 Sony Entertainment originally conceived The Spectacular Spider @-@ Man as a series of four DVDs , and asked Weisman and Cook to develop it . The central idea was to follow Spider @-@ Man in his younger years in the comics ; Weisman and Cook wanted to incorporate the styles of the early comic publications by Lee and Ditko . Reviewers have cited other influences in the themes , such as the live action film series and the Ultimate Spider @-@ Man continuity . 
