Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 Review
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Movies and shows and comic books, he’s everywhere, take a look! That is no exaggeration, either. Before the MCU helped popularize most Marvel heroes and villains, there were two things a casual fan could name off the top of their heads. The first was the X-Men, but the other one was Spider-Man! It should come as no surprise that fans were elated when the webhead finally joined the MCU nine years ago. And while the quality of the MCU has declined since Endgame, fans can agree that anything Spider-man-related is still worth considering. Ironically, though, I procrastinated on watching the wallcrawler’s new animated spin-off, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Once I sat down and watched it, though, I couldn’t stop watching. This might be the best Spider-Man show since The Spectacular Spider-Man got canceled.
This is also ironic, considering that Disney’s buying of Marvel led to that show never getting the ending it deserved!
Spider-Man, Spider-Man…
When it was first announced, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was promoted as a prequel to the MCU Spidey films. Somewhere along the lines, though, it was moved to an alternate version of the Sacred Timeline, AKA the MCU Prime. Thanks to that, it gained the freedom to tell what might be one of the most unique versions of Spider-Man’s origin story. Namely because in this reality, Uncle Ben already died of illness well before Peter got that fateful spider bite. As a result, Peter Parker doesn’t need an Aesop delivered to him to become a superhero. He chooses to because he’s already that good a person. That, and he’s also a big fan of Captain America and the Avengers.
Trust a Norman Osborn at Your Own Peril
This departure from the time-honored origin of Peter Parker becoming the original Spider-Man has its pros and cons. The upside is that allows for a unique take on the early days of Spider-Man learning the ropes to being a hero. The downside? Not getting the “great power, great responsibility” speech means he’s susceptible to being influenced by adults who might not have his best interests at heart. Case in point: Norman Osborn.
Unlike in the Sacred Timeline, Tony Stark isn’t the one who figures out Peter is Spider-Man. Instead, it’s Norman, no thanks to the fact that Spidey saves Harry (played by Zeno Robinson) from being mugged. However, if you know Norman Osborn, then you know that you should trust about as far as you can throw him. While a part of him does care about Peter on some level, he’s not afraid to keep secrets and go behind his back to get what he wants.
No, Really! Don’t Trust a Norman Osborn!
For example, while Spider-Man is in the middle of fighting against the Scorpion, Osborn is more concerned about finding his old employee, Dr. Otto Octavia’s, then his protégé’s wellbeing. As a result, he’s almost too late to save Peter as he winds up almost getting beaten to death by Scorpion.
No, really. Spider-Man is no stranger to almost dying, but the series pulls no punches whatsoever in showing how brutal this is. The fact that the entire series is made to resemble the art style of the comics back in the 1960s, which were nowhere near as dark as today, makes it more jarring.
What makes it even worse is that afterward, Norman gives the worst possible version of the “With great power” speech. Instead of saying “great responsibility,” he says “great respect.” That bad advice almost pushes Spidey into crossing a line—as a minor! That’s bad!
It’s not as bad as what happens to a classmate of his, Lonnie Lincoln.
This Show is as much about Lonnie Lincoln as Spidey
While the season focuses primarily on Spider-Man, another character that becomes just as important is that of his classmate, Lonnie Lincoln. In the comics, he’s the gangster supervillain known as Tombstone, but here, he’s just the star quarterback at high school and an all-around nice guy. At least, at first. But after his brother winds up joining a gang, Lonnie offers to take his place, setting down the path to becoming Tombstone.
Unlike other iterations of the character, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man version of Tombstone is still a largely heroic character…for now. His protective nature extends to the rest of the gang he joins, especially after they convince him that they’re necessary to keep the neighborhood from worse criminals. And he starts to buy it once he sees how ruthless the gang led by Scorpion is!
By the end of the season, it’s still unclear whether or not this version of Tombstone will be as ruthless as other versions. For the moment, he seems like he’s going down the path of an anti-hero. However, many protagonists have walked the fine line between anti-hero and villain, only to turn into the latter. One thing for certain, though, is that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is as much about Tombstone as it is about Spidey.
Look out, Here Comes the Spider-Man
So, is Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man a good show? Yes! Not only does it take the time-honored origin story of Spider-Man and add a unique twist to it, but it also has him earn the webs. He’s still young, inexperienced, and not fully sure who to trust his secret with. And knowing what Osborn turns out like, this will eventually come back to haunt him. However, it’s these lessons that will help him grow into the Everyman hero he’s meant to be. Here’s hoping that things don’t get so bad that he has to make everyone forget who he is, though. No Way Home was an amazing film, but Peter didn’t deserve to end up the way he did!\
