The fifth and final season of the 1994 animated series Spider-Man is thirteen episodes long. There is no overarching theme this time around although there are four main story arcs that comprise the season. It starts off with wrapping up Peter’s love life and we’re shown what is supposedly a happy ending for him and Mary Jane. It’s been a long time coming and Peter is finally settling down for the married life, although he still carries on being Spider-Man and fighting crime at night. However, this sort of happily ever after has its own set of problems. Peter now has to consider whether he wants to keep putting his family into danger again and again due to being Spider-Man. That being said, Mary Jane is surprisingly understanding and lenient on Peter’s alter ego and how it takes him away from her all the time.
The story arc then progresses onto Peter’s parents who had died when he was young, resulting in Peter living with his aunt and uncle. His parents had only been mentioned in passing before this point and only to tell us that they had passed away. This story arc now adds some mystique to their history and what they were up to when they were alive. Let’s just say that they weren’t your everyday American, there are conspiracies and speculations everywhere.
One thing to note for this final season is that the show is much bigger in scope. Spider-Man goes global and even into other dimensions. While he is still primarily based in New York, he is no longer confined to only that city. Instead of episodic cameos of other Marvel superheroes, they are even more integrated into the longer story arcs of this season. These story arcs continues off events from past seasons that you would have thought were one-offs.
While the writing had already dealt with complex themes that you wouldn’t expect it to have for a kids’ show, the writers and animators have outdone themselves this time. There are thoughtful moments that allow Spider-Man, and the viewers, to reflect on the whole superhero business and their ultimate outside. It feels like once you’re in it, you can’t quit and you wonder how the end will be. The season also contains some of the best action sequences in the show.
The second half of the season is where things get really good. There is a crazy revelation that throws off everything that had happened between the end of the fourth season and the first half of this season. It was completely unexpected and will probably blindside you. It goes some way to explain a few of the oddities in the events of the story. It is a bold move and renders a new meaning to several prior events; it’s actually quite impressive that they pulled it off.
As the final season, it also tries to wrap up some plot points that you thought were probably dropped. It resolves the mystery surrounding Madame Web’s appearances and what she was trying to achieve. This leads to the Secret Wars arc where Spider-Man teams up with various other superheroes to defeat the band of supervillains. It takes place on a cosmic level and is one of the better crossover arcs in the show. It does feel truncated though since it time skips at multiple points.
The Secret Wars arc leads straight into an even bigger battle and is a suitably epic finale for Spider-Man. It tries to resolve all the remaining plot points while giving us an awesome glimpse of the Spider-Man universe and its possibilities. It was exciting, interesting and engaging. Once all the action dies down, there is a super touch involving the cameo of a well known character. While the ending is promising, it actually ends right before you’d expect it to and it feels off as a final ending as a result. Overall, the fifth season of Spider-Man is arguably the best season of the show, and is a suitable finale to the long running 65 episode show. The story arcs are some of the best that we’ve seen, while there are several bold attempts to shake things up and subvert your expectations.
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