Ultimate Spider-Man: The Animated Series

Ultimate Spider-Man: the Animated Series, often shortened to Ultimate Spider-Man, is a series by PrimalFan. The series retells the origin story of Spider-Man, and chronicles his crime fighting career. Its genre is a mix of action and soap opera-esque drama, with sharp dialogue providing comedic relief.

The series is primarily inspired by the Ultimate Spider-Man comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley.

Characters

Main Characters

• Peter Parker / Spider-Man
• Mary Jane "MJ" Watson
• Aunt May
• Harry Osborn
• Eddie Brock
• Daily Bugle
  • J. Jonah Jameson
  • Ben Urich
  • Betty Brant

Villains

• Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
• Wilson Fisk / Kingpin
• Dr. Octopus
• The Enforcers
  • Mr. Big
  • Montana Bale / Shocker
  • Bruno Sanchez / Ox
  • Dan Crenshaw / Fancy Dan
• Electro
• Sandman
• Shaw / Scorpion

Season 1: Power and Responsibility

The season focuses on Peter Parker balancing his personal life as Peter Parker and the superhero Spider-Man, as he learns of the Kingpin. Wilson Fisk and Norman Osborn both compete to recreate the super soldier serum, escalating their rivalry into a gang war that Spider-Man tries to prevent. This season is primarily inspired by the Power and Responsibility and Learning Curve story arcs, with some inspiration from Double Trouble.

