Before Marvel began bringing its characters to life on film, they had a very popular and successful pre-existing life in animated television. Marvel’s animated projects are easily some of their most admired projects of all time. Whether it be an iconic series from the ’60s that defined the theme song for the one and only Spider-Man, a series from the ’90s that was so beloved it was brought back in the modern-day, or a gem that got a major motion picture to include that version of a character in it, Marvel Animation is very good at what they do.
Because Marvel has been running animated programming since the ’60s, most people’s (before those born past 2007) earliest memories of Marvel characters are from comics or animated projects. So many iconic theme songs, character designs, voice actors, and more. Because of how successful they’ve been, it only makes sense that major Marvel motion pictures take inspiration and reference their animated history.
10
Jean Gray Becomes Dark Phoenix
‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ (2006)
While the “Dark Phoenix Saga” storyline originated from the comic books, most people only know about the iconic X-Men story because of its extremely popular adaptation in X-Men: The Animated Series. Now, this television show is already hailed as one of Marvel’s best, but it also holds the right to say that many agree that it features the best iteration of the “Dark Phoenix Saga”.
So, despite being a comic story originally, because of how popular the animated iteration is, the first film adaptation took a lot of inspiration from X-Men: The Animated Series‘ version of the plot. Because of this, the film took a lot of imagery and moments from the show (despite how much the film genuinely butchered the storyline).
9
The ’60s Spider-Man Theme
‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ (2017)
There’s pretty much no superhero theme song that is more recognizable than that of the ’60s Spider-Man animated series. While it’s been lightly referenced in the past for comedy, like in Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, it’s been a wonder why a movie hasn’t used the song as a part of its legitimate score. Spider-Man: Homecoming changed this in 2017, though, during its opening titles.
While it doesn’t serve as the main theme suite for Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in Spider-Man: Homecoming, using it as the actual score for the opening titles segment was a great idea. This helped not only get people excited about the movie, but also gave them something they’re familiar with and comfortable with as they headed into a new era for the one and only Spider-Man. It had people smiling right off the bat and ensured a good time for theaters playing Spider-Man: Homecoming.
8
Gambit
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (2024)
If there’s a major highlight from the amazing X-Men: The Animated Series, it’s the inclusion and execution of the Gambit (Chris Potter) character. He even excited so many people when he got to return to the comeback series, X-Men ’97. What’s unique about Gambit, compared to other characters in the animated series, is that he pretty much got his start there. Gambit debuted in the comics only two years before the show’s pilot. So he didn’t get much traction in the comics before he blew up (pun intended) on the show.
Thanks to 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Gambit (Channing Tatum) finally got to appear in live-action. He has only ever appeared in animated projects, so him getting a metaphorical debut in an animated show and then finally appearing in Deadpool & Wolverine, definitely counts as a tribute to the animated shows of sorts.
7
Spider-Man Faces Lizard in the Sewers
‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ (2012)
One of the coolest adaptations of the Lizard comes from Spider-Man: The Animated Series, where the Wall Crawler has to face off with the scaled creature in the sewers underneath New York City. This served as not only the perfect place for a fight like this—it fits the Lizard’s (Joseph Campanella) vibe perfectly—but the setting provided a tone that made the fight even better. So, when it was announced that the badass Spider-Man villain was going to make his theatrical debut in The Amazing Spider-Man, fans hoped they would get a sewer fight scene like Spider-Man: The Animated Series did all the way back in 1994.
Thankfully, they were treated very well, as the fight scene in the sewer with the Lizard (Rhys Ifans) is one of the main set pieces in the film. Just like how Spider-Man: The Animated Series executed it, the way director Marc Webb depicted the sewer space made for a tone that felt dreary and suspenseful. The close-combat fight between Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) that ensues after Lizard jumps Spider-Man into his own trap is intense, thrilling, and an all-around great battle.
6
The Spider-Man Pointing Meme
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ (2018) and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)
One of the most legendary Spider-Man memes on the internet is a screenshot from a moment in the ’60s Spider-Man animated series where Spider-Man (Paul Soles) found a doppelgänger of himself, and they pointed at each other. It’s become so popular that it’s transcended the animated series and the internet, when the very meta Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse both referenced it in full force.
