Every Spider-Man TV Show In Order (and Where to Watch Them In the U.K.)
Whether you know him as Spidey, the webslinger, or just plain old Spider-Man, Peter Parker's teenage vigilante is easily one of the most beloved superheroes of all time—and pretty has been ever since springing from the mind of Stan Lee onto the pages of Marvel comic books in 1962.
The story of course follows Peter Parker, a seemingly normal teenager being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, who, after being bitten by a radioactive spider, develops powers like super strength and the ability to climb walls. As he learns to master these new abilities, he chooses to dedicate himself to defending New York City from a host of supervillains—all while keeping his identity secret and attempting to continue on with the everyday struggles of teenage life.
As one of the most relatable and likeable characters in Marvel Comics, Spider-Man has developed a dedicated fanbase that has now spanned a number of generations. With all that love, it’s no wonder that Spider-Man has inspired an ever-growing number of adaptations on both the big and small screens. These days, you’re more likely to find him in live-action form in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (where he is currently portrayed by Tom Holland) or in the kaleidoscopic world of Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Spider-Verse movies (in the form of Miles Morales and others), but he's enjoyed just as vibrant a history in the world of television shows — if mostly in animated form.
In the list below, you’ll find information on every TV show that’s focused on the affable web slinger so far. Read on to discover a bit more about them and use the guide below to find out where to stream each one on services like Netflix, Prime Video, ITVX and more!
This article has been updated by Rory O'Connor.
The first ever TV adaptation of Lee’s stories came just five years after Peter Parker first appeared in the Amazing Spider-Man comics. Simply titled Spider-Man, this classic show ran for three seasons and 52 episodes and is still a nice watch if you’re looking for some retro, Saturday morning cartoon-style fun.
Even if you’ve never seen a full episode, you’ll likely already know the iconic theme song and recognise at least one scene from episode 19, titled Double Identity, in which various Spider-Men point at each other. That moment, of course, became a meme and has since been referenced in both Spider-Verse movies and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The first live-action Spider-Man appeared in Spidey Super Stories, a recurring skit on a '70s variety show called The Electric Company which was made by the same studio that produced Sesame Street.
This was the show where Morgan Freeman, amongst others, got their big break — the legendary Shawshank actor narrates a few of these Spidey skits and even appears in one or two of them.
After three years on The Electric Company, CBS finally gave the webslinger his very own live-action show. Running for two seasons and 13 episodes, The Amazing Spider-Man is somewhere in the same ballpark as the Adam West Batman—just with not quite the same amount of campy fun.
For the cast, CBS landed Hollywood character actor Robert F. Simon (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) to play J. Jonah Jameson alongside Nicholas Hammond (who played the oldest Von Trapp boy in The Sound of Music) in the title role.
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Spider-Man
One of the more unusual early adaptations of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s creation was this short-lived but adventurous live-action Japanese TV series from 1978.
Naturally, the show was closer in tone to Manga-adjacent series like Voltron and Power Rangers than any of the American adaptations from that era — so, if that sounds like something you might be into, seek it out. If you want a taste of the tone, just check out the bonkers trailer.
In 1981, the original animated Spidey got his first reboot with a 26-episode series that saw him take on a variety of different foes—including Dr. Doom, Lizard, Sandman and, in one of the series’ various crossover episodes, even Magneto.
If you appreciated the ‘67 animated version and are hungry for something with a similar approach and style, look no further than this one.
At around the same time, NBC released the spin-off show Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends—a team-up story featuring Peter Parker alongside two mutants named Iceman and Fire-star.
The latter of those was originally intended to be The Human Torch, however the Fantastic Four member, not for the last time in Marvel history, got caught up in copyright issues. If you liked the above show, you’ll probably be into this one, too.
If you grew up in the ‘90s, you’ll likely have fond memories of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which ran for a whopping five seasons and 65 episodes between 1994 and 1998.
It wasn’t quite as popular as the iconic X-Men series that began a couple of years later, but if you like the tone and animation style of that one—which was recently reimagined as X-Men ‘97—you’ll likely enjoy this one just as much.
In 1999, Saban followed up the wildly successful Animated Series with Spider-Man Unlimited, a more brooding and darker toned show that ended up running for just one season.
It’s been suggested that the show was blown out of the water by the arrival of the Pokemon TV Series, which made the jump to America in February that year, but whatever the case, Unlimited serves as a perfectly good followup to Animated Series and even boasts a central arc featuring Venom and Carnage.
After the huge success of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movie, a new supplementary show called The New Animated Series was greenlit for release on MTV. The series—which features a starry voice cast that includes Neil Patrick Harris in the title role and Micheal Clarke Duncan as Kingpin—follows Peter, Harry Osbourne and MJ as they head to university.
In the end, it only ran for one season, but if you’re a big fan of Raimi’s original movie you might get a kick out of it.
In 2008, a new version of the character was attempted with The Spectacular Spider-Man. The series, which only ended up running for two seasons, had a fresh look and approached its subject with a more mature tone—all of which led to it being regarded as one of the finest adaptations of the comic to date.
A lot of this was down to co-creator Greg Weisman—the man behind the beloved series Gargoyles. Weisman also went on to create Young Justice for The Cartoon Network, so if you’re a fan of either of them be sure to check Spectacular Spider-Man out.
