Editorial: Spider-Man And Human Torch Should Team Up More Often (In Animation)

Due to his crime fighting career, Spider-Man has crossed paths with several other heroes of the Marvel Universe. Most of these team-ups have also lead to some unique friendships or rivalries over the years. The most important one however, is Spider-Man’s relationship with Johnny Storm, the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four. While they started out as sort of enemies, back in 1963, with Spidey wanting to join the Four (thinking he could get paid for his services), but ending up having to fight them, things would get a lot more interesting throughout the following years. As the two started to form a more amicable dynamic thanks in part to both being around the same age… although Johnny didn’t exactly know this, considering Spider-Man still kept his real identity a secret for quite some time.

As things progressed and Spidey found he could confide in Johnny – despite their usual amusing bickering, as some friends tend to have – and the two shared many adventures. There are a few decades worth of comics to pick out and read some pretty cool Spidey & Torch team-ups. Eventually, the web-crawler even revealed to Johnny he was in fact Peter Parker. This resulted in a typical “the grass is always greener on the other side” scenario as we learn that Johnny likewise kind of envied Peter for all of his so-called Parker Luck, whereas Pete always thought Johnny had it all as a superhero. This pretty much cemented their bond.as best friends forever. In the more modern comics, following stories like “Brand New Day”, Spidey’s real identity was once again a secret but Johnny was one of the few who was able to realize he once knew his buddy’s real name. Spidey even joined the Fantastic Four, or rather the Future Foundation as it was called then, following Johnny’s temporary demise (as it happens every once in a while to comic book characters), to honor his memory.

But that’s all stuff in the comics. As far as animation goes, cartoons have barely scratched the surface of this decades long friendship between the two. It’s interesting because there have been several Spider-Man cartoons, and a few occasions where Spidey and the Human Torch shared some screen time, which were entertaining enough but didn’t exactly bring the same feeling of them being buddies as in the comics. I suppose one could argue that most of these were also basically their first encounters on their respective series, and things could have developed nicely had the projects continued. For example, Spider-Man: The Animated Series. In 1997, during the show’s version of the “Secret Wars” story from the comics, Spidey is tasked with forming and leading a team of superheroes in a battle of good versus evil. Among his picks are the Fantastic Four, including Johnny Storm. This was technically the first time they appeared together on the show from what was shown at that point. Their interactions are decent, with them starting a fight soon after meeting and then teaming up to fight Doctor Doom. The episodes are fine, I can’t exactly do them justice by only focusing on the brief Spidey and Torch interactions.

Another fun example was on Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes, in 2010. In the episode “Frightful”, Johnny hires a freelance photographer to follow the team around and take photos to prove they are the good guys instead of the Frightful Four. While his name isn’t mentioned, it should be pretty clear who this teenage photographer was supposed to be. Of note, Johnny was especially goofy and kind of dumb and arrogant on this show, so perhaps this wouldn’t have been the start of a beautiful friendship had the show continued, either. Still this was an amusing cameo of sorts from Peter Parker and I am including it in this short list.

Strangely enough, the most important and accurate portrayal of their friendship in animated form comes in a 4 minutes long short aimed at a younger audience. As part of their “Marvel Super Hero Adventures” series, which saw Spider-Man team up with various other characters all the while teaching kids valuable life lessons. Spidey teams up with the Fantastic Four, and then with each individual member. As a result, we get this Spidey & Torch cartoon where they go up against Sandman, which can be viewed in the article below. It’s not much but I think it is a step in the right direction.

And that’s about it as of the time of this writing. Will the Fantastic Four’s debut in the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe help in re-igniting a Spider-Man and Human Torch friendship? Will it happen in live-action rather than animation first (where Spidey and Torch should be played by Tom Holland and Joseph Quinn, respectively)? Will Marvel produce a team-up limited series with them, in the vein of The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, or Deadpool & Wolverine? Will Spider-Man TAS get a continuation of sorts (a “Spider-Man ’98” similar to X-Men ’97) where they can continue developing their friendship? These are all good questions that will hopefully receive satisfying answers in due time.

Discuss this article on the Toonzone Forums!

The post Editorial: Spider-Man And Human Torch Should Team Up More Often (In Animation) appeared first on Anime Superhero News.