Season 5 is the final season of the 90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and before I talk about my feelings on this particular season, I’d like to just say that it’s been a real joy to rewatch this series. I had so many fond memories of this show growing up, and this was definitely a huge nostalgia trip for me to be able to rewatch the whole thing. And for what it’s worth, I think it still holds up really well. I have yet to watch through any of the new Spider-Man shows from the past 20 years, but for me this is the golden standard that I hold a Spider-Man animated show to. I’ve seen all of the ones that came before this, and none of them even hold a candle to this. This show still holds up really well for anyone that’s just looking for a great Spider-Man series.

Anyway, I’ve commented in reviews of previous seasons how season 1 was kind of its own thing, being more of an “origins” season than anything, while the seasons that followed featured more continuous storylines and deep-dived into more substantial stories. Season 5 is kind of a completely different beast, which was an interesting choice for the final season of the show. Where seasons 2-4 had a set title preceding every episode title, season 5 has multiple ones, so there isn’t really one set continuous story for this season. The season is 13 episodes: the first episode is simply called “The Wedding,” then we get a five-part “Six Forgotten Warriors” story, a two-part “Return of Hydro-Man” story, a three-part “Secret Wars” story, and then end the series with a two-part “Spider Wars” story. I personally liked this format, as it gave some nice diversity to the storylines.

The problem is that not all of it is good. Thinking back on it, I guess for me it was really just the “Six Forgotten Warriors” storyline that I didn’t really care, which is unfortunately the longest one. It’s not bad by any means, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The rest of them were really interesting though.

Playing into what I said before about season 5 being a completely different beast, though, the weird thing about this season was just the direction that they took the show in. While other Marvel heroes/villains have appeared in this series, the focus was always on Spider-Man and his cast of characters, being a much more grounded and focused approach to the Spider-Man lore. However, then you look at something like the “Secret Wars” storyline in this season, and it features Spider-Man teaming up with Fantastic 4, Captain America, Iron Man, Storm, Black Cat, and Lizard to take down Doctor Doom, Red Skull, Doctor Octopus, and Alistair Smythe on an alien planet, under the direction of a cosmic being called the Beyonder. Or even then immediately after in “Spider Wars,” Spider-Man is teaming up with Spider-Men in alternate dimensions to take down a villainous Spider-Man named Spider-Carnage. I’m not saying these storylines are bad or anything, it’s just that it’s such a huge departure from what the show has been for its first four seasons. So, just know that going into it, because it’s pretty different.

Overall, though, I still really liked season 5 of the show. Again, my least favorite arc was the “Six Forgotten Warriors” story, but aside from that everything is still really solid in this season. It’s definitely different than what the previous seasons provided, but I liked it for what it was. I also think that it closes out the series in a great way. The final episode features one of the best Stan Lee cameos I’ve ever seen, and it hit me right in the heart, especially given Stan’s passing in 2018. But anyway, I think that this season is a strong send-off to a great show. Like I said at the beginning of the review, this is one of the best Spider-Man cartoons ever made, and I’m really happy to have rewatched it.

4/5