As with most versions, Peter is a science geek first and foremost, but this version plays it up even more. For instance, in the first short, he is visibly very excited about visiting Oscorp, and so overenthusiastic he ends up stealing the guide's lines twice, only to apologize each time. Fans find him irresistibly adorable.
Miles' more childlike personality compared to Peter makes him quite endearing.
When joining in on super-heroics, Gwen's less composed than usual and lets her cute, dorky side show more.
While not to the extent of Peter and Gwen, Anya has her moments. Notably, when Miles gets spider powers, she geeks out quite adorably at the possibility of all of them getting spider powers.
During his brief time as a hero, Doc Ock makes some attempts at quipping along with Miles and Peter. The results are... mixed, but amusing.
Lady Ock may be crazy, but it's actually cute in a twisted way how she cares for and shows affection for her robots. There's also her general awkwardness in trying a bit too hard to be good at villainy.
Steel Spider's admiration of Otto Octavius is quite endearing. Too bad he gets brainwashed.
The series' messages about the benefits of science and how powerful it is as a tool is thought to be way too heavy-handed sometimes. Around Mid-Season 1, it gets toned down.
Screwball Live 's Aesop that there is more to life than social media is really heavy-handed.
The interconnected "Bring On The Bad Guys" and "Superior Spider-Man" sagas were dragged out for the majority of the second season, even taking away focus from Miles, Gwen, Anya and Max in favor of Doc Ock. It did not help that the former arc ended on a Cliffhanger that it took a year to continue off of.
Gwen and Anya are STILL in the dark about Peter being Spider-Man by the end of Season 2. Even when they are mad at Peter cause Otto made him act like a jerk, Peter does nothing to clear up the misunderstanding. They don't find out that Peter is Spider-Man until "Spider-Man Unmasked", which is near the the end of Season 3.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In the fourth short, Peter comes across a fortune teller who predicts that he will find fame and fortune. Peter then accidentally covers her in web gloop. While the scene establishes his web only lasts an hour and gives Peter the idea of getting rich, it's still a very bizarre scene that comes out of nowhere and its never mentioned again.
Captain Obvious Reveal: Otto Octavius' apparent redemption in "Take Two" being an act as part of his Evil Plan surprised absolutely no one; aside from the fact it had already been confirmed later episodes would adapt the Superior Spider Man storyline, which requires Otto starting out as still evil in order to work, Otto happens to come back and try to reintegrate Horizon High right as Max Model has a new complex invention, he somehow gets taken down and attacked offscreen by the Wild Pack for no apparent reason (suggesting he might have asked them to do this to him so he would more easily gain Spider-Man's trust), and it's confirmed at the end of the episode that the Wild Pack were actually working for someone, and them failing was part of a long-term plan. Really, the only surprising thing about that twist was that it took only one episode to reveal it, as many fans expected the mystery to be kept for a bit longer.
Again at the end of "The Living Brain" while it looks like Spider-Man overcame the mind transfer and defeated Ock in his robot body, few people were surprised when the ending revealed that Ock is now in Spider-Man’s body, given how the plot adapted the Superior Spider-Man story, as mentioned above. Even if you weren't aware of the comic it's based on, the fact the end of the fight happened offscreen was a good clue about what actually happened.
Norman Osborn/The Dark Goblin being Dr. Connors' contact, and being the main villain of "Generations". Even the marketing for the episode made no effort to hide his identity.
Complete Monster (The Secret History of Venom): Knull is an ancient, nearly immortal being whose existence predates the universe itself. Bearing a hatred of the Celestials for bringing light to the cosmos, Knull goes to war with them, creating the first four Klyntar to use as weapons to slay most of them in combat and plunge most of the universe into darkness. Preparing to return to the void of existence after his war ends, Knull callously abandons his creations when their purpose is fulfilled, seeing them as nothing more than mere tools and showing no concern for them as he leaves them for dead. Vicious, cruel, and controlling, Knull is one of the most vile beings in the universe and responsible for every planet dominated by the Klyntar following their turn to conquest.
