In the 1990s, spurred by the success of the X-Men cartoon, Fox Kids put together a similar series for Spider-Man…but although X-Men was allowed to end on its own terms, Spider-Man couldn’t. The series departed with an unresolved ending in which Mary Jane was somewhere in another dimension and Spidey had resolved to find her, though he didn’t know how.
When X-Men 97 started running on Disney+, picking up directly from where the original show left off, there was hope among fans that a revival of Spider-Man could also happen, or at least a resolution to its ending. We….sort of got it. The first season finale briefly had a shot of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson standing in the street watching store window TV footage of the X-Men’s predicament. So there’s your answer, he rescued her! But, uh, you probably wanted more details, right?
There are still no plans to continue the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon on Disney+. Apparently whoever is in charge of that streamer doesn’t want to do it, but whoever is in charge of Marvel Comics does. That’s why Spider-Man 94 now exists…it’s not animated, but it’s official and close enough. Yet oddly, this series did NOT resolve the cliffhanger either at first. It instead told a new story taking place AFTER the rescue. We have no idea why.
We’re at last receiving word that Spider-Man 94 Annual #1, a follow-up one-shot, WILL, actually, reveal what happened. It took long enough. John Semper, the original writer behind the animated series, will bring us the tale as it should have happened. He won’t tell us the exact events, but the cover does hint at the involvement of Hobgoblin, Madame Web and Carnage.
There’s just one more unresolved question. If X-Men 97 is called that because the first series ended in 1997, why isn’t Spider-Man 94 called Spider-Man 98? Weird. Spider-Man ’94 Annual #1 will be released December 9th.
