One of the truly wonderful things about comic book characters is that, traditionally, they never age. It’s a trick of the medium — a way to keep heroes familiar and accessible to every new generation — but it also means we get to watch them reinvent themselves endlessly. We don’t stay young and immortal, but our characters can, and our tastes shift right alongside them.

That’s part of the joy. We embrace change. We watch our favourites spin off into alternate lives, alternate beats, alternate fates. And when the multiverse opens its doors, suddenly every version of a hero becomes valid. Every reader, every viewer, every kid with a VHS tape or a streaming subscription gets to claim their Spider-Man.

When the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series wrapped after five gloriously convoluted seasons on Fox Kids — destined to live forever in syndication — the network wanted a fresh take on the wallcrawler. After all, audiences had been tuning in for decades to see new spins on the character, each one introducing a different generation to the myth.

And in a way, we all have our own Spidey. My uncle’s was the classic cartoon with the theme tune everyone on Earth can hum. Another uncle swore by the Amazing Friends era. These days, each of my nephews has their own — not just Holland or Garfield, but whole iterations like Peter B. Parker or Miles Morales. And the girls get in on it too, with my niece happily replacing “Man” with “Gwen” no matter which costume she sees.

Mine was the ’90s — all Aerosmith riffs, crossover chaos, and comic-book convolution. But this one? Spider-Man Unlimited? I missed it entirely. And now that I’m finally watching it, I can see why people bounced off it at first glance. As a continuation of the ’90s series, it bears almost no resemblance. The tone is wildly different. The story leaps far beyond a mugging at ESU or a hold‑up at Midtown National Bank.

But here’s the thing: there’s something here. A spark. A flavour that feels closer to Spider-Man 2099 than classic Peter Parker — that neon‑drenched, future‑punk energy Peter David captured so well.

Whether this series ultimately finds its footing or remains an oddity in the Spider‑canon, time will tell. But on first contact, Worlds Apart (Part 1) is bold, strange, and utterly unlike anything that came before it. And that alone makes it worth the watch.

Colonel John Jameson stands ready for launch aboard the Solaris One, humanity’s first attempt to reach the mysterious parallel world known as Counter‑Earth. As the engines ignite, Peter Parker feels a sharp spike of danger — Venom and Carnage have infiltrated the shuttle, intent on reaching this strange twin planet. Spider-Man leaps into action, clinging to the rising rocket, but the symbiotes overpower him and hurl him into the void. The shuttle vanishes through a warp portal, and the world below wrongly concludes that Spider-Man caused the disaster.

In the days that follow, the city turns against him. J. Jonah Jameson offers a bounty for his capture, and even simple acts of heroism are met with hostility. A rescue at a burning building ends with Spider-Man buried under rubble, and the public assumes he has perished. Peter returns home battered and shaken, where Mary Jane gently suggests he consider a life without the mask. But Peter can’t let go of the guilt — or the feeling that he’s failed John Jameson.

Then, against all odds, a transmission breaks through. John is alive on Counter‑Earth, injured and desperate for help. Determined to reach him, Peter constructs a new nanotech suit using Reed Richards’ technology. He infiltrates the Solaris Two launch site, confronts Nick Fury, and commandeers the rescue shuttle. Before takeoff, he announces to the world that Spider-Man is alive and heading for Counter‑Earth — while claiming that Peter Parker will accompany him as a journalist.

The warp jump nearly tears the shuttle apart, but Spider-Man survives — only to be caught in a tractor beam from Counter‑Earth. His craft is dragged down into a sprawling, unfamiliar metropolis. Here, he discovers a world ruled by animal‑human hybrids known as Bestial, while ordinary humans live in fear and poverty. Before he can make sense of the place, he’s attacked by robotic enforcers and confronted by the Knights of Wundagore: Lord Tyger, Lady Ursula, Lady Vermin, and Sir Ram — elite warriors serving the enigmatic High Evolutionary.

After a frantic chase through towering structures and neon-lit streets, Spider-Man is captured and taken to a laboratory. The Knights debate whether he is human or Bestial, while Sir Ram prepares to cut through his mask to obtain a DNA sample. Spider-Man stalls with nervous humour, but the tension spikes as the imposing visage of the High Evolutionary appears on a monitor, demanding answers.

On first glance, this series seems intended to be a follow-up to Spider-Man: The Animated Series. There are some things in the episode that seem to indicate this was the idea: for a brief moment, even the theme song to that series is used when Peter first emerges in his costume.

He also shares his other counterpart’s bad relationship with J. Jonah Jameson. there’s a reward for the capture of Spider-Man, issue by Jonah, as he did in The Alien Costume. John Jameson is also attacked in the cockpit by the symbiote, as he was in that episode.

However, there are continuity glitches. Mary Jane appears back in Spidey’s life with no explanation and voiced by Jennifer Hale – Felicia Hardy from the previous series! Venom and Carnage also appear, despite being lost from their dimension in Carnage.

Spider-Man’s origin, drawn rather faithfully to resemble Steve Ditko’s style, is played through the opening credits. It also features this series’ only glimpse of Aunt May.

The Venom and Carnage symbiotes are seemingly leaving Earth of their own accord this time, and it also seems they’ve abandoned Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady, although quite why or how is unknown.

Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four talks to the news about the apparent death of Spider-Man, and then, a scene later, has given him the Nanotech needed to create his new costume. As soon as he wears it, his original costume is not seen on the series again. Doctor Octopus can also be seen battling Spider-Man on archive news footage.

Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, that crossover favourite, has a brief cameo in this episode when Spidey boards the shuttle to take him to Counter-Earth.

The High Evolutionary’s look in this episode does not resemble his comic book counterpart.