Neil Patrick Harris’ most prominent work to date remains his portrayal of Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother. The sitcom ended more than nine years ago and yet the majority of his fans still recognize and admire him for his playing ‘Player King’ Barney, for whom no girl is too pretty in the famous sitcom.
However, before he smoothly strolled the streets of New York City as Barney to find women to impress, he played another character, who also smoothly went from one place (or building) to another in the same city, but to look for supervillains rather than pretty girls. He voiced Spider-Man in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series and showed great potential, but the show lost its way for multiple reasons.
Why Neil Patrick Harris’ Secret Marvel Superhero Role Failed to Attract Fans
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man introduced the new generation of moviegoers to the comic book character, Spider-Man in a huge way. The story of struggling kid Peter Parker and the transformation his personal life underwent after being bitten by a genetically altered spider resonated with millions and the movie smashed many box office records, grossing $825 million globally.
This proved to be a game-changer for Marvel figureheads and encouraged them to capitalize on the magic of their comic book superheroes even more, leading to the launch of a television series, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series the very next year.
Spider-Man was so successful that to this day it defines Toby Maguire‘s career. Similarly, Neil Patrick Harris was handed the opportunity to establish his name in Marvel folklore through the animated series.
Unfortunately, many fans didn’t pay much attention to Harris’ Web-Head, and those who were excited to see the crime-fighter extraordinaire in the animated world were left disappointed by how the story developed moving forward. The arrival of Maguire’s Spider-Man 2 pushed it further into the shadows and thwarted all continuity of the show.
It was canceled after one season, and these days only ever gets mentioned when fans reminisce about the potential it showed during its early stage. With more care, the show could’ve been a lot more than a cult classic.
Neil Patrick Harris Earned a Fortune Despite the Failure of His Marvel Show
The success of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series could’ve certainly given a whole different look to Harris’ career, and instead of being popular for playing a funny womanizer, he could’ve gained popularity for voicing Marvel’s most popular superhero.
While the actor couldn’t do much about the personalities of his characters (and their success) he did ensure his bank balance remained largely unaffected.
How I Met Your Mother mostly revolves around Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), who recounts to his children the events that led him to meet their mother. However, such was Harris’ screen presence that he emerged as the most popular character of the sitcom. And he clearly knew about his pedigree because he negotiated a bigger salary than any other cast member.
As per Screen Rant, in the final season of the show, the 50-year-old was earning $400,000 per episode, while his co-stars were taking home $225,000 each.
