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Tom Russell
Published 14 minutes ago
Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering all things Classic TV from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi.
Initially he was an Updates writer, though before long he found his way to the Classic TV team. He now spends his days keeping Screen Rant readers informed about the TV shows of yesteryear, whether it's recommending hidden gems that may have been missed by genre fans or deep diving into ways your favorite shows have (or haven't) stood the test of time.
Tom is based in the UK and when he's not writing about TV shows, he's watching them. He's also an avid horror fiction writer, gamer, and has a Dungeons and Dragons habit that he tries (and fails) to keep in check.
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Spider-Man: The Animated Series remains one of the most memorable takes on the wall-crawler, even decades after its 1990s run. Among the many animated adaptations of Spidey, it stood out for how boldly it translated comic book material to television.
It wasn’t just faithful and energetic, it was easily one of the darkest Spider-Man shows ever made, unafraid to push boundaries rarely seen in kids animation. Other Spider-Man cartoons leaned hard into safer Saturday morning conventions. Earlier iterations from the 1960s and 1980s were light on narrative and heavy on filler, while later shows often softened anything too intense
Spider-Man: The Animated Series, however, consistently refused to dilute its ideas and imagery. From shocking body horror to psychological breakdowns, Spider-Man: TAS frequently delivered stories and scenes that felt more suited to late-night animation than a daytime kids block. It regularly seemed to forget it was aimed at children, and that’s exactly why so many of its darkest moments are impossible to forget.
Doc Connor’s Transformation
A Full-On Transformation Sequence Made The Series’ Body Horror Unforgettable
Few scenes announced the tone of Spider-Man: The Animated Series quite like Dr. Curt Connors’ unsettling metamorphosis in “Night of the Lizard”, the show’s very first episode. Instead of cutting away, the show leaned into full body horror. Viewers watched Connors’ skin ripple, his posture contort, and his features distort as he transformed into the Lizard in grisly detail.
No attempts were made to soften the blow. When introducing The Lizard, Spider-Man: TAS animators showcased every stage of his change; the claws forming, the eyes shifting, the jaw elongating, everything was on display. It was an unusually graphic depiction for children’s television, especially in a premiere episode meant to introduce the series’ tone.
The sequence set a precedent for how far the show would push its horror elements. For many fans, this moment remains the first sign that Spider-Man: The Animated Series would not shy away from uncomfortable imagery. It’s a defining early example of how the show embraced its darkest moments and dared to deliver nightmare fuel-level visuals.
The Downfall Of Alistair Smythe
Smythe’s Tragic Spiral Turned A Genius Inventor Into A Mindless Monster
Alistair Smythe was introduced in Spider-Man: The Animated Series as a brilliant inventor confined to a wheelchair, but his storyline quickly devolved into one of the bleakest arcs in the show. His transformation into the Ultimate Spider-Slayer, a living cyborg with restricted free will, was already disturbing, as his humanity was systematically stripped away in service of greater power.
Things only worsened when he was later injected with a serum that mutated him further, twisting his body into a monstrous form completely beyond his control. The physical horror alone was intense, but the emotional fallout made it even darker. Smythe learned that everything he’d fought for had been manipulated by the very man responsible for his father’s supposed death, Spider-Man: TAS's Kingpin.
Even when it was later revealed that his father was in suspended animation rather than dead, the psychological toll of the deception remained severe. Smythe's storyline in Spider-Man: TAS is a chilling exploration of exploitation and loss of autonomy, making it one of the show’s most shockingly grim character journeys.
Herbert Landon Becomes A Monster
A Mutant-Hating Scientist Ended Up Suffering A Gruesome Fate That Shocked Audiences
Herbert Landon was an anti-mutant zealot whose experiments were meant to eradicate mutantkind, and a pivotal part in Spider-Man crossing over with the X-Men cartoon. In the episode “Mutant’s Revenge,” however, his hubris backfired catastrophically. A serum he engineered ended up transforming him into a hulking, twisted creature. The way this was depicted clashed hard with what most viewers expected from a weekday cartoon.
The animators didn’t shy away from the grotesque nature of this Spider-Man villain's new form. His limbs elongated, his skin warped, and his face reshaped into something barely recognizable as human. The monstrous design was more reminiscent of horror animation than superhero fare, emphasizing the brutality of his downfall.
What made the moment even darker was that Landon remained conscious, aware of what he had become. He couldn’t escape the consequences of his hatred or the terror of his own reflection. The tragedy behind his mutation, combined with the disturbing visuals, cemented this storyline as one of the most grisly inclusions in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
Morbius’s Suction Cup Hands
Morbius’ Plasma-Draining Hands Looked More Disturbing Than Any Vampire Bite Could
Introducing a vampire character into a kids cartoon required creative censorship, but the solution Spider-Man: TAS came up with for Michael Morbius was arguably more horrifying than traditional fangs. Rather than biting victims, Morbius drained plasma through ghastly suction cups embedded in his palms, a design that veered straight into Lovecraftian nightmare territory.
The moment Morbius first used these appendages was particularly unsettling. The close-up shots of the pulsating holes and their eerie grip on his victims created imagery that was unique, bizarre, and genuinely frightening. Instead of making the concept safer, the workaround amplified its body horror.
