Can the Spectacular Spider-man Go Back?

Every now and then, a comic company decides to try take a licenced character and put a modern twist on the stories that the character began with. At heart, that's what The Spectacular Spider-man is; it's a modern adaptation of stories that took place over forty years ago. But is it wise?



The animated series, which airs on Kids'WB! saturday mornings at 10 a.m. ET, features Peter Parker back in high school sophomore year, trying to get by with his friends Gwen Stacey and Harry Osborn. That's right, Mary Jane has yet to appear in this series. The series also has a slew of villains planned, or at least one could assume so, because villain names appear frequently as supporting characters.

Eddie Brock is a prime example. Eddie is not a stupid weightlifter as he appears in the comics. He works for Curt Connors - that's right, another supporting character turned villain - in his lab, a lab Peter interned in until recently. They appear to have been good friends.

Needless to say, the villains in Spectacular Spider-man have played a prominent role thus far, and will doubtlessly continue to do so. Spidey's rogue's gallery has always been particularly strong, and it seems like a good way to keep things interesting while bringing the character back.

But can Peter Parker be brought back?

I am a young enough comic fan to not really remember Peter not married to Mary Jane. I remember seeing them be separated countless times, while editors wrestled with how to keep the two characters apart, and I certainly remember how Spider-man's snarky commentaries in battle (and damn it, J. Michael Straczynski, you will never take that from me). I'm glad they decided to use Gwen Stacey in this series, but that means a few things are going to have to happen.

First of all, they need to find a way to introduce her to a couple of generations of fans who have no idea who she is. That's the price you pay for having three blockbuster movies that royally fuck up the Gwen Stacey/Mary Jane aspect of Peter Parker's life.

Secondly, Gwen will totally have to die. It's going to be hard to pull that off on a children's television show on Saturday morning, but the real hard part is going to be handling the aftermath of Gwen's death tastefully as well. How is a children's television show going to deal with Peter's grief while somehow providing a happy ending for the fanbase? The obviously won't be able to introduce Mary Jane right away, and God knows how long the series is going to last after she dies before CW gives it the boot.

And they need to introduce Mary Jane if they're going to handle Harry Osborn's descent into madness properly, which they have to do if they want to give a full representation of that character's development. It should be really tricky to manuever their way through the next couple of years, and I highly doubt they'll be able to do it without upsetting either children or their fanbase.