The '90s Marvel Cartoon Multiverse Was Confusing
1 min read
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TObLeQ5r5Co
Multiverses might be all the rage in super hero movies right now, but this isn’t the first time Marvel ventured across realities.
No offense there dude, but Superman and Batman (during the Batman/Superman adventures) crossed over three times, not two. First one was the three parter titled “World’s Finest” (aka Batman/Superman movie), second one was “Knight Time” and third “The Demon Reborn”.
16:14 Which is ironic, seeing how basically the whole reason behind Beyond existing was higher-ups wanted to have a teenage Batman to get Spidey’s audience.
Y is bro so funny 🤣
Despite the voice cast changing, in my mind they’re all the same. Thats how i chose to look at it
“Tony Stark is the Watcher!” So, the CW ripped off Marvel when Oliver Queen died and became the Spectr?
This is a great video. Thank you for your sacrifice.
And don’t even get me started on Hydro-Man’s inconsistencies from ‘Spider-Man’ to that episode of ‘Fantastic Four’!
Now that we have xmen 97, can we please get a continuation of Spider-Man the animated series? What happens when Peter finds the real Mary Jane? How does she handle the fact that she and Peter are married? Do they go into the events of civil war, one more day, and brand new day from there?
So I think a lot of these examples can be brushed off, since actors change VAs even within their shows (Magneto and Storm were practically volleyed back and forth), characters change looks all the time, and in fact the Hulk’s nebulous nature is even part of the character’s lore. It is a little strange they dropped Wanda’s accent, though the show does state she comes from that part of the world. (The episode really is kind of weird in that she is just dropped into the show, with Wolverine apparently being familiar with her.)
In the Spider-Man show, when they introduce Nick Fury, he is believed to be dead by the world at large, and SHIELD’s endeavors top secret. However, as of Iron Man he seems to regularly walk in and out of Tony Stark’s office. Now, as a weapons manufacturer, it’s not completely out there he would be privy to top secret stuff, but Stark and Iron Man are treated like wild cards, and he doesn’t seem to act like he has a big smoking gun over their heads.
In the Iron Man show, when Stark and Banner meet for the first time, the latter seems to be familiar with the Leader, but I feel like when he’s introduced on the Hulk show, Banner seems to be somewhat unfamiliar with him, (or not recognizing that he was Sterns).
In my opinion the biggest discrepancy is Sasquatch. He appears in the second season of X-Men, as a member of Alpha Flight, and inferred to be a mutant, but is introduced in The Hulk cartoon as someone who has been treating himself with Gamma radiation and by the end of the episode has exiled himself to the wild.
There’s also something I overall call “The Avengers problem”. The Avengers are name-dropped in the first episode of the Spider-Man, but Captain America is as of the events of the show, in stasis. (I believe he also doesn’t know who Iron Man is at the time). He also mentions the Defenders, but is unfamiliar with Doctor Strange (But is familiar with the Hulk, who does not seem to have any association with any team and I believe meets the Doc for the first time.) It can probably be explained does raise questions on who the lineups of those teams are. We are actually shown a lineup of non-speaking Avengers in the introduction to an FF episode. The animation includes Vision, She-Hulk, Captain America, Goliath, Justice/Marvel Boy, Darkhawk and Speedball (never an Avenger in the comics!). I think maybe Hercules, but I know he was shown in a group shot in the finale episode. Iron Man is also considered a member. The big ones are Cap (who was in stasis at the time) and She-Hulk (who would get an origin in the Hulk show.) I guess to rationalize one would have to arrange episodes of various show in a chronology that doesn’t match air dates, or write off silent cameos or pithy jokes.
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8:14 HAAAA! 😂
My first experience with multiversal shenanigans was Zelda: A Link to the Past (parallel worlds) followed by reruns of Star Trek T.O.S. (Mirror universe), so when I started seeing it in cartoons and movies, I was somewhat prepared.
Scarlet Spider cameos on the Fantastic Four cartoon, adding further proof that its a separate universe from SM94.
Calling all the Marvel animated shows a ‘multiverse’ is fair. I’m more willing to accept them as a multiverse than I am as one cohesive universe.
you missed one, Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
0:01: 🌌 Multiverses are a common theme in current film and TV, but have long been a staple in comic books.
2:52: 🤯 Marvel’s ’90s cartoon multiverse had inconsistent shared continuity standards causing confusion among fans.
6:17: 🦸♂️ The Marvel cartoon multiverse in the 90s was chaotic due to character rights and indifference.
8:24: 🦸♂️ Interconnected Marvel cartoons of the ’90s featured crossover characters, evolving from comedic to serious tones.
11:32: 🦸♂️ Interconnected Marvel cartoon characters across different series and timelines.
14:39: 🕸️ Complex Marvel cartoon multiverse explored through X-Men and Spider-Man crossovers in the ’90s.
16:51: 🦸♂️ Marvel ’90s cartoon multiverse causes confusion with multiple versions of characters across shows.
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Spider-Man Unlimited took place on Counter-Earth, not an AU earth.
Honestly i figured X-Men, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Fantastic Four and Hulk were part of the MAU=Marvel animated universe
I think you overcomplicated it….they’re all in the same universe, and as you pointed out in a few occasions – sometimes their voices are re-cast.
If a character appears in another show…it’s the same character. But just like in comic books, sometimes the characters are written by different people, so different aspects of their personalities are on display.
This video explains it all a little bit more succinctly:
https://youtu.be/34VBGob5kYQ?si=euOH2daDtnDVRink
The thing about the Multiverse, if you think about it, is that one reality can be vastly different from another(Germany won WW2), while in another the difference is so small you can never find it(somebody ate an apple for lunch instead of a pear). Iron Man can be the pear/apple eater of the Marvel cartoons, they’re so similar it appears they’re the same individual when they’re actually not.