The animated series based on Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, produced and written by John Semper, aired on the Fox Kids Network from 1994 to 1998. The five-season animated series concluded with the introduction of the Spider-Verse storyline, which went on to inspire similar narratives in various Spider-Man comic books, cartoons, and movies.
Christopher Daniel Barnes voiced the character of Peter Parker, a.k.a., Spider-Man, in the series. The animated series is regarded as one of the greatest animated series made for Spider-Man. John Semper served as the head writer of the series, and in his interview, he explained the arc of Mary Jane Watson falling off the bridge and coming back later as a clone.
John Semper explains Mary Jane Watson’s unfortunate fate arc
In his interview with The Ryan Stick Show, the head writer and producer of Spider-Man: The Animated Series was asked about Mary Jane’s arch and unfortunate fate. Which he said that as a kid, when he read the comic book, he was blown away by it, in addition to the turning arch where Green Goblin figures out that Peter Parker is the real Spider-Man.
The head writer noted that he had the same reaction to the scene as everyone else had when they witnessed the X-Men crossover or found out that Mary Jane was not the real Mary Jane but a clone. He further said,
“I absolutely knew that at some point I wanted to bring those to life. I maybe even knew that from the very beginning, and I was just waiting, you know, so that I knew that I was going to bring in the Green Goblin. I was going to build him up, knowing that it was going to be a turning point.”
Semper noted during the conversation that he just needed to figure out who was going to be the one falling off the bridge and dying. He pointed out that by that time, they had already done the spot and created a time-dilation portal machine which he mentioned he thought of as a great metaphor of death. He mentioned that he wondered what would happen if the time dilation machine fell off the bridge.
During the conversation, it was mentioned that Peter Parker did not know that Mary Jane fell through the portal, and without being dead, she was dead, which Semper said was very clever of them to pull off. He says it’s almost like a milestone for him, so every time he sees that on screen, he feels proud of that moment.
At the time, John Semper said everything in Spider-Man comics was ‘clone crap’ and he thought if he was going to do clones, he is going to do it better than the comic book writers. He also added about how Spider-Man on the bridge had an inner dialogue moment which before the series was only shown in animes. He said,
“Animation writers are better than comic book writers, and that’s my own particular bias.”
John Semper noted that at one point it was just him working on getting the show made, and he was left alone, pointing out that there was no interference from Marvel at the time as they were on the verge of bankruptcy. So he relied on Avi Arad and his staff at the time to carry on the show that came straight from his mind. The show was cancelled after five seasons and sixty five episodes.
Spider-Man’s Clone Saga is regarded as the most controversial storylines
The Clone Saga in Spider-Man: The Animated Series was one of the most controversial stories, which was initially intended to simplify Spider-Man’s mythology but resulted in complicating it even more. The fifth season of the series was inspired by the Clone Saga and took a different approach.
Despite including the Clone Saga arc in the storyline, the writers of the show made sure that everyone knew that they hated the Clone Saga arc. Peter Parker in John Semper’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series was taken to an alternate universe and was driven insane after merging with the Carnage symbiote.
The writer felt that the Clone Saga was too important to Spider-Man’s mythos to ignore. One of the reasons why the audience does not like Spider-Man’s Clone Saga is probably because it is considered as a bad comic book, adding that the story keeps getting entangled amongst each other and it’s a struggle to keep track of it.
John Semper admitted that he thinks his Spider-Man is unique because it was just him writing it down for the screen compared to how the studios won’t allow a single person to lead an animated show.
Spider-Man: The Animated Series is available on Disney+.