1. With Great Power
   • Overview: Peter Parker searches for his uncle's killer, tracing him to the criminal underworld. Realizing that there are more criminals harming people like his uncle, Peter decides to get a job at the Daily Bugle as a photographer, solving two issues; his family's financial situation with the death of his uncle, along with having the resources to get a lead on the head of the criminal underworld. He discovers the Enforcers, a group of hired hitmen working for someone known as the Kingpin. Spider-Man is unable to beat them, allowing them to get away and losing. He comes out knowing there's a Kingpin however, and he still has his family and friends to fall back on to support him.
   • 30 - 45 minutes
   • August 28th, 2020
2. Sidetracked
   • Overview: The Enforcers pull off a high-level theft from Oscorp, gaining a suit of armor. Spider-Man runs into the Enforcers again, managing to tie up everyone but Montana Bale. Montana Bale suits up with the armor stolen, and becomes the Shocker. As the Shocker, he manages to defeat Spider-Man with ease. Spider-Man goes home, preparing for a rematch with the Shocker while neglecting his responsibilities to his friend MJ. Challenging Shocker again, Spider-Man defeats him but realizes he has to honor his responsibilities; not just as Spider-Man, but as Peter Parker. Spider-Man learns the Enforcers report not to Kingpin, but someone below the Kingpin, known as Mr. Big.
   • 30 - 45 minutes
   • September 4th, 2020
3. The Cycle
   • Overview: The Kingpin realizes Spider-Man is a bigger threat than perceived, and sends Mr. Big to Oscorp, making a deal to create supervillains through bio-engineering. Norman Osborn accepts this, and they create their first subject, Electro. Max Dillion, a petty thief looking to clean his record, signs up for experimentation. The experiment fails, resulting in Max Dillion becoming electricity itself instead of just simply having electrical powers. He lashes out against Oscorp, and Spider-Man is forced to stop him, resulting in a success for both the Kingpin and Norman Osborn. Unknown to Spider-Man, any damage done to Oscorp is fixed by Damage Control, which the Kingpin owns. As a result, Spider-Man focuses on the villains at hand and not the greater threat of the Kingpin.
   • 30 - 45 minutes
   • September 11th, 2020
4. Discovery
   • Overview: Otto Octavius is worried people will catch onto Oscorp's illegal supervillain experimentation, however Norman Osborn and Mr. Big coerce him into creating their next subject; the Sandman. Flint Marko, a blue-collar criminal bested by Spider-Man, sees it as an opportunity to take down Spider-Man once and for all. Peter Parker lets his powers get to his head after recent successes, as he has opportunity to show-off on the basketball team against Flash Thompson and Kenny McFarlane. This confidence however puts off Harry Osborn, who's belittled by Norman for lacking the smarts Peter has (and now sportiness), and MJ who likes Peter for his sense of responsibility. Spider-Man takes down Sandman, with Peter realizing his powers aren't just used for everyday life but for his responsibilities. Spider-Man begins to question where these villains are coming from.
   • 30 - 45 minutes
   • September 18th, 2020
5. Wannabe
   • Overview: Norman Osborn's personal assistant, Maximus Gargan, is subject to Oscorp's latest supervillain bioengineering. Otto Octavius designs him after a scorpion, planning on creating the anti-Spider-Man. Using the Oz formula for the first time, Shaw's sanity lowers as he becomes an aggressive beast set on killing Spider-Man. Spider-Man has to outwit and defeat the Scorpion who's physically stronger, though not as mentally sound. After defeating the Scorpion, Peter uses the Scorpion for intel, learning the Kingpin's identity: Wilson Fisk.
   • 45 - 55 minutes
   • September 25th, 2020
6. Double Trouble
   • Overview: Dr. Otto Octavius tests his results of the recreated super soldier serum, but his experiment is sabotaged by Mr. Big, sent by the Kingpin to dismantle Oscorp's attempts. As Dr. Octopus, Octavius attacks Wilson Fisk, who he knows as the Kingpin. Spider-Man realizes this is all just a gambit from the Kingpin to sabotage Oscorp but doesn't have proof of it, and so is forced to defend Wilson Fisk. After defeating Dr. Octopus, Spider-Man sees an opportunity to talk to Fisk, with Fisk offering Spider-Man a paid job; look the other way from crime every now and then. Spider-Man rejects the offer and tries to attack Wilson Fisk who delivers a beating to Spider-Man. The NYPD arrive, putting out a warrant for Spider-Man as he was the instigator and there is no proof of Spider-Man's accusations.
   • 45 - 55 minutes
   • October 2nd, 2020
7. Growing Pains
   • Overview: Norman Osborn, having lost his military contract for the super soldier serum due to the events of Double Trouble, resorts to self-experimentation of the Oz formula. While going through the experiment, he recalls his early childhood and motive for wanting to gain power. Peter, meanwhile, is at MJ's house having been badly injured and with low spirits after becoming the public's enemy. He questions why he does what he does, as he recalls his origin which he tells MJ. MJ and Peter decided to go to the upcoming Fall Formal together. Both Norman Osborn and Peter Parker's resolve strengthens, becoming more motivated to take each other and the Kingpin down.
   • 30 - 45 minutes
   • October 9th, 2020
8. Powerless
   • Overview: It's Halloween, and that means it's the Fall Formal for Midtown High... but where's Peter Parker? Stuck in the crossfire of a gang war between the Green Goblin and Kingpin. Norman Osborn, having been thrown under the bus by Wilson Fisk, challenges him for the title of Kingpin of Crime at his ball gala. Mr. Big, conflicted by his promotion to Kingpin's personal enforcer and the morality of his actions, betrays Kingpin in a moment leading to his death. With Spider-Man's help, Ben Urich reports this to the public, using this as evidence to put away Kingpin. The Green Goblin goes missing, believed to be dead, which puts Harry Osborn in distraught. MJ and Harry begin to date each other after Peter bailed on her, with Harry leaning upon MJ after his father's death.
   • 45 - 55 minutes
   • October 31st, 2020

Season 2: Legacy

This season focuses on the legacy of characters, primarily Peter Parker and Eddie Brock's, the Osborn Legacy and Oscorp, and Fisk industries. Eddie Brock shows Peter a substance their fathers were working on to cure cancer, dubbed "The Suit." Harry is being set up to become the next CEO of Oscorp until he's of age, while struggling with exposure to the Oz formula and the history behind Oscorp. Fisk Industries would become a source of controversy, as the characters learn of the history behind it including the people it's wronged.