Carolyn Trainer, the temporary second Doctor Octopus (set up by Otto to be such), has only featured in a single episode but gained a lot of love and fan attention due to her unique design, Adorkable personality, and sympathetic Anti-Villain status.
Flash Thompson, due to his tendency to provide much-needed levity, and generally nice personality.
Despite her limited screen time in season 3, Mary Jane Watson's appearances in season 3 were well received due to how she's a cool and laid back Passionate Sports Girl, a supportive friend to Peter, voiced by Felicia Day, and leaves a big impression in the Grand Finale even without powers.
Fan-Preferred Couple: The majority of fans seem to ship Peter/Harry, thanks to their borderline romantic interactions in the show.
Peter/Gwen, while a standard ship, also works here, since between Anya and Gwen, he maintains a closer bond with the latter.
And in an unexpected case, Anya/Gwen is also a fairly popular ship among fans.
Growing the Beard: While the early episodes are decent, they're far more episodic, somewhat typical of a Spider-Man adaptation, and with a very significant focus on science. The "Rise of Doc Ock" event marks the point where the story becomes darker and more serialized, starts being a bit less straightforward with its influences, and also tones down the science-based Aesops.
Stan Lee: Hey, Spider! Give me a good pose. Cause you're gonna remember this day for the rest of your life.
In "Origin 1," Peter saying, "I don't feel so good..." shortly after getting bitten by the radioactive spider becomes more uncomfortable since he says the same thing in Avengers: Infinity War before disintegrating.
A lot of people were skeptical about Robbie Daymond voicing Spider-Man, as the early promos made him sound too obnoxious. However, the later Origin shorts, especially Part 6, showed his range as an Adorkable, snarky, and emotional sides. He showcases even greater range in the Superior Spider-Man arc, copying Scott Menville's tone, vocal inflections, and way of talking almost perfectly when playing Ock in Peter's body.
Also, while everyone praised him as a perfect Peter / Spider-Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man, Josh Keaton shows here just how good an actor he is by doing an equally perfect Norman Osborn. This is especially notable in "Rise Of Doc Ock Part 4", where he absolutely loses it. His performance as John Jameson, aka Man Wolf, is also worth noting. He's terrifying as Man-Wolf, capturing his Savage side surprisingly well. On the flip side, you can definitely feel for the soft spoken John as he shows genuine regret for behavior he wasn't in control of.
Grey DeLisle Griffin voicing Black Cat may seem like she's just using her Catwoman voice from one of the Batman video games, but she manages to deliver a stellar performance with a perfect mix of sultry allure and mischievous playfulness.
Max Mittelman already does a good job as Harry Osborn, but his performance in parts 3 and 4 of "The Rise Of Doc Ock" really shows off his range.
Laura Bailey effortlessly shows off the many facets of Gwen's personality, whether with her snark, vulnerable moments, or her more altruistic moments.
Venom being the Arc Villain in Maximum Venom becomes this in 2023, when Robbie Daymond himself, who voices Peter in the series, is cast in Volume 9 of RWBY as the Curious Cat, the Arc Villain for that part of the series, who possesses More Teeth than the Osmond Family, tries to break down that series' own red-clad hero Ruby Rose to use her as a host, and at one point adopts a similar black-and-white coloration to Venom himself. Even better is the fact that he's the second person who voiced Spider-Man to join the show after Yuri Lowenthal.
Ho Yay: Harry and Peter. Sure, some of it could be passed off as Harry being so isolated from other kids due to being rich, but come on, who brings their best friend to lunch and breakfast nearly every single day (and gets upset when they cancel)? The Spiderman-Harry interactions don't lay it on thin either; Harry nearly flirts with him in "Spider-Man on Ice" and acts like he's being cheated on whenever Peter talks about Spidey. He similarly acts like Peter has been two-timing him when Peter reveals that he's been working alongside Otto after Otto's Heel–Face Turn.
