Mandaris

I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to reboots of familiar IP[^ip], you should use similar rules as weddings; something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. I thought it would be nice to organize this review using the rhyme to separate topics.

Something old

Yes, this is your classic superhero origin story. The series has a lot of the characters that comic book fans are familiar with. I feel many people identify with the troupe of having the hero try to balance being hero and going to school at the same time. The Peter Parker we see in this show is a smart kid who is trying to do good things, and that’s something we’ve time and time again with this character.

One thing I liked about this version is that they took some time to show that Peter will fight (or in this case throw a brick) to do what is right even without his powers.

Something new

There’s no point in redoing something unless you change it. Otherwise, you could save yourself time and money by just watching the older series that are available via streaming.

This version has different takes on characters that I found to be more engaging in some areas. We think that things are going to happen in certain ways because that’s the way they happened in the past, but I find myself surprised when I see different tweaks to motivations and drive.

Yes, these are old characters, and they still occupy their archetypes, but you get a more reasonable -for a comic- exploration of why they are doing what they are doing. All the time, the show doesn’t go into elaborate details on why things are the way they are. You have to fill in minute details on your own.

Something borrowed

This show reminds me of Spider-Man and his super friends and other cartoon shows that revolve around a team. Although the show heavily features Spider-Man, it’s the interactions he has with the other characters that really make the show interesting.

Something (red and) blue

Animation can be expensive. Occasionally you get a feeling that the animators are cutting cost by having characters do repeated movements or a lot of scenes in the same location. You can kind of see this during really dynamic fight scenes where the background kind of fades…. or maybe I was fading out because I wasn’t feeling well.

The characters are very vibrant and the animation is always smooth. One of the things that I really noticed is that the characters had different heights and body shapes. This is true not only for the main characters but background characters as well.

A sixpence in your shoe

This often forgotten part of the rhyme is going to be related to the time that is involved with this show. Once again, I binged it one day, but I didn’t feel that I spent a lot of time watching it or sitting there during a filler episode.

The writing is engaging as we go from episode to episode. There aren’t any episodes focused on character backstory. Everything is either implied or part of the discussions and actions on screen. In plenty of ways, this is great as you can draw your own conclusions on certain meanings.

Overview

Peter Parker is on his way to becoming a hero, but his path to get there is anything but ordinary.