According to The Hollywood Reporter, Culver Entertainment, a division of Sony Pictures Television devoted to developing projects exclusively for DVD and international distribution, has announced its first project, an animated Spider-Man series.  The new Spider-Man animated series will commence with 13 half-hour episodes, which are expected to debut on DVD in 2007.

Marvel has already commissioned a number of direct-to-video animated projects produced by Lion's Gate (see 'Avengers Movie Set for February'), and DC Comics recently announced its own series of direct-to-DVD projects (see 'DC's Direct-to-Video Animated DVDs').  These direct-to-DVD projects can include more action and violence than broadcast standards for children's programming allow -- and thus the DVD-only animated projects can target an older fan base.