Spider-Man isn't quite the hot topic anymore, is he? It seemed that when the movie released a few months ago, the web slinger was everywhere. But fans of the Marvel franchise need not worry, because your friendly neighborhood spider is returning to the limelight on the small screen early next year.
The Buzz-Wire reported months ago that a new Spidey series was being produced by Mainframe Entertainment—the studio behind Reboot. If you remember Reboot's style, then you you would have been right to guess that MTV's Spider-Man will be computer animated. The entire series is drawn in 3D with the use of "cel-shading," a popular style that borders all objects with black lines to give it a hand-drawn appearance. Why they didn't hand-draw it in the first place, I don't know. For examples the cel-shading technique, look no further than Xbox's Jet Set Radio Future or the upcoming GameCube Zelda. It's become a very popular style in video games.
Spider-Man will reportedly be more mature than the old Fox Spider-Man cartoon from the mid-1990s. Between this and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it seems everything new is old again. But I'm all for it because everything old hauled big time [butt].
Here are some straight facts on MTV's Spider-Man:
- Neil Patrick Harris will voice Peter Parker and Spider-Man. What, the name doesn't ring a bell? Remember the show Doogie Howser? Remember Doogie? Bingo. Another recognizable voice will be Ian Ziering's, who lends his talent for Harry Osborn. Ziering, of course, was Steve on Beverly Hills 90210. Don't be ashamed, I watched it, too— sometimes.
- The series starts with Peter in college, juggling the usual: academics, work, his relationship with Mary Jane and beating the crap out of super-villains. If the show follows the typical MTV formula, the backdrop to all of Peter's hijinks will no doubt feature "hip," new music from all your favorite (overrated) pop-culure acts, such as Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Puddle of Mudd.
- Did I forget to mention that rapper Eve and rocker Rob Zombie also lend their voices to characters in the show? Yep, Black Cat and the Lizard get the star treatment, respectively. Other celebrity musicians, such as Pink, have also been rumored to be working on the project
Don't worry, MTV Spider-Man should still be decent. Will it be better than Fox's? I'm going to go out on an ignorant, uneducated limb (can limbs be ignorant and uneducated?) and say heck no. Shoddy computer animation ... Eve ... Pink ... Rob Zombie ... Crappy music playing in the background? AHHHH! The show will succeed despite these crossover factors, not because of them.
Chris Douvalas
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