Marvel's Spider-Man (2017-2020): Horizon High, Doc Ock and the Disney XD Animated Series

The series at a glance

The series was announced in October 2016 at New York Comic Con by Cort Lane, senior vice-president of Marvel Animation and Family Entertainment, for a 2017 launch on Disney XD. He described it as the story of an ordinary teenager, Peter Parker, suddenly gifted with strange powers and crushing responsibilities. On the channel it followed Ultimate Spider-Man, a four-season series that ended in early January 2017. To place the series among the other adaptations, the chronological order of the animated series lists them by broadcast date, and our overview of Spider-Man cartoons reviews them all.

Origins: Kevin Shinick, Disney XD and the origin shorts

Kevin Shinick, a writer whose credits include Robot Chicken, Mad and Avengers Assemble, was announced in 2016 as head writer and supervising producer; in August 2017 Collider described him as the series' showrunner. Philip Pignotti, who came from Avengers Assemble and Ultimate Spider-Man, served as supervising director. The executive producers announced in 2016 were Alan Fine, Dan Buckley, Joe Quesada and Jeph Loeb. The launch date and voice cast were revealed at Disney's D23 Expo on 14 July 2017.

Six shorts tell the hero's origin story ahead of the series. In the first, Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider during a visit to Oscorp. In the series' origin story, Uncle Ben is killed by a thief Peter had let escape. That loss drives the young man to protect others with his powers; the comic and film versions of this moment are traced in how Uncle Ben died. The six shorts were gathered into a compilation titled 'Origins', dated 24 July 2017, which Wikipedia counts as the first episode of season 1, whereas epguides and TheTVDB do not. For comparison with the original character, the comic-book Peter Parker is profiled on our Peter Parker page.

Horizon High: a scientist Peter Parker

The big change in this series is the school. Peter Parker enrols at Horizon High, run by Max Modell, voiced by Fred Tatasciore. His best friend, Harry Osborn, initially attends a more prestigious rival school, Osborn Academy, and Peter hides his secret identity from him. That school gives its name to the third new episode, aired on 26 August 2017. The two boys' complicated friendship is explored in our portrait of Harry Osborn.

The future Doctor Octopus is not yet a mad scientist here: he teaches at Horizon High. In his review published by Collider on 18 August 2017, Dave Trumbore gave the hour-long first episode five stars and praised the series for refocusing on Peter Parker's scientific genius. The elite school recalls the Horizon Labs of the comics, where Peter works in the Big Time arc. Young fans of the series will find the hero among our Spider-Man soft toys and our children's costumes.

Spider-Man Cartoon Plush

Spider-Man in cartoon form, with a big head, large white eyes and a red-and-blue web suit: a 20 or 33 cm soft toy for young fans of the shows.

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Season 1 (2017-2018): from Venom to the birth of Doc Ock

The series premiered in the US on Saturday 19 August 2017 on Disney XD, with an hour-long premiere made up of both parts of 'Horizon High'. Episodes were also available the same day on the Disney XD app and on video on demand. Season 1 ran until 18 February 2018; it has 25 new episodes according to epguides and TheTVDB, or 26 according to Wikipedia, which adds the 'Origins' compilation. After 'Screwball Live', aired on 28 October 2017, it went on a break of nearly three months and returned on 21 January 2018.

The finale aired both parts of 'The Hobgoblin' back to back on Sunday 18 February 2018, half an hour apart: Doc Ock leads the Sinister Five, and Harry Osborn becomes the Hobgoblin. The villain with the mechanical arms is profiled in our portrait of Doctor Octopus, the comic-book Hobgoblin in our article on the Hobgoblin, and the comics event that inspired the 'Spider-Island' arc in our article on Spider-Island. In 2018, the series was nominated at the 45th Daytime Emmy Awards for sound editing in an animated programme.

Season 2 (2018-2019): Ghost-Spider, Superior and the Goblin War

Disney XD and Marvel announced a second season on 24 January 2018, at a time when rumours suggested Marvel intended to end its animated series on the channel. It began on Monday 18 June 2018 with two back-to-back episodes over an hour, the first titled 'How I Thwipped My Summer Vacation'. Peter is in his second year at Horizon High and works at the Daily Bugle to pay his tuition fees, while Doc Ock keeps putting obstacles in his way. The season features guest voices including Sofia Carson and Booboo Stewart, from Descendants, and NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney. According to the season's press release, Philip Pignotti shared the supervising director role with Dan Duncan, and the executive producers were Alan Fine, Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, Cort Lane and Eric Radomski.

