hobgoblin to become an engaging character in his own right and a precursor to the more dangerous Green Goblin.
** The Punisher had to undergo some censorship, one could say (though whether it was mandated by executives, or decided on in advance by the showrunner is unknown). He was purely non-lethal, though this is mentioned in-show as a deliberate thing he's doing as a one-off for his effort in chasing Spider-Man, with it being a "Legit job" for him to do without killing anybody, for once. So, pretty clever handling of that.
*** The telling of The Punisher's origin (for those unaware, the brutal shooting of his wife and young children which obviously couldn't be shown) was incredibly effective. The only visual was a kite flying in the sky and at the sound of gunshots fell to the ground, landing in a puddle and forming the classic skull as it became soaked in water.

** There were originally plans to have Ghost Rider in an episode, but the episode was scrapped due to Ghost Rider having a series planned for Creator/{{UPN}}, which didn't happen.
*** Allegedly, a full script was written, and given out to backers of the showrunner's Website/IndieGoGo for a series he was trying to get off the ground in 2016.

* FakeAmerican: Creator/JenniferHale, who voices Black Cat, is Canadian by birth. However, both of her parents were American.
** More egregiously, Captain ''America'' is voiced by the very ''Canadian'' Creator/DavidHayter. Yes, ''[[Franchise/MetalGear that]]'' David Hayter.

** It may be due to the fact that the notion of ''Unlimited'' being a sequel turned out to be a case of CriticalResearchFailure. Shortly after ''Spider-Verse'' happened, fans asked the people behind both shows if they were related and they responded that they were intended to be separate continuities, meaning that this Spider-Man never appeared let alone died in ''Spider-Verse''.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For whatever reason, the series has never had a full DVD release in the United States. A full DVD set of the series was released in Europe however and the series has streamed on Netflix and other sites. The series is also available in its entirety on iTunes, as well as Disney+.
* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: If it wasn't [[Film/{{Blade}} the movie]], most familiar with Blade were first introduced to him in this series. Heck, it's likely ''because'' of this series that film was possibly more successful due to people remembering him here.
* MissingEpisode: Following the 9/11 attacks, Creator/ABCFamily pulled "Shriek of the Vulture" and "The Final Nightmare" (both of which featured a burning skyscraper) from the rerun schedule. These two episodes concluded the Neogenic Nightmare arc and led into Season 3's "Doctor Strange", so you can imagine how displeased fans were. It wasn't until the end of ''2007'', though, that this changed. Creator/ToonDisney aired the two episodes as a part of an all-series New Year's Eve/Day marathon. As long as the show has been airing, the two episodes have been rerun regularly ever since.

** While TheOtherDarrin within this series, similarly during the "Secret Wars" arc, Storm plays around with this as she went from her second ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' voice actress Alison Sealy-Smith (who voiced the character during the X-Men's guest appearance) to her original voice actress, Iona Morris.

** As noted earlier, despite most of the guests star retaining their [=VAs=] from prior shows, outside of Creator/QuintonFlynn, the WesternAnimation/FantasticFour were recast, along with Daredevil and Doctor Doom.
** Curiously averted with Mysterio--though he had a different voice from his second appearance onward, it was still provided by Gregg Berger.

** War Machine reverses this, going back to his voice actor in season 1 of ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'', Creator/JamesAvery.
** Storm also reverses this and plays this straight: During the guest appearance of the X-Men, Alison Sealy-Smith (who was the second voice of the character on ''WesternAnimation/XMen'') reprised the role, but when the character appears solo in the "Secret War" arc, she was reprised by her first actor from ''X-Men'', Iona Morris.

* RecycledScript: "The Spot" and "Goblin War" come one after another, and they both have the ''exact'' same plot beats. A villain is using a portal device to commit robberies. The Kingpin gets involved somehow. Felicia has a scene where she flirts with Spider-Man despite being engaged, to which he brushes her off, leaving her sad. Harry has a scene where he acts petulant toward Peter about how he "stole" Mary Jane from him. Spider-Man ends up at Crime Central where the Kingpin almost squeezes him to death. Of the two episodes, "Goblin War" is the more important due to the re-emergence of the Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin's identity being revealed, so one could almost skip "The Spot" entirely and not miss much.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Sort of. It's a bit complicated. The show was always intended to have 65 episodes [[SixtyFiveEpisodeCartoon as was tradition at the time]], but it was popular enough it could have received more episodes. However, the head of development for Fox Kids hated Avi Arad, who was the producer for the show. Story Editor and showrunner John Semper has gone on record in saying he ended the show in a way he considered to be definitive enough that it was a satisfying ending, but that if it was renewed for more, there was still room for the story to go further.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For whatever reason, the series has never had a full DVD release in the United States. A full DVD set of the series was released in Europe however and the series has streamed on Netflix and other sites. The series is also available in its entirety on iTunes, as well as Disney+ since Disney's acquisition of Fox.

** Native New Yorker[[note]]This was long before the comics retconned him into being Southern[[/note]] Cletus Kasady is voices by British actor Scott Cleverdon.

** James Avery reprised his role from the first season of ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' as War Machine, likely because of his successor, Dorian Harewood, voicing Tombstone.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Besides the odd reference to 90s pop culture, the Man-Spider arc blatantly dates itself to pre-2001 when it turns out Man-Spider's lair is under the World Trade Center parking garage.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: For whatever reason, the series has never had a full DVD release in the United States. A full DVD set of the series was released in Europe however and the series has streamed on Netflix and other sites. The series is also available in its entirety on iTunes.