Les Yay: Gwen and Anya show some shades of this. In "Osborn Academy", there's the fact that the latter is the first to acknowledge the former as the "Princess Of Preparation", and seems quite happy to talk about it. A more pronounced case is in parts 3-5 of "Spider Island", where Gwen has mutated into a spider creature, and isn't in control of her behavior . While Peter is concerned for her, he's more focused on saving the city, hence why Anya is much more concerned in trying to help her out, with more heart to heart moments. Their hug at the end of part 5 is also quite personal. How about part 2 of "Bring On The Bad Guys", where its revealed that Anya kept her powers after Spider Island, and Gwen is the only one who knows at the moment? . Their dialogue with each other is flirtatiously laced.
I Knew It!: In a somewhat dark example, many people predicted that Doctor Octopus would die in the season 2 finale, though many guessed he would do so as a villain. In the actual episode, he dies a hero.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: While its predecessor, Ultimate Spider-Man, was widely criticized for being too different from what came before, many have criticized this series for going too far the other direction, feeling it's too close to past works without a real identity of its own. These criticisms became less valid in later episodes, where the show starts taking some departures from the source material (such as Spider-Man's powers being Jackal's failed attempt at creating a Super-Soldier or Horizon High taking center stage).
Some of the villains with more sympathetic motives can be this way. A good example is with Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus. Yes, he's condescending and egotistical, though he does genuinely want to make the world a better place, and was mocked for his intelligence gone wrong. His younger age in this version coupled with some Adorkable traits just make it all the more pronounced.
Dr. Curt Connors in this show is a lot more unlikable and despicable than past incarnations where he's mostly a good man before turning into the Lizard and at one point, he even ousts Max from the school and reigns over the students like a totalitarian ruler. But once you find out that the Lizard is threatening to overwhelm his mind and body once again and Connors has no choice but to turn to Normal Osborn and follow all his orders to try to cure himself, we can see that his massive Jerkass actions are at least done out of sheer desperation.
Magnificent Bastard: Otto Octavius is a genius who developed a desire for power and respect after being bullied for his intelligence. Livid at Norman Osborn for stealing his technology, Otto lets his ego take over, teaming up with the Jackal and becoming the supervillain "Doctor Octopus", near-effortlessly taking over Oscorp with the aid of his mind-controlled Sinister Five despite being opposed by the crime-fighter Spider-Man. Doc Ock eventually plans to steal the Neuro-Cortex to make himself more powerful, nearly succeeding before being rendered comatose as his consciousness is stored in the device. However, this would pave the way for Ock's greatest plan: placing a bounty on Spider-Man's head to wear him out before claiming his body for himself, succeeding in swapping minds with his nemesis. Deeply affected by Spider-Man's memories, Otto renounces his villainy and acts as a brutal, if efficient vigilante for a time before returning the wall-crawler's mind to his own body, learning the error of his ways and graciously declaring Peter to be the better Spider-Man between them. Awakening from his coma, Otto helps Peter fight crime by acting as his Mission Control, eventually dying a hero as he sacrifices himself to stop the Goblin Nation.
People on YouTube have made comments that the character designs are similar enough to that of Voltron: Legendary Defender, with many joking about Peter Parker looking like Matthew Holt. Many more have mentioned that Peter looks very similar to Ben Tennyson than the Peter from the comics and him with his glasses on had many people state that he looked like Harry Potter.
Because Peter is voiced by Robbie Daymond, people have been creating fan art of Daymond's other well-known role (Prompto of Final Fantasy XV) in Spider-Man's outfit, dubbing him Spider-Prom.
PARKER! GET ME MORE PHOTOS OF BILL GREEN! HE'S A MENACE!" has gotten quite a bit of attention since Bob Joles, who voices J. Jonah Jameson here, also voices Bill Green on Big City Greens, which came out the same day as this show's season 2 premiere. The funny part comes in how they have wildly different personalities and appearances.
Memetic Psychopath: It did not take long for Casting Gag versions of this to happen to Spider-Man given that he shares a voice with Goro Akechi. Then the final Origin short happened and had Peter deliver a quite disturbing Mook Horror Show to the burglar who killed Uncle Ben, as if to support this interpretation.