It aired in two parts: thirteen episodes from 18 June to 13 August 2018, then, after a break of more than a year, the next thirteen from 8 September 2019. That day, in 'The Day Without Spider-Man', a device powered by the Blood Gem awakens Gwen Stacy's powers and she becomes Ghost-Spider. Next comes a five-episode arc, from 'My Own Worst Enemy' (15 September 2019) to 'Superior' (13 October 2019), inspired by Superior Spider-Man: as in the comics, Doctor Octopus takes over Spider-Man's body. The season wraps up with the four parts of 'Goblin War', aired every Sunday from 10 November to 1 December 2019: the Vulture, voiced by Alastair Duncan, is revealed as the leader of the Goblin Nation.

The super-powered Gwen Stacy who inspired the series was created by writer Jason Latour and artist Robbi Rodriguez; she first appeared in Edge of Spider-Verse #2, in 2014. Her story is told in our portrait of Spider-Gwen, and our Spider-Gwen products put her in the spotlight.

Spider-Man Figure - Spider-Gwen

Gwen Stacy in her hooded white-and-black suit and turquoise slippers, balanced on one hand: the comic-book Spider-Gwen who inspired the series' Ghost-Spider, as a statuette.

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Season 3 (2020): Maximum Venom

In late May 2019, Disney XD ordered a third season for spring 2020, titled 'Marvel's Spider-Man: Maximum Venom', announced by Marc Buhaj, the channel's senior vice-president of programming. The subtitle applies only to this season, made up of six hour-long specials aired on Disney XD and DisneyNOW from Sunday 19 April to 25 October 2020. Spider-Man is pushed to his limits when Venom brings a threat capable of devastating Earth from his home planet; the symbiote's journey in the comics is traced in the complete history of Venom and in our Venom and symbiotes page.

Season 3 marks Mary Jane Watson's first appearance in the series, voiced by Felicia Day. The same season brings in Sofia Wylie as Riri Williams, alias Ironheart, Yvette Nicole Brown as the Head Administrator, and Meg Donnelly, Kylee Russell and Carla Jeffery as the Symbiote Sisters: Scream, Scorn and Mania. Captain Marvel, Groot, Doctor Strange and Star-Lord also appear. On the voice side, Yuri Lowenthal voices Curt Connors, and Scott Menville, the voice of Doctor Octopus since season 1, also voices a new student, Grady Scraps. Each episode runs about 44 minutes, whereas those of the first two seasons fill a half-hour slot, or 21 to 22 minutes without adverts according to the wikis. Marsha Griffin, co-executive producer on season 2, joins executive producers Alan Fine, Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, Cort Lane and Eric Radomski for this final season. The comic-book versions of Scream and Mania, two of the three Symbiote Sisters, are profiled in our article on Scream and our article on Mania; Venom himself features among our Venom and symbiote figures.

The original voice cast

Two casting choices caught fans' attention. Josh Keaton, the voice of Peter Parker in The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-2009), a series whose chances of a comeback we weigh up elsewhere, voices Norman Osborn here. Yuri Lowenthal, who plays Curt Connors, is also the voice of Peter Parker in Insomniac's 2018 game. Joe Quesada, Marvel's chief creative officer and an executive producer on the series, also lends his voice to a character named Joe.

Anya Corazon, Peter's classmate at Horizon High, becomes Spider-Girl: as early as Comic-Con 2017, Cort Lane was presenting her as a future spider heroine in her own right. She is profiled in our portrait of Anya Corazon. Miles Morales, voiced by Nadji Jeter, is profiled in who is Miles Morales, and our Miles Morales products are dedicated to him. In France, the series aired on Disney XD from Sunday 10 September 2017 according to Wikipedia, then on France 4 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 September 2018; season 3 arrived on Disney+ there on 5 January 2022. The French voices of the web-slinger in films and video games are covered in who voices Spider-Man in French.

An ending with no season 4

The series ended after three seasons, with a final episode aired on 25 October 2020; no season 4 followed. No official cancellation announcement has been found.

For the bedroom, young fans of the series will find the hero on our Spider-Man posters and our duvet covers, and for school on our children's T-shirts; our Spider-Man for kids page sorts ideas by need.

Spider-Man Cartoon Poster

A miniature Spider-Man in a fighting stance on a bright red background, with 'SPIDERMAN' in white letters above: a poster for the bedroom, from 20 × 30 to 55 × 80 cm.

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Key takeaways