Ultimate Spider-Man Cartoon

Marvel has announced an Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon based on Brian Michael Bendis's popular comic. Speculation has surrounded Peter Parker's future on the small screen since Sony relinquished the rights for an animated series back to Marvel.

Spider-Man has had something of a checkered cartoon past. There have been seven webslinger 'toons in the past 30 years or so, and the ones that are remarkable are so because they were either trippy (the '60s show, with it's lava-lamp exteriors and great theme song), lame (Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in the '80s), or experimental (MTV's all-CG Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, with Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker). While they all had their merits, none of them seemed to capture everything Spider-Man had to offer — not nearly as well as, say, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2.

So the Mouse House, looking to woo a young male demographic, is stepping up to the plate by hatching Ultimate Spider-Man for the Disney XD channel, set to premiere in Fall of 2011.

"Ultimate Spider-Man will be a unique journey exploring our favourite web-slinger as he teams up with other fan favourite Marvel Super Heroes in never before seen stories with a new life filled with great challenges, new friends, intense action and character growth," said Marvel Animation president Eric S. Rollman.