These movies have always been relatively meta in their comedy, so it only makes sense that they took from the internet for some inspiration. They do it in one small after-credits scene in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and then proceed to make it an entire joke when the Spider Society is told to chase Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
5
Hulk Catches Iron Man From Space
‘The Avengers’ (2012)
One of the biggest moments in Iron Man’s (Robert Downey Jr.) MCU career—an inciting incident, one could say—is when he takes the nuke sent to New York City and flies it into the alien wormhole above the city. It took the character arc he was heading down at the time and flipped it on its head. This moment changed Tony for the rest of his life going forward. He would have died from the impact of falling from space had the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) not saved him in an epic midair catch. This isn’t original to The Avengers, though. Almost this exact moment happened in an animated miniseries made in 2007 in preparation for Iron Man‘s release: Iron Man Advertorials (also called The Avengers vs. A.I.M.).
The scene is so borderline one-to-one that many speculate that Joss Whedon (director of The Avengers) saw the scene and simply decided to take it for the movie. It’s understandable, as this is an incredible scene, but genuinely so close it toes the line between referencing and copying. Marvel can’t really copy themselves, though, can they?
4
If This Be My Destiny
‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming is filled with some great references to old Spider-Man content, and one of the best moments in the movie takes from one of the best adaptations of the “If This Be My Destiny” storyline from The Amazing Spider-Man (1965) comic line: The Spectacular Spider-Man. This animated show is already known as one of the best Spider-Man series and depictions of all time. It’s masterfully written, directed, and performed. So, it would make sense that when wanting to adapt this scene in the 2017 flick, they clearly took some notes from how this phenomenal show did it.
When Spider-Man, voiced by Josh Keaton (one of the best Spider-Man actors), is trapped under a giant metal object in The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 2, Episode 4, “Shear Strength”, he goes through a very similar moment that Tom Holland’s Peter does in Spider-Man: Homecoming—where he, too, is stuck under a giant metal object. As water floods the room, Peter looks at himself in the water and finds renewed strength from the most important person in his life—The Spectacular Spider-Man‘s being Gwen Stacy (Lacey Chabert) and Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s being Aunt May (Marisa Tomei).
3
The ’60s Fantastic Four Series
‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ (2025)
In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it’s established that the 1967 The Fantastic Four animated show is canon and was actually produced in-universe. It crafts a joke surrounding Ben Grimm’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) usual catchphrase, “It’s clobberin’ time!”, which he says that he doesn’t say in real life. Fans get a great moment in the final battle, though, when he finally says it while attacking Galactus (Ralph Ineson).
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a movie filled with references and homages to the team’s past (especially their co-creator, Jack Kirby), so having a Fantastic Four cameo in the movie is really cute and a fun addition to the other references in the film. It’s especially special because of the film’s own setting in the ’60s.
2
The Spider-Verse
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ (2018), ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021), and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)
Fun fact: the Spider-Verse did not begin with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, or even the big comic crossover event written by Dan Slott. The first real multiversal crossover was in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, where Peter Parker (Christopher Daniel Barnes) is thrown into an adventure with a handful of other Spider-Men.
While this crossover is only with other Peter Parkers and not the likes of other Spider-People like Spider-Man 2099 or Miles Morales (who wasn’t even created yet), it’s a Spider-Verse nonetheless. This saga in Spider-Man: The Animated Series does not get recognized enough for being the product that introduced the world to a Spider-Man multiverse.
1
Spider-Man Fights Mysterio with Spider Sense
‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ (2019)
One of the coolest moments in Tom Holland and Jon Watts‘ Spider-Man: Far From Home is when Peter hones in on his Spider Sense (no, we’re not calling it the “Peter Tingle”) and fights Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) with his eyes closed and senses alone, is also a moment ripped straight from The Spectacular Spider-Man. In the animated series, Spider-Man puts a blindfold on himself while fighting the villain to ignore the illusions at play.
The Spider-Man: Far From Home moment is pretty much exactly how it’s done in The Spectacular Spider-Man (setting aside), which is good, because it’s a phenomenal moment. The Spectacular Spider-Man has always been incredibly good at executing great Spider-Man moments, so Spider-Man: Far From Home, taking some inspiration from it for a moment like this, was a great idea.
Spider-Man: Far from Home
- Release Date
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July 2, 2019
- Runtime
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129 Minutes
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Peter Parker / Spider-Man
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Jake Gyllenhaal
Quentin Beck / Mysterio
