With Brand New Day showing the third live-action version of Spider-Man, fans have been clamoring for more of the web crawler. The popular superhero has been on screens for the past six decades, not just in live-action but also in animation. Since the ‘60s, Spider-Man has had animated iterations.
The following ranking list sees all the animated iterations of the character, right from the first time he graced TV to the current MCU iteration (not Tom Holland). The ranking takes writing quality, narrative consistency, visual ambition, and cultural impact into account. Here are all the animated Spider-Man shows ranked.
10. Spider-Man Unlimited
Airing in 1999, Spider-Man Unlimited only got a few episodes to shine before it was canceled due to poor ratings. It was a follow-up to Spider-Man: The Animated Series and saw Rino Romano voice the iconic character. The show was canceled after one season but, in retrospect, has been appreciated for tackling mature themes.
However, the show’s writing and pacing are inconsistent, and its overall cultural impact is minuscule, putting it at the bottom of the list. This version of Spider-Man actually had a cameo in Across the Spider-Verse, but beyond that, there is very little cultural presence.
Where to Watch (USA) – Disney+
9. Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
The New Animated Series was initially set to be a continuation of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire. The CGI-animated show, however, contradicted the events of Spider-Man 2, which was canon. The show ran, again, for only 13 episodes and a single season before being canceled.
It leaned into serialized noir crime drama, which was a fresh angle, but the stiff, uncanny CGI aged poorly and never matched the fluidity of traditional animation.
Where to Watch (USA) – Buy on Amazon Prime Video
8. Spidey and His Amazing Friends
Spidey and His Amazing Friends is a children-focused animated series that depicts the superheroes in their preschool years. The show has been going on for six seasons, a first for Marvel Animation, whose younger-skewing shows have never lasted beyond five seasons. It stars Peter Parker, Miles Morales as Spin, and Gwen Stacy as Ghost Rider.
It’s well-produced for its intended audience, with clean animation and consistent, low-stakes plotting that never contradicts itself. However, judged against the rest of this list on writing complexity, villain depth, and thematic ambition, it’s necessarily the shallowest entry. It accomplishes what it set out to do, however, and hence makes it to 8th place.
Where to Watch (USA) – Disney+
7. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
This Saturday-morning staple paired Peter Parker with Iceman and original character Firestar, folding Spider-Man into a broader Marvel universe of guest stars like the Hulk and Sub-Mariner. Voiced by Dan Gilvezan, it was breezy, low-stakes, and formulaic by design, with tidy 22-minute plots that rarely built on one another.
Its charm lies in team chemistry and era-appropriate optimism rather than depth. Compared to shows with season-long arcs, its episodic, low-consequence structure and dated production values keep it in the lower-middle tier, though it’s fondly remembered and avoids any real continuity problems simply because it never attempts serialized storytelling.
Where to Watch (USA) – Disney+
6. Spider-Man
The 1967 animated series started it all, with the ABC series capturing the core values of Spider-Man perfectly. Paul Soles voiced Peter Parker, with Ralph Bakshi, known for the iconic Lord of the Rings animated movie, overseeing the animation. The show ran for 3 seasons and dwindled in production values by the third.
The show’s historic significance makes its cultural impact important. This version of the character is shown in the Spider-Verse films, with both alluding to its historic significance and dated animation. The production values became quite low as the seasons progressed, and the writing is pretty simple, considering it was in the ’60s. Hence, it ranks 6th.
Where to Watch (USA) – Unavailable
5. Marvel’s Spider-Man
This Disney XD series had Robbie Daymond’s Peter Parker mentoring a young ‘Spider-Man team’ including Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and Anya Corazon’s Spider-Girl at a STEM high school. It leaned into bright, kinetic action and a found-family dynamic, expanding across three tonally distinct seasons.
The frequent tonal swings between seasons, along with a shortened six-episode final season, made the overall arc feel less cohesive than its predecessors. It’s a solid, well-animated adventure show for its target age group, but it lacks the emotional weight and villain characterization that define the top tier.
Where to Watch (USA) – Disney+
4. Ultimate Spider-Man
Drake Bell’s iconic vocal performance as the web crawler became the definitive version for a generation. In Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter becomes a S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit, working under Nick Fury. He leads a young team, with superheroes like Nova, Iron Fist, White Tiger, and Luke Cage being part of it.
It’s frequently compared unfavorably to The Spectacular Spider-Man for prioritizing gags over character drama, but its ambition, crossover scale, and consistent internal logic place it comfortably in the upper half. It is pretty consistent across its four seasons.
Where to Watch (USA) – Disney+
3. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
The most recent entry in the list, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is set in the MCU, albeit in an alternative timeline. It sees Hudson Thames voice Peter, who is mentored by Norman Osborn instead of Tony Stark. Its visual style is intended to celebrate and pay homage to the early Amazing Spider-Man comic books.
Early critical response praised its retro aesthetic and grounded reinvention of the origin story. Because the series is ongoing, with its second season releasing in Fall 2026, its long-term consistency can’t be fully judged yet, but its tight focus on Peter’s formative mistakes and mentor dynamic with Osborn has made a strong first impression.
Where to Watch (USA) – Disney+
2. Spider-Man: The Animated Series
John Semper’s five-season epic was the first Spider-Man show built around season-long story arcs, turning 65 individual episodes into serialized chapters rather than disposable one-offs. It folded in the X-Men, Punisher, Blade, Daredevil, and the Fantastic Four. It built the Kingpin into Spider-Man’s most persistent nemesis across 35 episodes.
It adapted major comic sagas like the Alien Costume and Secret Wars. Network censorship softened some violence, and the studio’s overreach with crossover-heavy final seasons occasionally strained pacing, but its ambition and continuity discipline across 65 episodes make it the gold standard against which every later series would be measured.
Where to Watch (USA) – Disney+
1. The Spectacular Spider-Man
Greg Weisman and Victor Cook’s The Spectacular Spider-Man adapts the Amazing Spider-Man comics to a great level of detail. The show is often considered to be the best of all the animated versions, with its narrative consistency, visual ambition, and cultural impact aligning perfectly. Josh Keaton’s performance is also pitch-perfect.
It felt like the perfect blend of every era of the comics, balancing Peter Parker’s high-school life with sharply written villain arcs for Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Venom, and the Sinister Six. Its only real flaw is that Disney’s acquisition of Marvel forced a premature cancellation after just two seasons, cutting a planned 52-episode run short.
Where to Watch (USA) – Buy on Amazon Prime Video
Which animated Spider-Man show do you think is the best? Comment below.
