Spider-Man: The Animated Series' Long-Running Cliffhanger Will Be Resolved in a New Comic
The unfinished story of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson from the fifth season finale of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which aired in 1998, will be concluded on December 9 with Spider-Man '94 Annual #1, written by the series' original writer John Semper.
Murat İKİLİK··3 min read
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The unfinished story of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which went off the air nearly thirty years ago, will be concluded with an official sequel comic. John Semper, the series' original writer, has announced that he will write the script for Spider-Man '94 Annual #1, set to be published on December 9. The comic's artwork will be handled by Alessio Cammardella.
The series' fifth season finale aired on January 31, 1998. In that episode, Peter Parker had defeated his arch-nemesis and was seen preparing to reunite with Mary Jane Watson, from whom he had been separated due to clone and multiverse events. This meeting was planned to be resolved in the sixth season, but the series never returned.
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In a statement to CBR, Semper assessed the cliffhanger's impact on fans. Semper said he "didn't realize what kind of trauma it would cause in millions of children around the world" and that he didn't give them a closure. For the new Annual, he said, "This is me giving them that closure."
Over the years, Semper had shared some ideas about what the original sixth season could have been like. These ideas included possibilities such as the appearance of Ghost Rider and the emergence of Jack the Ripper as Carnage in a time travel to the 19th century. However, Spider-Man '94 Annual will not cover all of these ideas; according to Semper, the main goal is to conclude Peter and Mary Jane's story.
Last year, Marvel published the five-issue Spider-Man '94 series without Semper's involvement. This series continued Peter and Mary Jane's adventures but did not directly show how the two reunited. The couple also appeared briefly in the first season of X-Men '97. The new Annual, to be written by Semper, will take place between the fifth season finale and the beginning of Spider-Man '94.
Could the series be remade?
Some fans may be disappointed that the long-awaited return is happening in a comic rather than a true remake of the series. Marvel and Disney recently achieved great success with X-Men '97, a continuation of the original X-Men animated series. That series has just completed its second season and has been approved for two more seasons.
Still, Marvel and Disney are unlikely to take the same approach with Spider-Man: The Animated Series, as the series' major cliffhanger is set to be concluded in a comic. A possible remake could also complicate the plans of the current Spider-Man-focused series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, whose second season will air early next year.
