Out of the various Marvel shows and movies that have come into digital media, Stan Lee has been at the heart of them all. From stunning shows like Loki and Wandavision to the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lee has been an integral part of the franchise. However, live-action movies and television shows were not the only means of digital media.
Some of the most loved animated shows, including The Spectacular Spider-Man and What If…, have all made their mark as part of the franchise as well. While some were hit, others missed the spot, by margins at times. There was one show in particular that Stan Lee had a dismay for, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Had it not been so successful, there would have been a big chance Tom Holland may have never gotten the iconic role.
Stan Lee Did Not Like Working on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Written in the Reign of Marvel Studios, it was revealed that there was one show Stan Lee absolutely hated working on, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Back in the 1980s, Spider-Man was not regarded to be fit enough as a stand-alone hero despite his untapped potential. Lee was the narrator of the series but he was not fond of it.
“Those of you who were careless enough to tune into Spider-Man may have seen that he’s there with Iceman and a girl named Firestar as a team of three people… I’ll give you a little apology about that too. The way that it’s run in network television, it’s like when I was a consultant on a live-action series: you could go to a network and say, ‘Okay, we’ll buy it.’ But that doesn’t mean they’ll do it the way you want.”
As studios were unable to see just how much Spider-Man would sell standing on his own, he was teamed up with Iceman and Firestar. However, the show shined differently with the spotlight on the Webslinger. Unfortunately, that was not the direction in which Lee ever wanted the hero or the story to go, making him despise the series with a passion.
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Paved a Path No One Could Have Expected
Before Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Peter Parker was a hero not fit to shine on his own as per studios. He needed backing and some form of support. The success that the animated series brought paved a path that directed ideas driven solely on Spider-Man as the center of attention, something that could never have been thought about before.
Actors like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and especially Tom Holland, whose careers benefited greatly because of this one character, could have all seen a downfall had Peter Parker never been given a chance to rise. It would have been a domino effect of events undoing themselves.
