Spectacular Spider-Man's Josh Keaton Recalls Realizing Drake Bell Had Replaced Him

By Nathaniel Brail

Spider-Man has been the talk of the town as of late with the release of Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and it brought back a ton of Spider-Man characters from the past. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse brings back a ton of fan-favorite Spider-Man variants, including the Scarlet Spider, a.k.a. Ben Reilly, and even the Spectacular Spider-Man. Not only did they bring back the Spectacular Spider-Man, they also brought back the voice actor, Josh Keaton. If you don't know the history of Spectacular Spider-Man, it was canceled way before its prime, and not even GMA demand could bring it back. Now, Keaton is recalling when he realized Drake Bell was replacing him with Ultimate Spider-Man.

"This was after Spectacular Spider-Man, and I knew it wasn't going to get picked up. We didn't know that Ultimate Spider-Man was even going to happen yet," Keaton revealed during a recent Twitch session which you can check out below. "But Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was going to be kind of like my send-off. So I was like, 'Alright, sweet. Well, at least I get to play Spider-Man in this last thing. That's cool. Awesome.' And then the night that it aired, I was going to watch it. I watched it, and I was like, 'Wow, that is not my voice. That is not my voice. He's hitting all the same beats I'm hitting because, you know, the animation was probably already done. So they had to have him just kind of listen and repeat what I did and say, 'Okay, now you do it.' And I was like, 'That's not my voice.' And then, when I looked at the credits, it said Drake Bell. I was like, 'Wow. Okay.'  And right around then is when they announced we're coming out with Ultimate Spider-Man and Drake Bell is going to play Ultimate Spider-Man. And I was like, 'Man, that stinks. That stinks that they did that to me. They could have at least called me so I wouldn't have gotten so excited.'"

The Spectacular Spider-Man Returns In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

There are so many Spider-Mans in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, including the Spectacular Spider-Man, that it'll take multiple different animation styles to bring them all to life. "The first film had one animation style that dominates the movie. This movie has six," writer/producer Phil Lord told Empire. "So we're taking those tools, adding all the things we learned on The Mitchells Vs The Machines, and then growing them further to accommodate the ambition of this movie. Which is to wow you every time you enter a new environment, and also to make sure that the style of the movie reflect the story, and that the images are driven by feelings, as opposed to some egg-headed art project. Which it also is, by the way!"

What Else Is Waiting In Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse?

Sony Pictures Animation is teasing big things for our beloved Spider-People in the sequel. Here's a brief synopsis for Across the Spider-Verse: "After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders. He must soon redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most."

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in theaters now!

What do you think about The Spectacular Spider-Man stars comments? Have you seen the characters big return in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!

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