Spider-Man Unlimited

Spider-Man Unlimited was an animated television series, running from October 1999 to March, 2001. A total of 13 episodes. A sequel series of sorts to Spider-Man: The Animated Series. It sees Peter Parker forced to go to another Earth after John Jameson’s ship gets attacked by Venom and Carnage and as per Spidey’s luck, the hero gets blamed for it. After "borrowing" a suit made of nano-machines, Spider-Man goes to Counter-Earth to rescue Jameson and clear his name.

Upon getting to Counter-Earth, Spider-Man discovers that the High Evolutionary has made himself at home and created Beast Men that run the planet and normal humans are treated like second class citizens. Along the way, he discovers that John Jameson is alive and well, leading a rebellion against the High Evolutionary; that Venom and Carnage came to the planet with the intend to conquer it; and that the planet does have some vastly different versions of his old foes.

Generally, the series isn't held in high regards compared to other Spider-Man series as it viewed as putting Spider-Man in a situation that's un-Spider-Man-like, like putting him on another world. However, it has gained a cult following due to the same reasons, and it is currently being shown on Disney XD.

Was released on DVD in UK in 2010.

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Tropes used in Spider-Man Unlimited include:

• Actor Allusion: Jennifer Hale voices Lady Vermin, a female with a romantic interest in Spider-Man.
• A God Am I: The High Evolutionary in a nutshell.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Inverted. When X-51 rebels against his programming, it makes him more insistent about protecting innocents than either his fellow machine men or those who built them.
• The Atoner: Counter-Vulture, who grew up as a human in the "Upper World" who joined his Beastial friends in tormenting humans, then realized how terrible the things he had done were and resolved to end human mistreatment.
• Badass Cape: Spider-Man's webbing cape.
• Badass Normal: John Jameson aside from the Man-Wolf thing.
• Bad Boss: The High Evolutionary, full stop. He has absolutely no trouble threatening to kill off his most trusted lieutenants and scientists if they start disappointing him.
• Barefoot Cartoon Animals: Some of the Bestials.
• Beast Man: Really expected, considering the the High Evolutionary's involvement. It also features the first adaptation of John Jameson as Man-Wolf.
• Big Bad: The High Evolutionary and Venom and Carnage.
• Blob Monster: Venom and Carnage have somehow become this for the duration of this series.
  • Lampshaded in the first episode, as Spider-Man observed their powers had been upgraded.
• Broad Strokes: The show was not designed as a continuation of Spider-Man: The Animated Series and there are no real similar story elements (the only iffy section is it references the Black Suit storyline, but that is just due to the character of Eddie Brock/Venom in general), but it was similar enough in art style and premiered months after STAS that viewers assumed it was a sequel series. It wasn't and it probably didn't help the series in the long run with viewers feeling deceived.
  • When Spidey first appeared wearing the uniform he'd later replace with the suit he borrowed from Reed Richards, the theme song of Spider-Man: The Animated Series was his Leitmotif.
• The Cameo: Doctor Octopus appears briefly in the first episode.
• Chronic Villainy: One episode has Eddie Brock having his symbiote forced off of him. As with many points in various Spider-Man continuities, he proves that he is actually still a decent guy if given the chance. However, as with just about every other example of this happening, it's followed by a situation in which Eddie is forced to become Venom again and forget everything he learned.
• Clear My Name: One of Spidey's reasons for going to Counter-Earth is to rescue John Jameson after it's generally believed that Spider-Man sabotaged his shuttle, with—as usual—John's dad, J. Jonah Jameson, leading the bulk of it.
• Cliff Hanger: The series ended with the symbiote about to take over Counter-Earth. Viewers were Left Hanging due to the series' cancellation...
  • Missing Episode: Several scripts were written for the second season, including the resolution of the cliffhanger, but were never produced.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: At the end of "One is the Loneliest Number". Granted, having her place of business destroyed was terrible, but Carnage was the one who attacked, and he and Venom together were the ones who did all of the damage. The Doc really had no right to claim that Spidey was as bad as them. Even worse since she's dealt with Spidey on a number of occasions already, including several in which he saved both her and Shane, and should thus be aware of this.
• Counter-Earth: Spider-Man tries to rescue John Jameson on a counter-Earth.
• Darker and Edgier: This really stands out when compared to TAS and the amount of censorship it got.
• Dating Catwoman: Parodied with Lady Vermin. She certainly wants this, but Spidey sees it as pure Squick, but takes advantage of it for infiltration purposes a couple times.
• The Dragon: The Knights of Wundagore for the High Evolutionary.
• Dueling Shows: This was originally going to be a straight Animated Adaptation of Spider Man 2099 and Marvel Comics' answer to Batman Beyond. To say that it was nowhere near as successful would be an understatement, as it was canceled after one season.
• Family-Friendly Firearms: But of course. Then again, considering the show takes place on another planet that clearly has several bits of advanced technology, it's more justified than many examples.
• Gadgeteer Genius: The Goblin.
• Giving Them the Strip: Goblin used this to escape capture at one point, even lampshading how no one else on the planet would even consider this as an option.
