Once in a secure position, story editor John Semper made his first demand of the combined FOX-Marvel forces by making them buy him a complete collection of Spider-Man comics. FOX and Marvel had the idea that armed with six trade paperbacks, Semper was going to create a 65-episode series. However, he told them no, invest the money in the books and they could use them for reference. Semper got his comics and as '93 moved into '94 the story editor began researching more than 30 years of Spider-lore - building the foundation of this series.
The creative team decided not to use Gwen Stacy in this series because they did not want to use a character that was dead in the comics for over 20 years and long time fans would expect her to eventually die. Because of this decision, many of the stories were changed to the events happening to Felicia Hardy or Mary Jane Watson. However, Gwen would appear in the series finale.
Radioactivity and all uses of the word were removed and replaced on this show with a science called neogenics, including the spider that bites Peter to give him his powers. Ironically, though, Joe Perry's theme music uses the lyric "radioactive spider blood." Double ironic considering show had to say "plasma" instead of "blood"
Story editor/producer John Semper said in an online interview that the Fox Kids network did not allow Spider-Man to punch anyone because other countries, such as Canada, were banning Fox Kids shows that featured fantasy violence like Power Rangers (1993) and Batman (1992). This is why no one is ever punched in the gut or punched on the face on this series. Semper admitted he got lots of fan mail from confused viewers wondering why Spider-Man never threw a punch at his enemies. Although there were only a few exceptions.