For many of us who grew up in the ‘90s, Spider-Man: The Animated Series wasn’t just another Saturday morning cartoon. It was their introduction to Peter Parker, one of Marvel’s biggest and best superheroes of all time. Swinging onto Fox Kids on November 19, 1994, and wrapping up its 65-episode run in early 1998, the animated show gave fans their first real taste of the multiverse long before it became a cool phrase in the MCU. And that wasn’t just some fluke, either. It was mostly from the mind of the show’s writer, John Semper Jr.
So, when Marvel announced a brand-new comic miniseries titled Spider-Man ’94, promising to finally give closure to the original animated series’ cliffhanger (remember Mary Jane falling into that dimension-hopping portal?), fans were hyped. Until they learned Semper wasn’t involved at all.
Semper shared the news on social media himself: “I got a text message this morning from my good friend, Matt Dunford, telling me that Marvel is ‘continuing’ my SPIDER-MAN animated series in comic book form… Since I will no doubt be asked about it by fans of the series: NO, I am NOT involved with this comic book and no one at Marvel approached me to be involved in any way. Matt’s text message was the first I heard of it.”
Step back and look at it, and you’ll realise that this means the person who wrote all 65 episodes of the show wasn’t even cc’d or bcc’d in an email with regards to the project. Instead, Marvel tapped legendary comic writer J.M. DeMatteis to take over the project.
Still, Semper made it clear he respects DeMatteis: “His amazing body of work… speaks for itself… I hired him years ago to participate in writing one episode of my series… Where he now chooses to take the series story-wise is entirely his decision. But, for the record, they are NOT my creative choices.”
Of course, fans aren’t taking the news lightly. Scroll through the comments on Semper’s post and you’ll find an outpouring of disappointment and support. “Missed opportunity.” “Very disheartening.” “Mixed feelings.”
While Marvel hopes to pull in fans of the original ’90s cartoon, backlash from the internet suggests the execs have missed the real reason why the original animated series was special in the first place: the creative brain behind it.
But Semper isn’t bitter at all. In fact, he isn’t even surprised by Marvel’s lack of recognition. “I have long ago abandoned all expectation that Marvel would acknowledge any of my contributions to the Marvel universe—like, for instance, my creation of what is now known as the ‘Spider-Verse.’”
Still, he’s not leaving fans hanging. He teased a personal celebration for the 30th anniversary on his YouTube and social platforms, closing with a nod to his mentor: “In the immortal words of my mentor, Stan the Man… ‘Nuff said!”
Spider-Man ’94 #1 arrives in stores on September 3, 2025. But while on paper this might be a continuation of the animated series, it might not actually be the continuation Semper would have written. And that makes all the difference.
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