• Heel Face Turn: If season two aired, we would have seen Lord Tyger defect to the Resistance.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Taken to the extreme in the first episode, after Spider-man gets blamed for John Jameson's death.
• Heroic Neutral: Spider-Man battles with this concept. He's torn between his desire to get home and helping the suffering humans.
• ~Hey, It's That Voice!~: Spider-Man/Green Goblin is Rino Romano, aka Luis Sera from Resident Evil, Eduardo Rivera from Extreme Ghostbusters, and The Batman. Mary Jane and Lady Vermin is Jennifer Hale, aka Black Cat from Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Venom is Brian Drummond, aka Ryuk from Death Note. Rhinox is the High Evolutionary and Depth Charge is Lord Tyger, one of his Dragons. Scott McNeil is The Vulture.
  • And Optimus Primal plays a few parts in selected episodes, too.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: The High Evolutionary claims this. However, it's made clear throughout the series that, for all his touting of his Beastials as "superior" and "free of humanity's flaws", they're really no better.
• I Did What I Had to Do: High Evolutionary experimented on his baby granddaughter to save her life. Her parents were furious at what they did to her, so they left him. Their un-appreciation led him to turn against humanity.
• If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him: Spidey pulls this on Counter-Vulture and the people he rescued from Sir Ram's experimentation when they have Sir Ram at their mercy. Of course, Sir Ram is less than appreciative.
• Info Dump: In the first episode, Spidey explains all about his new suit before he boards the shuttle. The thing is, he's alone - going on at length about something he already knows and that no one else (besides the viewer) is around to hear.
• Invisibility Cloak: Spidey's costume throughout most of the show has this ability. He can't use it for long periods, though, due to it overheating the suit.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: The first episode strongly implies that Spidey stole the nano-suit from Mister Fantastic. Then again, Reed Richards Is Useless, so maybe he was justified.
• La Résistance: Led by John Jameson. The Counter-Earth Goblin and Vulture also rebel against the High Evolutionary.
• Mad Scientist: Sir Ram really enjoys his job.
• Merchandise-Driven: The show was probably planned to go this route (Toy Biz did own Marvel Comics at the time) but was canceled long before any figures were made.
• Mind Over Matter: The High Evolutionary.
• Moral Myopia: The High Evolutionary is made of this. He states that he rebuilt Counter-Earth society so eliminate greed, selfishness, hate, etc. However, it's incredibly clear that he doesn't mind any of these things so long as humans are the victims and not the aggressors.
• Mythology Gag: When Peter first suits up in his traditional costume in the premiere, the theme to Spider-Man: The Animated Series plays.
• Network to the Rescue: If not for ABC Family and Toon Disney (later Disney XD) airing reruns during the 2000s, the show would've faded into obscruity.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the first episode, Spider-Man is blasted by firehouses from firefighters that want Jonah's reward. They're doing this while a building is burning down... in front of them!
• Noble Demon: Lord Tyger
• Not as You Know Them: The Goblin and Vulture are good guys on Counter-Earth and its Electro was evolved from an electric eel.
  • When John Jameson, Venom, and Carnage hear about a Spider-Man on Counter-Earth, they initially believe that he's just some Counter-Earth knock-off as well.
• Omnicidal Maniac: The High Evolutionary reaches this point in the last episode.
• Parental Substitute
• Ret Canon: Spider-Man wore the suit from the cartoon during one story from the comics involving Carnage.
• Retcon: The series is generally treated as a sequel of sorts to Spider-Man: The Animated Series, but it does alter some details regarding Venom and Carnage (mostly that the suit was never removed from Brock, and removing Dormammu and Baron Mordo from being involved in Venom's return & Carnage's origin).
  • There's also the matter of Mary Jane's sudden return despite her still being "Lost in time" in the end of the original series.
    • The original series ended with Madam Webb taking Spider-Man to retrieve MJ, so that one's justified.
• Screwed by the Network: The series was placed up against Pokémon in its prime and got crushed. After three episodes, rather than given a different timeslot, the series was outright pulled from the schedule. Over a year later, the remaining episodes were burned off - completely coincidentally in the months leading up to the release of the first movie.
• Somebody Else's Problem: Spider-Man continually tries to convince himself that the Counter-Earth humans's plight is this. Doesn't stop him from involving himself on numerous occasions anyway.
• Spikes of Villainy: The High Evolutionary and Carnage.
• Talking to Himself: Rino Romano whenever Spider-Man and the Green Goblin interact.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Sir Ram gets saved by Spidey a couple times. If anything, he gets even more contemptuous whenever this happens.
  • In "One Is The Loneliest Number", when Spider-Man saves Eddie Brock by retrieving the symbiote that had been separated from him, Spidey is rewarded with another attempt on his life. Then again, this is Venom talking rather than Eddie, so a bit more justification there.
• Villain Team-Up: One of the odder cases as Venom and Carnage team-up.
• Visible Invisibility: Somewhere between Type 2 and 3, he seems invisible to the universe but has a sort of distortion/outline effect for the audience.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: High Evolutionary
• What Could Have Been: One of the proposed plans for the series was to adapt Spider-Man 2099.
• What the Hell, Townspeople?: After a week of the Hero with Bad Publicity mentioned above, Spider-Man justifiably has this reaction.