Remember When the High Evolutionary Fought Spider-Man?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might boast one of the most irredeemable villains in the form of Chukwudi Iwuji‘s High Evolutionary. He’s a narcissistic genius with a god complex who also happens to be responsible for inflicting immense physical and emotional trauma upon Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper/Sean Gunn). Given that most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s more enduring villains such as Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) have had some tragic elements in their own backstories, this is a welcome change of pace. In Marvel Comics canon, the High Evolutionary has faced off against a number of foes from the Avengers to the X-Men…and one animated series, Spider-Man Unlimited, pitted him against none other than the Amazing Spider-Man.

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‘Spider-Man Unlimited’ Saw Spider-Man Trapped on Counter-Earth

Spider-Man Unlimited made its debut shortly after the success of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and saw Peter Parker (Rino Romano) facing a new threat. When John Jameson (John Payne II) finds himself trapped on Counter-Earth after a skirmish with Carnage (Michael Donovan) and Venom (Brian Drummond), Spidey decides to travel to Counter-Earth himself to find Jameson. There, he finds that Jameson has fallen in with a group of revolutionaries who intend to fight against the High Evolutionary (voiced here by Richard Newman) and his genetically enhanced Bestials. On Counter-Earth, the Bestials have become the dominant species while humanity struggles to survive as second-class citizens.

In addition to battling Bestials and the sinister symbiote duo of Venom and Carnage, Spidey also has to contend with Counter-Earth versions of his deadliest foes. Electro was reimagined as a Bestial who happened to be an electric eel. Kraven the Hunter was a mercenary whose loyalties shifted depending on the price. But perhaps the most surprising change came with the Green Goblin. In this universe, the Goblin wasn’t Spidey’s arch-enemy…instead he was a hero! The show would also take a similar approach to the Counter-Earth version of the Vulture, though the Goblin would later reappear in future episodes.

‘Spider-Man’s High Evolutionary Was More Tragic Than in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’

Since most of the action took place on Counter-Earth, the High Evolutionary played a major role throughout all of Spider-Man Unlimited. Similar to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, he created Counter-Earth as a means to escape the “barbarity” of Earth-Prime. However, he found that mankind carried the same base impulses as Earth-Prime, which led him to create the Bestials. The irony of a supposedly “perfect” society supported by a genetic caste system apparently flew past his head — but then again, given his actions with his own family, it’s not surprising.

The High Evolutionary’s family history was revealed in the penultimate episode “Sins of the Fathers.” Jameson’s right hand rebel Karen O’Malley (Kim Hawthorne) is kidnapped by the Evolutionary, where he reveals a startling truth: she is his granddaughter! When Karen was a baby, the Evolutionary experimented on her, granting her superhuman strength and agility. But this led to her parents violently severing all ties with him, and keeping her existence a secret from him. This development falls in line with the Evolutionary’s warped perspective on evolution; he needs things to be perfect, no matter what. Thankfully it isn’t taken to the extreme that Guardians Vol. 3 goes with the Evolutionary.

‘Spider-Man Unlimited’ Only Lasted for a Single Season

Despite its inventive premise, Spider-Man Unlimited faced a number of roadblocks on its way to the small screen. The initial pitch was far different: Unlimited was originally slated to be an adaptation of the early Stan Lee/Steve Ditko run on Amazing Spider-Man, with one major twist. Counter-Earth would have featured its own version of Peter Parker, albeit one who didn’t lose his Uncle Ben and thus never learned the fateful lesson that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. There were also plans to focus on Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099.

What caused the shift in story was the development of the first Spider-Man movie. As director Sam Raimi was planning to cover Spidey’s origin, and Marvel Comics didn’t want to do a story focused on two Peter Parkers — no doubt reeling from the less-than-stellar reception to the infamous Clone Saga storyline — Unlimited was retooled into its current form. But even that didn’t stop it from lasting a single season, as it had to compete with the boom of anime including newly popular series Digimon and Pokemon. As if that weren’t enough, Unlimited ended up being eclipsed by Batman Beyond; Beyond itself was a futuristic interpretation of Batman, but it had the might of the team from the DC Animated Universe behind it. There was also confusion on whether or not Unlimited was tied to Spider-Man: The Animated Series; apart from a reprise of the latter’s theme song, the connection between the two series was fairly non-existent.

‘Spider-Man Unlimited’ Continues To Thrive

Despite its short-lived run, Spider-Man Unlimited managed to make a bit of an impact in pop culture. The Webspinners comic featured a reality where Peter Parker found himself in a world similar to Unlimited, and there was even a short-lived tie-in series that featured the Counter-Earth version of Wolverine. The world of Spider-Man Unlimited was also featured in the original Spider-Verse storyline, though it featured a horrible ending for Peter Parker and his friends as they fell to the vampiric totem hunter Morlun. Romano would return to voice Spider-Man in the Spider-Man game for PlayStation 1, along with its sequel Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro.

Spider-Man Unlimited is slated to have a second shot at life, as the Unlimited version was one of the many, many Spider-People featured in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer. However, he and the other Spiders will oppose Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) for reasons that have yet to be revealed. Given the popularity of the Spider-Verse movies, and the upcoming X-Men ’97 animated series, perhaps the story of Spider-Man Unlimited and Spidey’s battle against the High Evolutionary could get a second life.

Spider-Man Unlimited is available to stream on Disney+. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently playing in theaters.

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