With Avengers Secret Wars coming to the MCU in 2025. We thought it’d be fun to look back at Spider-Man The Animated Series: Secret Wars. This 3 part arc of the classic 90’s series was inspired by the 1984 Secret Wars comics. These 3 episodes showed us heroes and villains from across the Marvel Animated Universe coming together for the ultimate battle against good and evil!
Written, Edited, and Hosted by Colton Ogburn ( / colton_tho )
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Spider-Man: Secret Wars is a three part arc of the classic animated series inspired by the original 1984 Secret Wars comic book series. The MCU’s Secret Wars will certainly be taking inspiration from the 84 comics. But even more so the 2015 Secret Wars comics that brought the multiverse into play.
Without diving too deep into the plot of the 84 comics, we’ll save that for another time. Secret Wars was marvel comics first big crossover event. The series was made because the toy company, Mattel, wanted a big event comic to essentially advertise a new line of action figures.
And so Secret Wars was born, a comic that featured a lineup of Marvel’s greatest superheroes and supervillains being transported to a planet known as battle world to engage in an epic battle of good and evil. The perfect story to sell a lot of toys. [clip]
Okay, so, back in the 90’s, before the MCU, we had what’s known as the MAU. The Marvel Animated Universe.
This universe consisted of the iconic X-Men the Animated Series, Iron Man, Fantastic 4, The Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer, The Avengers United They Stand, and of course Spider-man the Animated Series and it’s sequel series, Spider-Man Unlimited.
Anyway, in this three part arc of Spider-Man the Animated Series. We get to see Spider-Man team up with fellow superheroes Iron Man, Captain America, The Fantastic 4, and the X-Men’s Ororo Munroe, AKA Storm.
Now like I said, this arc was inspired by the original 84 comic line. But it was a rather loose adaptation.
First of all there were a lot fewer characters in this iteration of the story. Some notable omissions were characters like Magneto, the Hulk, She-Hulk, Thor, Professor X, Captain Marvel, and more.
Even with three 20 minute episodes, the story does feel very rushed. So the decision to reduce the number of characters was understandable. And we have to remember that this is a Spider-Man centric story.
Chapter One: Arrival. Picks up where the previous episode of Spider-Man left off. Spider-Man is with Madam Web, and she is teasing his next big mission.
We’re then introduced to the cosmic god-like being, the Beyonder.
The Beyonder wants Spider-Man to lead a team of heroes in the ultimate battle of good vs evil.
First The Beyonder gathers a group of super villains from earth including Doctor Octopus, Doctor Doom, Alistair Smythe, the Lizard, and the Red Skull. He then transports these villains to an alien planet far from earth that’s essentially a utopian society. [clip]
The beyonder then accelerates time one year on the planet showing how the villains presence has negatively impacted it. [spider-man sick burn]
Spider-Man is then sent to the planet where he must choose a team of heroes to assist him in taking on the villains.
He selects the Fantastic 4 since they’ve had experience with Doctor Doom, his old friend Iron Man, Captain America since he has experience with the Red Skull.
We then see a few members of the X-Men suggested as Spidey scroll through essentially a superhero database, and he ultimately chooses Storm.
Once all the heroes are gathered you get your classic “let them fight” scene.
And then enters the Lizard.
Once everyone has cooled down The Thing says-
Which is funny because he has no ears.
Spider-Man then explains why they’re all there and what they must do to get home.
Then they fight some more and the Lizard escapes.
They all go after him and when running through the desert they encounter giant laser shooting sand monsters.