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Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Beginning date September 12, 1981
End date September 10, 1983
Number of Episodes 24
Season One
Season Two
Season Three
Original Channel NBC
Previous Series Spider-Man
Next Series The Incredible Hulk
Not to be confused with the similarly titled series Spidey and His Amazing Friends.

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is a series that ran from September 12, 1981 to September 10, 1983. It is the third Spider-Man series after Spider-Man and Spider-Man and the first team-based series.

In the series, Spider-Man teams up with Firestar and Iceman as part of the Spider-Friends to fight the forces of evil.

Background[]

Firestar, Hiawatha Smith, Lightwave, Videoman, and Francis Byte were created specifically for the series. Firestar has since been adapted into the comics.

Producer and story editor Dennis Marks admits that Hiawatha Smith was based on Indiana Jones.

Continuity[]

Although airing concurrently with Spider-Man this was seen as a sequel to the other series. Both series used the same animation studio using the same style. Green Goblin appeared in both and both series had him transform into the goblin rather than wear a costume as the comics did.

Cementing a tie, this series' episode "The Prison Plot" used footage from "When Magneto Speaks...People Listen" as a flashback.

Continuity wise Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends should actually take place before Spider-Man. In "The Crime of All Centuries" this is apparently the first time that Spider-Man has encountered Kraven the Hunter. Kraven even tricks Firestar into thinking he is a nice guy and she develops a crush on him. If Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends were to take place after Spider-Man then why didn't Spider-Man warn Firestar about Kraven? Additionally, in "The Hunter and the Hunted" Spider-Man states that he had fought Kraven on several other occasions. Also, in "Countdown to Doom", Boris Karela betrays Doctor Doom and Doctor Doom is apparently killed, but in "The Fantastic Mr. Frump", Boris is shown to still be working for Doctor Doom who is still alive.

This, Spider-Man, and The Incredible Hulk are all part of the Marvel Productions Universe.

In the episode "A Fire-Star Is Born" Wolverine speaks with an Australian accent. Though unrelated to the series this change was carried over to the character in "Pryde of the X-Men".

Cast[]

Actor Role(s)
Dan Gilvezan Spider-Man
Arachnoid
Frank Welker Iceman
Mr. Jones
Flash Thompson
Francis Byte
Matt Murdock
Ms. Lion
Ben Parker
Kathy Garver Firestar
June Foray May Parker
Dick Tufeld
Stan Lee
Narrator
William Woodson J. Jonah Jameson
Namor
Anne Lockhart Lightwave
Michael Ansara Hiawatha Smith
Michael Bell Doctor Octopus
William Callaway Angel
Hans Conried Chameleon
Peter Cullen Hulk
Bruce Banner
Mysterio
Red Skull
Jerry Dexter Sunfire
George DiCenzo Captain America
Lance Macho
Walker Edmiston Frankenstein's Monster
Kingpin
Al Fann Swarm
Stanley Jones Dean Wilmer
Count Dracula
Cyclops
Nightcrawler
Professor X
Sally Julian Ariel
Mona Osborn
Chris Latta Beetle
Sandman
Annie Lockhart Honey Dove
Storm
Keye Luke Genju
Dennis Marks Faustus
Green Goblin
William H. Marshall Juggernaut
Tony Stark
Alan Melvin Electro
Shepard Menkin Doctor Doom
Robert Ridgely Kraven the Hunter
Neil Ross Cyclops
Norman Osborn
Wolverine
Michael Rye Magneto
Marilyn Schreffler Bonnie
John Stephenson Colossus
Eric the Red
Mordred
Shocker
Thunderbird
Ymir
Janet Waldo Shanna
Zerona
Alan Young Frump
Alan Dinehart
Michael Evans
John Haymer
Additional Voices

Neil Ross reprised his role as Norman Osborn from Spider-Man, though was replaced as Green Goblin. He would go on to voice both Osborn and Goblin on Spider-Man. He also went on to play Wolverine on "Pryde of the X-Men".

Episodes[]

The series lasted twenty-four episodes over three seasons.

It aired concurrently with Spider-Man as part of the Marvel Action Universe, not to be confused with the 1990s programming titled The Marvel Action Universe.

It then aired with The Incredible Hulk and was sometimes called The Incredible Hulk and the Amazing Spider-Man during the second season. During the third season it was called The Amazing Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk.

Reception[]

In January 2009, IGN dubbed this series the 59th best animated television series. It beat Spider-Man at 84. The Spectacular Spider-Man and X-Men are the only two Marvel series to beat this series at 30 and 13, respectively. [1]

In the 2009 video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 if the player chooses the Anti-Registration side you can talk to Firestar and ask how she feels teaming up with her old buddies Spider-Man and Iceman again, a reference to this series.

Dan Gilvezan joined Spider-Man's Christopher Daniel Barnes, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series's Neil Patrick Harris, and The Spectacular Spider-Man's Josh Keaton in the video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions playing Spider-Man 2099.

Marvel reedited and redubbed footage of this series, along with Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk, into funny segments called "Marvel Mash-Up". The segments appeared on Disney XD along with The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Ultimate Spider-Man.

Rotten Tomatoes ranked the series among its top one-hundred superhero series with this series at forty-eight above Big Hero 6: The Series at one-hundred Spider-Woman at eighty-nine, Iron Man: Armored Adventures at eighty-six, Ultimate Spider-Man at eighty-three, Spider-Man Unlimited at seventy-three, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes at sixty-nine, The Super Hero Squad Show at sixty-eight, X-Men: Evolution at sixty-six, Fantastic Four at sixty-four, Avengers Assemble at fifty-eight, Guardians of the Galaxy at fifty-five, The Marvel Super Heroes at fifty-one and below The Spectacular Spider-Man at forty-six, Spider-Man at forty, Spider-Man at nineteen, and X-Men at five.[1]

References[]

External Links[]

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Episodes
Season One "The Triumph of the Green Goblin" • "The Crime of All Centuries" • "The Fantastic Mr. Frump" • "Sunfire" • "Swarm" • "7 Little Superheroes" • "Videoman" • "The Prison Plot" • "Spidey Goes Hollywood" • "The Vengeance of Loki" • "Knights and Demons" • "Pawns of the Kingpin" • "The Quest of the Red Skull" •
Season Two "The Origin of The Iceman" • "Along Came Spidey" • "A Firestar Is Born"
Season Three "Spider-Man Unmasked!" • "The Bride of Dracula!" • "The Education of a Superhero" • "Attack of the Arachnoid" • "The Origin of the Spider-Friends" • "Spidey Meets the Girl from Tomorrow" • "The X-Men Adventure" • "Mission: Save the GuardStar"
Marvel Productions Universe
Spider-ManSpider-Man and His Amazing FriendsThe Incredible HulkSpider-Man Safety Series
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