Spider-Man: The Animated Series, also known as Spider-Man, is an American superhero animated television series based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. The series aired on the Fox Kids Network from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998, and later aired in reruns on Toon Disney's Jetix block and on Disney XD. The series was produced by Marvel Films, and animated by TMS-Kyokuichi.

The series finale was the first to introduce the "Spider-Verse" storyline, also known as the "Spider-Man Multiverse", which later inspired similar narratives in various Spider-Man comics, cartoons, and films in the early 21st century. People magazine described the show as one of the best animated comic book adaptations of all time. The show was presented in Dolby Surround for Fox Kids.

The series follows Peter Parker, a college student at Empire State University who struggles to balance his responsibilities as the costumed hero Spider-Man with the problems of his personal life. In addition to fighting crime, Peter must navigate his romantic affections for love interests Felicia Hardy and Mary Jane Watson; maintain his friendship with Harry Osborn; focus on his academic performance as Dr. Curt Connors' student; and help to support his Aunt May after the death of his Uncle Ben by working as a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle. The Bugle is owned by loudmouth publisher J. Jonah Jameson, who often uses Peter's pictures of his alter-ego to discredit and carry out a smear campaign against Spider-Man. Peter's peers at ESU include football star Flash Thompson, popular barista Liz Allan, scientific genius Debra Whitman, and research rival Michael Morbius.

As Spider-Man, Peter faces various supervillains who threaten New York City, including criminal masterminds such as the Kingpin and the Hobgoblin, scientific mishaps like Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin, and the extraterrestrial symbiotes Venom and Carnage. Spider-Man is occasionally aided in his fight against crime by other superheroes, including the X-Men, the Punisher, Blade, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four.

A large number of storylines and events from the comics are loosely adapted in the series, such as:

While Fox Kids' X-Men animated series was being produced by Saban, Spider-Man was produced by the newly formed Marvel Films Animation; it was the only series that in-house studio produced, but was animated by TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation. The series ran for 65 episodes and was the longest-running Spider Man animated series by episode count until Ultimate Spider-Man surpassed its record with 104 episodes.

For years, it was believed that the show had been heavily censored. In some episodes, realistic guns were depicted, but only in flashbacks, such as the showing of guns being fired during a flashback about the Punisher's origins where his wife and children were killed in the crossfire during a crime. Rules for the production of the show included no punching, throwing through glass, putting children in jeopardy or vampires as well as no usage of the word sinister. In November 2014 podcasts, Semper clarified that the show was not censored more than any other show at the time and that every time this has been brought up to him, he feels it has been blown out of proportion. Semper also admitted that the decision for Spider-Man not to use his fists was his own idea, because although the censors probably would have allowed it, Semper believed that Spider-Man should use more tactical methods and didn't want to teach children, the main target audience of the show, to solve problems through simple violence. Semper said that Marvel had no creative control on the TV series because Marvel at the time was in a tough time and close to bankruptcy. In addition, Semper stated that Stan Lee had influence on the show in the first thirteen episodes.

Producer John Semper was the primary credited writer on the show, receiving some sort of writing credit (usually a story, co-story or co-writing credit) on 60 of the 65 produced episodes. He wrote 8 episodes solo; many of his story credits were actually adaptations of previously published comic book stories. Mark Hoffmeier was a frequent contributor, receiving credits on 16 episodes, while Stan Berkowitz was credited on 9. Many of the other series writers had previously worked on Batman: The Animated Series, including Brynne Stephens, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway, Marty Isenberg and Robert N. Skir, Len Wein, and Sean Catherine Derek.