Morbius’ mutation itself was already creepy, but the decision to replace a classic vampire trope with something so alien intensified the discomfort. The show leaned into the uncanny, turning a censorship limitation into one of the darkest Spider-Man animated series moments. It remains one of the most unsettling character redesigns in the entire franchise.
Harry Osborn’s Descent Into Madness
Harry’s Psychological Collapse Was Portrayed With Rare Intensity For A Kids Show
Harry Osborn has one of the most emotionally devastating arcs in any version of Spider-Man, culminating in his transformation into the Green Goblin, and The Animated Series didn’t shy away from this. Unlike many children’s cartoons that gloss over mental health struggles, the show depicted Harry’s psychological collapse with startling seriousness. It treated his trauma as a slow, suffocating unraveling rather than a quick plot twist.
His visions of the Green Goblin, and the voice that tormented him, were depicted in Spider-Man: The Animated Series with haunting sound design and disorienting visuals. The show allowed viewers to experience his fear and confusion firsthand, presenting his hallucinations as vividly as any of the series’ physical threats.
By the time Harry finally adopted the Green Goblin persona, he had descended into a fractured mental state that felt far more mature than typical Saturday morning storytelling. The arc remains a powerful example of how Spider-Man: TAS wasn’t afraid to explore darkness beyond simple villainy, delving instead into psychological horror.
Every Episode Involving Symbiotes
The Symbiotes Turned The Show Into A Superhero Horror Series Whenever They Appeared
Whenever Venom or Carnage Appeared, Spider-Man: The Animated Series shifted closer to outright horror. The Symbiotes were always unsettling, from their fluid movements to the way they contorted around their hosts. Their designs alone were menacing, but their impact on the storylines heightened the darkness even further.
Peter’s own dream sequence during the Venom arc, where he’s consumed by a colossal Symbiote, was one of the show’s most iconic scares. The imagery was grotesque, suffocating, and intense enough that it later made its way into the series’ opening credits. It felt like something out of a creature-feature, not a kids show.
Carnage’s episodes pushed boundaries even more, with the character’s chaotic nature and destructive impulses making every encounter feel like a horror movie cameo. Combined with Eddie Brock’s stalking of Peter, the Symbiote storylines consistently produced some of the darkest Spider-Man animated series moments. They never failed to elevate the show’s tension or its reputation as being slyly nightmare fuel.
Peter’s Mutation Into Man-Spider
Peter’s Gradual Mutation Into A Monster Delivered Relentless, Unsettling Body Horror
One of Spider-Man: The Animated Series most infamous arcs saw Peter Parker undergo a horrifying transformation into the six-armed Man-Spider. His mutation was shown in progressively disturbing stages, each involving new deformities, uncontrolled changes, and the terror of losing his identity. Every episode in this storyline leaned deeply into body horror.
The Man-Spider design was monstrous, all fangs, limbs, and nightmares that was far removed from the heroism viewers associated with Spider-Man. Even more unsettling was the fact that Peter remained conscious of his condition, aware of the monster he was becoming but powerless to stop it. The tragedy of his slow transformation added emotional depth to the shock value.
The storyline pushed the limits of what children’s animation could portray in the 1990s. Its focus on uncontrollable mutation and loss of self made it one of the most intense sequences in the show’s run, and a prime example of how the series leaned into themes usually reserved for horror or sci-fi thrillers.
The Death Of Mary Jane’s Clone
Watching MJ’s Clone Realize The Truth Before Dissolving Made For The Show’s Most Traumatizing Moment
The single darkest moment in Spider-Man: The Animated Series belongs to the tragic fate of Mary Jane Watson’s clone in “The Return of Hydro-Man.” After spending the entire arc believing she was the real MJ, she suddenly began to destabilize, dissolving into water while fully conscious and terrified.
Her breakdown was portrayed with agonizing detail. The MJ clone begged Peter for help, confused and desperate, as her body lost cohesion. The horror wasn’t just visual; it was emotional, rooted in the realization that her entire existence had been a lie. For a character who believed she had a life, memories, and a future, the dissolution was nightmarishly cruel.
This single Spider-Man: TAS scene pushed the boundaries of children’s animation more than any other moment in the show. It remains one of the most haunting and unforgettable sequences in Spider-Man’s animated history, a moment so bleak that fans still cite it as one of the darkest moments ever seen in a kids show, Spider-Man or otherwise.
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9.3/10
Spider-Man: The Animated Series
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-Y7 Animation Action Adventure Science Fiction Release Date 1994 - 1998 Network FOX, Fox Kids Directors Bob Richardson Writers John Semper Jr., Mark Hoffmeier, Meg McLaughlin, Stan Berkowitz, James Krieg, Marty Isenberg, Robert N. Skir, Sean Catherine Derek, Brooks Wachtel, Cynthia Harrison, Larry Brody, Doug Booth, Len Wein, Michael Edens, Brynne Stephens, Elliot S. Maggin, Ernie Altbacker, Evelyn Gabai, Gerry Conway, Gordon Kent, J. M. DeMatteis, Jan Strnad, Marv Wolfman, Sandy FriesCast
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Christopher Daniel Barnes
Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voice)
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Sara Ballantine
Mary Jane Watson (voice)
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Spider-Man: The Animated Series
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