Funny enough, the other character in question actually has a few similarities to Harry in regards to being the son of a major villain and wanting to kill the hero out of an Inferiority Superiority Complex, which brings to mind Harry's jealousy towards Peter/Spidey in some versions, and in this series, Harry also shares a voice with someone who is similarly critical towards Akechi, except their respective roles are flipped.
Moe: This version of Peter Parker is likely one of the most adorable-looking, no doubt thanks to the Animesque art style.
Norman crossed it in Osborn Academy when he coerced Herman and Clayton into fighting each other with their dangerous inventions for a spot at his school. That's nothing compared to "The Hobgoblin" though where, unlike his son, who took up the identity as a hero, he took it up in order to mold him in his image and smear Spider-Man's image. He then disowns him when he refused.
Keemia crossed it in Sandman when she remorselessly crushed her father with the intention of killing him. While Flint's fate is ambiguous at the moment, that doesn't make it any less heinous.
Adrian Toomes reveals himself to be one of the more vile iterations of his character when he turns New York into a battleground after taking over the Goblin Mech, hijacking civilian vehicles and even the suits of his own men all just to kill Spider-Man.
Venom's design (which is very pointy and has visible ears) and especially his voice comes off as being less threatening and more goofy, sounding like he's doing a Stage Whisper into a voice synthesizer.
"EDDIE? WE ARE VENOM. AND YOU ARE SPIDAH-MAAAAAN!!!" "USELESS TO DENYYYY! WE SHARE ALL THE DELICIOUS MEMORIES! LIKE WHEN YOU REJECTED US!!!" "I'NUFF!! RRAAAAHH!!!" "THIS ISN'T OVERRRRR...I'LL BE SEEING YOU SOON, SPIDAH-MAAAN!"
Similarly, Dark Goblin's strength and abilities are intimidating, but his face looks way too cartoony to take seriously.
Uncle Ben rewriting his usual quote as an equation. Goofy, but... d'awww.
The mostly serious "The Living Brain" has a funny moment where Beetle is surprised how he got Jack O'Lantern's gun that shoots candy corn. His "What the heck?" reaction sells it.
Let's just say that Gwen's more snotty behavior in "Osborn Academy" hasn't gone over well with everybody despite later episodes showing her with a kinder, softer personality and this kind of transition being exactly how things went with her comic book counterpart.
There's also the whole "importance of science" theming for people that either didn't like it or didn't care for it. Those same people think the show shoves that idea down their throats constantly despite later episodes toning it down and integrating it into the plot better.
Peter's lack of social skills and exaggerated geekiness is often listed as a reason people will give on Youtube for why they dislike this show. This trait of character really gets exaggerated in only the first few episodes, with later ones portraying him as a bit more balanced.
Flash rampaging as Venom while he was sleeping. In the original comics, the reason Peter had to discard the Symbiote was because it was controlling his body while he was sleeping, making him constantly tired during the day. Later incarnations downplayed that in favor of the Symbiote increasing Peter's aggression, which started in Spider-Man: The Animated Seriesnote Although, The Spectacular Spider-Man retained the part where the Symbiote controlled Spider-Man’s body while he was sleeping in addition to retaining a lot of elements from the Spider-Man: TAS version.
Robbie Daymond has voiced Spider-Man before, in the English dub of Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers. However, it's understandable that people wouldn't know about it since it never aired in the United States.
Harry taking up the mantle of the Hobgoblin dates back to the Ultimate Spider-Man comic books. The difference is that in this series, he took up the Hobgoblin identity as a willing hero. whereas his Ultimate incarnation was a Tragic Villain caught in the same accident that made Norman the Green Goblin and created Doctor Octopus.
Similarly Hobgoblin preceding the Green Goblin dates back to Spider-Man: The Animated Series where the Green Goblin was off limits in early seasons due to his role in a potential Spider-Man movie.
