That's that sh*t I don't like: Marvel shows then and now

Lamenting those bygone days

I was watching Justice League Unlimited last night and 2 things popped into my head: 1. This show is better than all the current superhero cartoons. 2. What has happened to the quality of superhero cartoon shows? Seriously we used to have an embarrassment of riches back then and now we just have watered down versions of amazing shows. Don't believe me? Let's take a look at Marvel shows then and now.
Marvel

When I was a kid, I would tune into FOX KIDS to watch Power Rangers, X-Men and Spider-Man. X-Men and Spider-Man were great shows, they adapted well known storylines of their comics and still managed to keep the shows kid friendly while maintaining the maturity and seriousness of the comic ( more so X-Men because man did they let you know how much mutants were hated). I'm gonna talk a bit more about Spider-Man because he represents both the highs and lows of Marvel Animation. Spider-Man had appeared in a plethora of shows (both live action and animated) but it wasn't until the 90s when Marvel had its animation department and they created the now classic Spider-Man: The Animated Series. That show went on longer than any other Spider-Man show and it was great. They threw in so much of the comics and had so many guest cameos, it was like Christmas every episode. It had it's limitations ( like the reuse of scenes and the whole Spider-Man not being able to punch people in the face thing) but overall it was kick ass. You knew this show was gonna be all sorts of awesome when it's theme song was done by Joe Perry.

I didn't think any Spider-Man show could reach this level of epicness, then Sony came out with "Spectacular Spider-Man" and it was vastly superior ( yes I said it) to Spider-Man TAS. From the voice acting to the animation, everything was so good about this show; the writing was spot on and Josh Keaton's Peter/Spidey totally nailed the intelligent yet smart ass Spidey charm we all know and love. This show was gonna be Batman level and possibly surpass it, it was that good of a show ( you should totally watch it if you haven't btw) but unfortunately it didn't get that chance due the rights reverting back to Marvel and Marvel not being able to use production of the series because it was made specifically for Sony. Hope was not lost though because Marvel announced " Ultimate Spider-Man" and they would just carry the wave of awesomeness over that show right?

Actual picture of me deciding if this show is bad or awful

I don't know how, but they made Spider-Man nearly unwatchable. The animation isn't bad, it actually looks quite good but they way the go about portraying it as a glorified slapstick comedy show ruins it for me. Spider-Man acts more like Deadpool than Spidey, he's constantly breaking the 4th wall, his intelligence is only there like 20% of the time, he just doesn't feel like Peter Parker or Spider-Man and the rest of the cast isn't any better either; get ready for Zen Surfer Danny Rand, a jock like Luke Cage, a quick to anger White Tiger and a hotshot cocky Nova....oh and Coulson is like their principal/SHIELD supervisor ( because apparently everyone has to work for SHIELD so Nicky can get more screen time). Oh and can we talk about how little effort they put in the intro? Here is the intro for Spectacular Spider-Man

And here's the intro for Ultimate Spider-Man

It's just a picture right? Exactly, all its missing is that little web animation that pulls it away..if you want to experience it just stare at the image for 3 seconds, blink and that's it. This bothers me greatly, we had two awesome intros that gave you a sense of what the show is about and then we get this, but it's not just Spider-Man who gets the crap treatment, let's look at Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes an the now airing Avengers Assembled.

EMH- 

AA- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8CQ8Di1n1I (Yep, that's the intro, a freaking graphic that lasts 11 seconds. )

I have a theory as to why they have neutered their characters but I will save that for tomorrow when I put DC under the microscope