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Trivia

General

• PrimalFan, the author, wanted to do a series inspired by the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, since it was one of the major Spider-Man media that made him love the character.
• The author took a more streamlined approach to adapting the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, connecting multiple characters and storylines together to create a more cohesive storyline fit for a different media.
• The rest of the Ultimate universe isn't adapted, bar mentions of Captain America and the Ultimates. This is because the Ultimate universe is controversial, with Ultimate Spider-Man being one of the few titles that were consistently praised.
• This series is a fictional mock-up, this isn't a serious project that'll actually be realized as an animated series or anything, just a hypothetical take on what an Ultimate Spider-Man TV show could look like.

Season 1

• Every episode is named after an issue of the Ultimate Spider-Man comic.
• The first episode, "With Great Power," and the last episode, "Powerless," directly parallel with each other.
  • "With Great Power" introduces the Daily Bugle and the Kingpin, with "Powerless" having the Daily Bugle as the means Spider-Man uses to take down the Kingpin.
  • Both episodes end bittersweetly, although leaning more on "sweet," than bitter.
• Montana Bale and the Shocker are condensed into one character, like The Spectacular Spider-Man, since they both debut in the same arc and it'd allow for a more serious Shocker able to be used later on instead of comedic relief.
• Elements of the story arc Double Trouble are incorporated, since it's primarily focused on Doctor Octopus who debuts in Power and Responsibility, so the author wanted to condense his role into working for Oscorp (albeit in the USM comic, as a spy) and his downfall into Doctor Octopus.
  • This was also done because Electro was a villain in Learning Curve, having been a subject of bio-engineering by Justin Hammer (who Doctor Octopus targets in the comic Double Trouble) sold off to the Kingpin.
  • The overall theme of bio-engineering is also seen with Sandman, which is why he appears earlier, since he was a subject of it in the comic arc Double Trouble.
  • Justin Hammer doesn't appear however, his role condensed with Kingpin's. This was to simplify Electro's origin, and since there were many rich business men throughout the Ultimate Spider-Man comic involved in shady business and Hammer was one of the more minor ones.
• Spider-Man's origin is the main arc in the comic arc Power & Responsibility, however here his origin is relegated to one episode later on in the season. This was done because rehashing the origin as the first few episodes would've been too repetitive, and so instead it's done in media res to develop Peter's character.
  • It's juxtaposed against Norman Osborn's arc, which is a season-long arc on the other hand. This was inspired by Avatar the Last Airbender, primarily the episode "The Storm," where the main protagonist and antagonist's origins were juxtaposed against each other to reflect the same theme.
• Flint Marko's background is expanded upon, resembling 616 and most Spider-Man adaptations. The Ultimate comics notably didn't focus on him, so there isn't much background of him there.
• Mr. Big dying heroically is inspired by his 616 counterpart, to tie together the overall plotlines involving Kingpin.
• Eddie Brock appears earlier here, instead of debuting in the Venom story arc like in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. This is because it would've felt rushed introducing and then showing his downfall in the same season.
• Peter was made a photographer, like in 616, as it provides more agency seen within the plot, unlike a web developer role which can't be seen too often without getting repetitive.
• Scorpion is a composite character of Shaw and the Scorpion, being a personal assistant of Norman Osborn like Shaw with the title and powers of Scorpion. This was done because the first Scorpion is a clone (requiring the context of the Clone Saga, which is too early at this point), and the second one appeared after Peter Parker's death (with the source material for this series being everything up until The Death of Spider-Man).
• Scrapped concepts that may be repurposed in later seasons:
  • A Black Cat episode inspired by Cats & Kings.
  • A plotline involving Sam Bullit, again inspired by Cats & Kings, with him being a puppet for Wilson Fisk defaming Spider-Man.
  • A downer ending, with Spider-Man being at his lowest point at the end of the finale.
  • The Stacy's introduced, Gwen & Captain George Stacy, with George Stacy as a major character.
  • Jean DeWolffe appearing as a major character.