The Spectacular Spider-Man talks about Disney’s replacement of the hero, killing him without properly informing him, inserting Drake Bell in his place. Although Spider-Man has been featured in animation for decades, one of the shows that continues to follow suit is The Spectacular Spider-Man, starring Josh Keaton as the web-slinger. Although it was brief, Keaton recently had a chance to return to the role through Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
However, Keaton has been opening up more about the Spider-Man experience in 2009 when The Spectacular Spider-Man was cancelled. During a recent live stream (via @SpiderMan3News), the popular voice actor revealed that he’s having to transition from his role as a Marvel icon midway through Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, to being replaced in favor of Avengers Assemble. was canceled as well. While he taped his big episode, Keaton revealed that he found out about the replacement on the day the episode aired, sharing the following story:
“It all happened after The Amazing Spider-Man Show, which I had finished taping, and I knew it wasn’t going to work. We didn’t know when I recorded it that Ultimate Spider-Man was going to happen.” We had little idea that the show was not being picked up because they were taking so long to inform us. We were never told that it would be canceled; they just didn’t tell us that they Wouldn’t take it back. Originally, they said they wanted to put us on their network, Disney XD, because it was a new network, and they wanted us to be the stars of the network. But then, they ordered the show. started showing it, they never ran it at the same time, and they didn’t do any promotion for it. So we were a little surprised: ‘They’re putting him here to die, aren’t they?’ Then when we didn’t hear anything about it, we knew they were probably closing the show.”
“But Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was going to be like my goodbye, so I was like, ‘Okay, that’s great! At least I’ll get to play Spider-Man one last time. It’s beautiful, it’s great. is fantastic.’ And then, the night it aired, I was going to watch it… I watched it, and I was like ‘Wow, that’s not my voice!’ He was pronouncing all the lines just like me probably because the animation was already done and so he heard that and repeated what I did, saying ‘now, you do it’. Then when I did the credits , Drake Bell said in it, and then he announced ‘We’re bringing Ultimate Spider-Man!’ And Drake Bell would be playing Ultimate Spider-Man. I thought, ‘This sucks! How disgusting that they did this to me!’ At least they could have called me and told me so I wouldn’t get so excited.”
The Spectacular Spider-Man was originally going to last at least five seasons, as creator Greg Weisman had in mind. The series initially began airing on The CW’s Kids’ WB block, until The Spectacular Spider-Man moved to Disney XD for a second season. While the television rights to Spider-Man were returned to Marvel in 2009, it was not initially decided whether the show would be cancelled. After Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment in December 2009, the decision to cancel The Spectacular Spider-Man was made in April 2010.
On the other hand, Ultimate Spider-Man surpassed The Spectacular Spider-Man. The animated series aired from April 1, 2012 to January 7, 2017, when it concluded with its fourth season before Disney XD premiered Marvel’s Spider-Man. During its run, Bell’s Spider-Man crossed over with other Marvel animated shows, including Avengers: Assemble.
As engrossed as he was in handling The Spectacular Spider-Man, it was great to see Keaton return for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, giving fans of the show a chance to see one of their favorite web – slingers. While this doesn’t mean The Spectacular Spider-Man will be picked up for a third season, perhaps Keaton will get a new guest appearance in next year’s Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.