Padding: The second episode of the "Spider-Island" event. It features Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, and Black Widow fighting HYDRA. While the end of the episode does feature Gwen becoming a spider-creature, the episode is largely irrelevant to the "Spider-Island" arc, with neither Black Widow or HYDRA playing a part in the remaining acts.
The idea of Josh Freaking Keaton now voicing Norman Osborn threw many fans for a loop, since they believed that if you bring in Josh Keaton for a Spider-Man cartoon, you might as well have him voice the webslinger himself, or at least a good guy character. Of course, many of them changed their minds once they heard his take on Norman.
Ditto for Patton Oswalt as Uncle Ben. However, much like Keaton above, this lessened when viewers actually heard his performance. Oswalt would later voice the Chameleon in Season 2 in much the way he typically voices characters, making his warm, reserved, compassionate take on Uncle Ben stand out all the more.
The Scrappy: Much like in the comics, Regent is generally singled out as one of the weaker Arc Villains due to his abrupt introduction, poor characterization, and his fighting style derived from Power Copying being considered boring.
Seasonal Rot: The third and final season, Maximum Venom, is generally regarded as fairly weak compared to its predecessors due to all of them effectively being mini-movies, which exacerbated the already awkward pacing of the series, the season having to balance two major sub-plots (the Symbiote Invasion and Curt Conners' takeover of Horizon High), and ending with a few loose ends (such as Miles never reconciling with his father or Curt Conners' seemingly permanent transformation into the Lizard).
Sophomore Slump: The first half of Season 2 has been viewed as a considerable downgrade from Season 1. Aside from the debut of J. Jonah Jameson, Eddie Brock as Venom, and some decent overarching story pieces concerning Doc Ock's evolution into the Living Brain, the narrative focus in between episodes is not so strong, episodes such as "Rise Above It All" and "School of Hard Knocks" are viewed as being ultimately Filler, and both the season opener and the four part "Bring On The Bad Guys" events play out like disconnected short Spider-Man escapades shoved into single episodes just to throw in as many new members of Spidey's Rogues' Gallery as possible in case the series couldn't make it beyond this season (which, with the confirmation of the "Maximum Venom" season, it did, making the rushed introduction to all these bad guys feel extra needless in hindsight.) That it ended on the note of setting up an arc based on the polarizing Superior Spider-Man storyline from the comics and came out in the same year as better received Spider-Man products like Insomniac's Playstation 4 game and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse did even more to push this view on it. Thankfully, the second half has been seen as a tremendous improvement, with the Superior Spider-Man arc, and Doc Ock's redemption arc that came with it, surprisingly ending up as perhaps the best received part of the series has had to date, and many of the episodes retroactively justifying what had come before in the first half but had seemed like Filler at the time.
So Okay, It's Average: The show is generally considered a more memorable and well-written adaptation compared to Spidey's many more obscure series and is nigh-universally agreed to do the character more justice than its immediate predecessor (depending on who you ask at least), but many feel it still falls short of the golden standard set by The Spectacular Spider-Man and Spider-Man: TAS. The rather budget-friendly animation doesn't help matters.
Many fans dislike the fact that like most modern versions (particularly the live-action versions of Peter that are from the Sam RaimiSpider-Man Trilogy, Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man Series, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as the versions that are from the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book and cartoon that is only related to the comic by name), this Peter is way too cavalier about his Secret Identity and that in his first exhibition of powers, he does so in the open wearing teen costumes and then uses an absurd webbing based Domino Mask, showing none of the competence that the original 616!Peter (along with most animated versions of Peter) did in handling his identity. Design-wise. There are also certain fans that dislike the fact that this Peter has green eyes instead of having his usual brown, blue, or hazel eyes.
In-essence, some fans note that much like Spider-Man: Homecoming it dilutes the crucial unique quality of Peter Parker in the service of fitting him within a larger Shared Universe. Originally Peter was a Working-Class Hero who went to normal, regular, high school and got into college on scholarship, and was far smarter than his peers. While the show does emphasize his poor background and the effort it takes him to work around it, him being in a school of supergeniuses, personally recruited by the headmaster and mentor who sees how special Peter is, and his peers set to become superpowered in their own right removes any sense that Peter was the loner non-sidekick teenage hero who punched above his weight and resources, removing a lot of his underdog appeal and charm. Since the high-school kids are turned into Badass Bystander who can take care of themselves which more or less negates much of the tension and personal stakes for Peter in both his personal and superhero career.
