I recently rewatched through the entirety of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which I had fond memories of as a childhood, and which became the standard to which I held all future Spider-Man properties to. I had a real blast watching through that series again, and it brought back a great feeling of nostalgia for me. And for what it’s worth, it held up pretty well. However, I remember when I used to watch re-runs for Spider-Man: The Animated Series as a kid, there was another Spider-Man show that was airing at the time as well: Spider-Man Unlimited. I remember watching a little bit of it as a kid, but I just never seemed to gravitate towards it in the same way that I did the classic cartoon. So, after finishing my rewatch of The Animated Series, I decided to try to watch through Unlimited as well.

Spider-Man Unlimited has received a lot of criticism since it first aired, and most of it is justified. But I will say that if nothing else, I respect Spider-Man Unlimited for what it set out to do. This is easily the most unique Spider-Man cartoon to have been so far. That is because in this series, Spider-Man sets out to rescue J. Jonah Jameson’s son, John Jameson, who has gone on a space mission. Spider-Man’s mission finds him on Counter-Earth, which as the name implies is similar to our planet, but just has a lot of differences. The biggest difference is that there exists a race of creatures called Beastials, who are hybrids between humans and animals. These Beastials rule the planet, and have the humans under their thumb. The leader behind this is a villain known as the High Evolutionary. Spider-Man initially goes to Counter-Earth for the purpose of rescuing John Jameson, but soon finds himself wrapped up in a group of rebels who are trying to take down High Evolutionary.

Here’s the thing. You’re definitely getting a much different kind of Spider-Man story in Spider-Man Unlimited than you’re going to get with any other Spider-Man cartoon. And it’s for these reasons that I like what Unlimited sets out to do. Look, I’ve been reading, watching, and playing Spider-Man stories for over 20 years now, and so I’m always up for a new interpretation or twist on the character. The only problem here is that the story isn’t good.

I love the idea of Spider-Man being on some alternate Earth setting, but the whole Beastial storyline just didn’t work for me at all. High Evolutionary really isn’t all that compelling of a villain, and so this whole battle between the Beastials and the rebels just never clicked for me. That’s the main problem that Spider-Man Unlimited faces, but the trouble with that is that this is a very big and fundamental problem.

What I will compliment Spider-Man Unlimited on, though, is its overall aesthetic. Beginning with the theme song, the show is clearly going for a very different vibe than we’re used to. And look, I’m not gonna lie, I obviously do prefer the classic Spider-Man feel that something like the 90s animated series provided, but since I’m always open to different interpretations of the character I was definitely able to work with what this show had to offer. To me, my favorite thing about the series was its overall look. It goes for a comic-book feel with some really dark shading on the characters, and I really like how it all looks. It’s definitely different from the norm, but I think it works.

So the end result of Spider-Man Unlimited just ends up being unfortunate. I think this series had some real potential, and I would honestly love to see something like this explored again. If the show had a different story, this might have been one of my favorite alternative Spider-Man versions, but we just end up with a very uninteresting story to an otherwise promising show.

I didn’t hate Spider-Man Unlimited by any means, it’s just not anything special. Which is a shame, because I think it could have been. What we end up getting instead is a show that ultimately feels bland most of the time. I was just never gripped by any of it, when I really wanted to be. I don’t really recommend the show, but if you are a big Spider-Man fan like I am, I will at least say that it’s a short time commitment, coming in at just 13 half-hour episodes before it got canceled. This is the only season the show ever got, which is a shame considering it ends on a cliffhanger. Feel free to form your own opinion about this if you like seeing alternative versions of a beloved hero, but otherwise this definitely doesn’t rank among the best of the Spider-Man cartoons.

3/5