by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor
It’s hard to believe, but it has been ten years since the premiere of The Spectacular Spider-Man. The definitive animated take on our favorite wall crawler had an extremely talented team behind the scenes for his 26 adventures, and ComicsOnline is proud to present the first of our two part series commemorating the tenth anniversary of the fan-favorite show.
To kick things off, we have brand new exclusive interviews with Greg Weisman (Supervising Producer), Victor Cook (Producer/Supervising Director), and Josh Keaton (Peter Parker/Spider-Man).
ComicsOnline: Of all of the fantastic moments in the series, what stands out to you as being the most memorable?
Victor Cook: Seeing the animation of the first promo we showed at 2007 San Diego Comic-Con. It was great to see squash and stretch animation we wanted pulled off so well. Another great memory was meeting Stan Lee when he came to record his cameo in episode 14, he signed my Spectacular Spider-Man poster and I geeked out a bit!
Greg Weisman: So many. But breaking the stories on the bulletin board is always a thrill for me when it all seems to be coming together. Also our first record with it’s huge (and hugely talented) cast sitting down for a rare and wild table read. And our final sound mix and party.
Josh Keaton: Getting to work regularly with so many talented voice actors for the first time. I had been involved in voice over for a long time prior to this, but this was the biggest role in an animated series I had ever done, and coming in every week to work with people like Kevin Michael Richardson, James Arnold Taylor, Steve Blum, Lacey Chabert, Vanessa Marshall – not to mention the rest of the talented cast and the amazing writing/production staff was/is one of my fondest memories. So many great friendships were forged by this show.
VC: I have a good one and bad one: A good surprise moment was when I saw the first animation from our winter episodes, I didn’t realize how much I was going to enjoy the look of them: the background design, the characters in jackets and the animation of snowfall and the cold breath effect during talking. The bad surprise moment was being told Kids WB was going to cease to exists just as we were starting season two.
GW: Vic’s idea to have Gobby’s pumpkin bombs <SCREAM> when they explode. Genius!
JK: Seeing Trish Helfer pull up to the session to record her role as Black Cat on her Harley completely decked out in black motorcycle leather. Spidey senses were tingling.
CO: What do you feel is your proudest achievement with regards to this series?
VC: The over the top action sequences and the length of them (they were not short), the cleverness of them and the quality of the squash and stretch animation. Being the first in animation to feature a teenage Peter Parker/Spider-Man, updating the classic Ditko-Lee / Romita-Lee eras and reimagining many of the characters with a diversity of ethnicities. Putting on screen for the first time many of Ditko’s symbolic graphic touches.
GW: I feel like we created something that is true to the characters, is largely timeless and even somewhat definitive. Pure. I wish it had gone longer, but I’m very proud of the 26 episodes we got to make.
JK: Faithfully playing Peter/Spidey to the best of my ability. As a lifelong Spidey fan, I wanted to make my portrayal of him as close to the original spirit of the comics and I believe I accomplished that. The writing and direction made it a breeze, though.
CO: In regards to audience response ten years later, how do you feel about the outpouring of support from the fans?
VC: The crew worked into the wee hours every day, pouring everything we loved about the character into the show. On the DVD box set, there is behind the scenes footage of Greg and I back in 2008 saying we set out to make THE animated Spider-Man show, the ONE that fans would say, even 20 years later, is the definitive Spider-Man. Ten years later, it warms my heart the fans are so fond of the show.
GW: It continues to be gratifying.
JK: I still can’t believe it. (Cue the Jeremy Piven Grosse Pointe Blank “TEN YEARS!” rant) It brings a huge smile to my face to see how many people still come up to me and tell me that Spectacular is their number one Spidey. It makes all of the getting bullied in high school a-la Peter worth it.
CO: What projects are you currently working on?
VC: I am Executive Producer of the Netflix original series, Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters. Streaming now are 13 episodes as well as a choose your own adventure style Interactive Event called “Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters THE BREAKOUT”. Season 2 will be out later in 2018. I am also Executive Producer for an upcoming Disney Jr show called T.O.T.S. which will premiere in 2019.
GW: Well, Young Justice Season Three comes out late this year. I have four novels – and one AudioPlay – available, as well: RAIN OF THE GHOSTS, SPIRITS OF ASH AND FOAM, WORLD OF WARCRAFT: TRAVELER, WORLD OF WARCRAFT: TRAVELER: THE SPIRAL PATH and the RAIN OF THE GHOSTS Full-Cast Unabridged Audio-Play.
JK: I’m currently voicing Black Paladin Shiro in Dreamworks’ Voltron on Netflix as well as the insufferable Gabe Bannerman on Spec Spidey alum Vic Cook’s new show Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters also on Netflix.
Special thanks to Greg, Vic, and Josh for the exclusive interviews.
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ComicsOnline has had the pleasure of knowing this team since just before the 2007 premiere, and we knew from Day 1 that this show was going to be something special. At this time, we would like to re-share our first article about the series, originally published in March 2007.
| WONDERCON 2007 COVERAGE: The Spectacular Spider-Man (WORLD PREMIERE) | ||
by Matt Sernaker, Senior Media Editor
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Swing back to ComicsOnline.com, this Wednesday (4/11/18) for the second installment of ComicsOnline exclusive celebration of The Spectacular Spider-Man, and check us out on on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and iTunes for more interviews, news, and everything geek pop culture!