The show's version of the Shocker is not overly popular, since he lacks several qualities of what makes the comics version beloved, such as his quilt costume or Consummate Professional personality, in addition to only being about Peter's age.
The episode Ultimate Spider-Man which shows Miles Morales's Origins Episode as Spider-Man raised eyebrows for how drastically different Miles's personality had become since the context of the reasons why he became Spider-Man was erased. The dynamic between Miles and Peter Parker (be it 616!Peter and Ultimate Peter) is in the comics that of a serious young aspiring superhero looking up to an Experienced Protagonist and Peter getting a chance to be Uncle Ben to a young hero. But within the show, the dynamic doesn't work because Miles is the same age as Peter, and a fellow student in the same school. Many also noted how weird it was that Show!Peter Parker who is canonically Spider-Man for less than a year is now suddenly taking on a mentor role to Miles. Likewise, Miles Morales suddenly claims he's a fan of Spider-Man when previous interactions showed no such trait. Likewise, the fact that a teenage Spider-Man suddenly has a doppelganger in his first year as a crimefighter raises questions as to why Peter has a quest and vocation to being Spider-Man. Not to mention Miles never officially adopts his own superhero name, just being referred to as Miles, even in the middle of a fight.
Some fans dislike the fact that Norman Osborn and his son Harry become the Hobgoblin instead of the Green Goblin. In fact, the Green Goblin is never featured in this series: the closest things we get to a Green Goblin are Adrian Toomes as the Goblin King in Season 2 and Norman Osborn as Dark Goblin in Season 3.
While fans are happy to see Black Cat again after her complete absence in Ultimate Spider-Man (and with her bad luck powers to boot), there have been complains that her Dating Catwoman relationship with Peter was Adapted Out (though, it's kind of justified since Peter is a minor and Felicia very likely isn't), leaving her little more than a generic female supervillain with none of the interesting dynamic the two characters usually have.
There are some fans that are a little annoyed Kamela joins the Avengers ahead of Peter in this rendition and is his "senior" in that regard having been a hero longer then he has (it's the other way around in the comics). Plus her more professional attitude compared to the more dorky but lovable personality she displays in the comics.
The fact that many of Spider-Man's more iconic villains, including Doc Ock, were de-aged into teenagers didn't really sit well with some fans. Many felt that being Peter Parker's age made them far less intimidating and further undermined Spider-Man's underdog status, since the people he fights are now just as young and inexperienced as he is, instead of being fully-grown adult criminals he needs to outsmart.
Herman Schultz / Shocker was never seen in "The Rise of Doc Ock", despite making it into Oz Academy. He definitely would've made the sixth member in the Sinister 6. Though he might never appear again due to the unfortunate passing of his voice actor, Cameron Boyce.
Out of the Spider-Heroes, Miles Morales, due to not joining the fray very much, which likely isn't helped by his borderline overpowered EMP ability (in a series where almost every antagonist uses technology in some capacity), but also getting the least Character Development, not really sliding out of his Plucky Comic Relief role.
Despite the focus on the venom symbiote, Eddie Brock somehow manages to not appear at all during the "Invasion" storyline of season 3. In addition, Anti-Venom shows up... for all of 5 minutes, and attached to Groot, completely cutting out Eddie's role in its origin.
Many fans wished that Harry Osborn wasn't sidelined after Season 1, due to his interesting chemistry with Peter, especially after he learns Peter and Spider-Man are one and the same and he becomes the Hobgoblin. His only significant appearances in Maximum Venom after his major role in the Season 2 finale are to help with the Symbiote crisis and wrap up his character arc with his father.
