1x01 Great Power

[7.1/10] Eh, perfectly acceptable start to a new Spider-Man series. What I find intriguing about this one, is that it’s calibrated as though Spider-Man is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see: Nick Fury, the idolizing of Iron Man and Captain America, Shield being well-known, etc.), but it’s before, you know, Spider-Man actually entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s a nice setup in seeing how this show compares at doing something similar to what the MCU would eventually do with Tom Holland’s version of Spidey.

But there’s the usual growing pains and acclimation to a new series that always seem to happen for me. (I’m on Spider-Man series #5 here, if you can believe it.) First off, I’m not immediately sold on the voice actor portraying Peter here. There’s something a little too mannered about the performance that I can’t quite put my finger on, like he’s doing a reading for a school play, but perhaps he and I will settle into it as the series goes on.

I also have mixed, but largely positive feelings about the art style. I appreciate Ultimate Spider-Man veering toward a more realistic character and background design, that feels a bit like an update of the Spider-Man: The Animated Series approach I grew up with. That said, there’s a hint too much anime-influence on some of the character designs (though honestly, Venture Bros. feels like a stronger reference point), and some of the animation is more herky jerky than fluid. But art style is always an adjustment, and I imagine that within a few episodes, I won’t even think about it.

Otherwise there’s some other interesting stylistic and creative choices that I appreciated. I’d heard some folks complain about the cutaway gags in this series, but through the first episode at least, I liked them. (I particularly got a kick out of the one where Peter imagines himself next to Spider-Man in Spanish class.) It is an unexpected thrill to hear J.K. Simmons playing J. Jonah Jameson once more! And I also appreciate the art shifts and creatively animated interludes for when Spider-Man is explaining something.

That said, that’s my biggest complaint about this episode. There’s barely a story. It’s all essentially just one big info dump about the premise of the show, and how Spidey got his powers, and tons of details that are spelled out rather than integrated into the show in some organic way. I realize that this show was targeted at a younger audience, and so there’s liable to be some extra hand-holding, but at times this felt like a power point presentation of a primer on Spider-Man’s whole deal. In fact, you could probably dub this one “Tell don’t show: the episode!”

But hey, more than one pilot has suffered from being over-explain-y. There’s at least the basic idea that Spidey is trying to decide whether or not to accept Shield training. The lines about whether or not he should merely be an “amazing” Spider-Man or instead become the “ultimate” Spider-Man are pretty cheesy, but also accompanied by some pretty cool animation. The same goes for his fight with the fearsome four (which added to the Venture Bros. feel given the Phantom Limb-esque ringleader), which made for an enjoyable enough, if pretty empty calorie throwdown.

Overall, this is less an episode of television and more twenty-two minutes of throat-clearing, but assuming the show settles down on the overexplaining department post-pilot, there’s more than enough here to set the stage for a fun Spider-Man show.