As fans come to terms with the apparent cancellation of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Disney XD has announced it has renewed Ultimate Spider-Man for a second season.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the creative team of Paul Dini, Man of Action Studios (Steven T. Seagle, Joe Kelly, Joe Casey and Duncan Rouleau) and Brian Michael Bendis will also return. Bendis, who co-created Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man comic series and serves as consulting producer, will write additional episodes in the upcoming season.
Ultimate Spider-Man, which kicked off Disney XD's new Marvel Universe programming block in April, follows Peter Parker, who’s been Spider-Man for just a year, as he undergoes training from S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury to become a real superhero. The second season will see the wall-crawler team with more heroes from the Marvel Universe, including the Avengers, and reveal more of the origins of S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees Nova, Iron Fist, Power Man and White Tiger.
"With Season 2, the series introduces popular Marvel heroes and villains you've never seen before on the small screen," Jeph Loeb, Marvel's head of television, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ultimate Spider-Man will be joined in the Marvel Universe block by Avengers Assemble, which was seemingly confirmed last week to replace the popular Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Ultimate Spider-Man airs Sundays at 11 a.m. ET/PT on Disney XD.
Update: Marvel has issued an official press release and images from an upcoming episode that guest stars Wolverine:
DISNEY XD'S #1 ANIMATED SERIES "ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN" SWINGS TO A SECOND SEASON ON MARVEL UNIVERSE PROGRAMMING BLOCK
A second season of Marvel's #1 animated series "Ultimate Spider-Man," the launch series of the Marvel Universe programming block, has been ordered by Disney XD, it was announced today by David Levine, Vice President and General Manager, Disney XD Worldwide. The debut series from Marvel Television premiered in April 2012 and to date, has more than doubled its delivery in Total Viewers, Boys 6-14, Boys 6-11 and Boys 2-11. Marvel's "Ultimate Spider-Man" follows the action packed adventures of New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man who joins S.H.I.E.L.D.'s exclusive training program alongside four other teens to learn what it takes to become the ultimate Super Heroes.
The TV series' success extends to online as well where "Ultimate Spider-Man" games have held the #1 spot since their launch on DisneyXD.com. The "Iron Spider" game reached #1 in its first week (March 18) and stayed there for five straight weeks until "Cyber-Sabotage" launched on April 19, taking over the #1 spot for the next four weeks.
In making the announcement, Levine said, "The Disney XD audience has connected with Spider-Man and his super-powered friends as they face challenges in school and with their S.H.I.E.L.D. training. As the anchor of our Marvel Universe block, 'Ultimate Spider-Man' season two will be back with more humor, villains and adventurous storylines that boys (and girls) will love."
"We are very excited about the return of 'Ultimate Spider-Man' inside the Marvel Universe on Disney XD," said Jeph Loeb, Head of Marvel Television. "With season two, the series introduces popular Marvel heroes and villains you've never seen before on the small screen. With more action, more excitement, more humor, this is the ultimate Spider-Man for fans of all ages."
The acclaimed creative forces behind "Ultimate Spider-Man" come back for a second season. Man of Action return to the series as Co-Executive Producers alongside Creative Consultant Paul Dini. Fans can expect even more scripts from fan favorite Consulting Producer Brian Michael Bendis, who has written every issue of the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man since its best selling launch in 1999.
The second season of "Ultimate Spider-Man" has Spidey teaming up with some of the biggest heroes in the Marvel Universe, the Avengers – Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk. While the stakes get higher, the villains become more menacing as the young heroes encounter classic Spider-Man villains such as the Lizard and other familiar faces. Fans will discover the secret origins of their favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees, with more revealed about Nova, Iron Fist, Power Man and White Tiger.
The award-winning creative team consists of executive producers: Alan Fine ("The Avengers," "Iron Man," "Thor"), Dan Buckley ("The Avengers," "Iron Man"), Joe Quesada (Marvel's Chief Creative Officer) and Jeph Loeb (Marvel's Head of Television) ("Lost," "Heroes"); co-executive producers: Stan Lee ("Spider-Man"), Eric Radomski ("Batman Animated," "Spawn"), Man of Action (creators of "Ben 10" and "Generator Rex") Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle, Dana Booton ("The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes") and Cort Lane ("The Super Hero Squad Show"); creative consultant: Paul Dini ("Batman: The Animated Series," "Lost"); and consulting producer: Brian Michael Bendis (visionary behind Marvel's Ultimate Comics Spider-Man series).
Versus year-ago time period averages, "Ultimate Spider-Man" has more than doubled delivery in Total Viewers (+138% - 827,000 vs. 347,000), Boys 6-14 (+135% - 249,000 vs. 106,000), Boys 6-11 (131% - 187,000 vs. 81,000) and Boys 2-11 (+151% - 248,000 vs. 99,000), with solid double-digit percent gains in all other kid demos (+87% to +93%).*
"Ultimate Spider-Man" stars Drake Bell ("Drake & Josh") as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Chi McBride ("Boston Public") as Nick Fury, Clark Gregg ("Iron Man," "Thor," "The Avengers") as Agent Coulson, JK Simmons ("Spider-Man") as J. Jonah Jameson, Steven Weber ("Wings") as Norman Osborn, Greg Cipes ("Teen Titans," "Ben 10") as Danny Rand/Iron Fist, Ogie Banks ("Fatherhood") as Luke Cage/Power Man, Caitlyn Taylor Love ("I'm In The Band") as Ava Ayala/White Tiger, Logan Miller ("I'm In The Band") as Sam Alexander/Nova, Tom Kenny ("SpongeBob SquarePants") as Doctor Octopus, Matt Lanter ("Star Wars: The Clone Wars") as Harry Osborn/Flash Thompson, Tara Strong ("The Fairly OddParents") as Mary-Jane Watson, Misty Lee ("Batman: Arkham City") as Aunt May, and recurring guest star Stan Lee ("Spider-Man") as Stan the Janitor.
New episodes of "Ultimate Spider-Man" air Sundays at 11:00 a.m., ET/PT on Marvel Universe on Disney XD. The series is produced by Marvel Animation and carries a TV-Y7-FV parental guideline.