The Symbiote Sisters are important figures on the symbiote mythos on this series' universe, being the ones responsible for the creation of the Klyntar race as a whole, including Venom. Rather than spearheading the symbiote invasion on Earth and flesh out their characters, they appear on the last episode of the third season serving as a final, one-dimensional obstacle for the heroes without any proper introduction about who they are. In fact, they aren't even mentioned by their names and anyone who didn't saw "The Secret History of Venom" video will be left confused about who these characters were.
It's often lamented that Doctor Octopus's (albeit foregone) Face–Heel Turn took place in a very short timeframe (one episode as a hero, and the very next planting the seeds for his fall) rather than having him be a hero for a longer amount of time.
In Spider-Island, Gwen is the second to succumb to the Spider Monster transformation, and it's later revealed the Jackal is controlling them, but nothing is done with this in spite of the two being family.
A Season 2 trailer teased that J. Jonah Jameson would learn Peter was Spider-Man. This revelation is undone as quickly as it happens, and more or less just serves as a way for Peter to lose his job at the Daily Bugle, with Jameson being left more or less completely unchanged after the experience and barely appearing again afterwards.
The entire story of "Vengeance of Venom", the symbiotes successfully invading New York, infecting and controlling almost all of the heroes in the process, could've easily made up an entire season. Instead it all ends up being fixed in the last 10 minutes.
"Spider-Man Unmasked". Don't let the title fool you, while Peter Parker does get exposed as Spider-Man, it's only to Dr. Connors, Gwen, Anya, the school board and likely Norman Osborn, making the stakes quite lower than most identity reveal episodes. The only serious effects it has is Max getting fired and Gwen and Anya getting furious at Peter for most of the episode, not helped that this is side-tracked by the concurrent Swarm plot.
"Generations" reveals that Miles' father is the villain Swarm, who took up the mantle thinking how all heroes are bad. He's then crushed when it's revealed that his son Miles is a hero and he almost hurt him. This could've left a huge impact if not for the fact that this is his first appearance since season 1 . Because he didn't appear again until this episode and we don't see enough of him caring for Miles, it loses a lot of the impact it should have.
Tough Act to Follow: Both averted and played straight. Coming after Ultimate Spider-Man, which had an extremely polarizing reception mainly due its excessive zaniness and differences from the comics and most versions, hopes were high for this series. However, it's also coming after well-loved Spider-Man adaptations like Spider-Man: The Animated Series and The Spectacular Spider-Man, leading to frequent, often negative comparisons between them and this show, although it's still usually rated as So Okay, It's Average rather than outright bad.
Some would say Gwen and Anya fall into this during the second half of season 2 given that while Peter (actually Doc Ock in his body) was acting very rude and snobbish, they think that he's essentially a lost cause given how they don't really attempt to find out why he's acting this way. This is in stark contrast to everyone else where they try to help him, show some kind of regret, or at least take it easy when they feel something is off.
Art style aside, the sneak peek clip has won over most people thanks to more subdued humor and fun action.
The first short was even better received for focusing on Spider-Man elements and making Peter Adorkable.
The second Origin short showed more of Peter's Awesome by Analysis capabilities, figuring out rather quickly how his spider powers work.
The final Origin short greatly won people over by showing a much more emotional Peter, especially his gut-wrenching My God, What Have I Done?.
Black Cat is going to return for this series, after her near decade of not appearing in a Spider-Man cartoon. It gets better! This is the first animated Black Cat since Spider-Man (1981), to have her ability to manipulate bad luck.
): Knull is an ancient, nearly immortal being whose existence predates the universe itself. Bearing a hatred of the Celestials for bringing light to the cosmos, Knull goes to war with them, creating the first four Klyntar to use as weapons to slay most of them in combat and plunge most of the universe into darkness. Preparing to return to the void of existence after his war ends, Knull callously abandons his creations when their purpose is fulfilled, seeing them as nothing more than mere tools and showing no concern for them as he leaves them for dead. Vicious, cruel, and controlling, Knull is one of the most vile beings in the universe and responsible for every planet dominated by the Klyntar following their turn to conquest.