I’m always a sucker for multiversal storytelling. Infinite universes and realities with infinite possibilities. Alternate versions of beloved heroes and villains are always fun to watch. And while the MCU has struggled with the multiverse in their post-Endgame era, the concept is still the driving force behind the next Avengers movies, Doomsday and Secret Wars. But with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the new animated series on Disney+, we get a fresh new origin story for Marvel’s flagship character, with bold changes and surprising emotional depth. It’s Marvel’s best multiverse story that’s not even in the MCU.
Spoilers Incoming for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Image via Disney+.
Now, let’s get this out of the way: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is not set in the MCU or any alternate reality within the MCU. It’s essentially a totally separate series that isn’t narratively connected to the events of the MCU. Having said that, the writers of this new animated series have a lot of fun by using the events we know from the MCU to subvert expectations for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Please note, the following will feature some spoilers from Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. All episodes of the show are now streaming on Disney+.
A New Origin Story With a Multiversal Twist
Image via Disney+.
The story of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man sees the classic take of a young Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man and all his adventures thereafter. The new series makes a key change that ends up telling an entirely different story than usual. The series opens with Parker heading to his first day at Midtown High School, the school he attends in almost every iteration of the Spider-Man origin story. However, in this show, the appearance of a Venom variant, through a magic portal, completely changes the story. During a fight with Dr. Strange, this Venom destroys Midtown High after eventually being subdued. Before Strange could leave through another portal, a small spider from the other side made it through and bit Peter Parker.
Not The Usual Suspects Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Image via Disney+.
So this story’s Peter Parker isn’t bitten by a radioactive spider in a lab, but rather, during this Venom misadventure. Which is also how this Parker’s entire trajectory changes. Since this Peter Parker never attended Midtown, the usual cast of Spider-Man and friends is missing from this series. There is no Mary Jane Watson love interest, no Ned the best friend (who was technically co-opted by the MCU from Miles Morales’ story), Flash Thompson the bully, and not even Gwen Stacy.
Instead, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man includes a supporting cast of brand-new characters. Enabling the writers to create completely brand-new stories without being beholden to any other Spider-Man story that came before. It’s a genius move that makes the story feel canon and familiar while exploring new themes, characters, and storylines. So in many ways, it’s almost like this entire Spider-Man series is like an Elseworlds story or like an extended episode of What If…?; like, what if Peter Parker never went to Midtown High?
Using The MCU To Subvert Expectations
Image via Disney+.
Another cool way that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man feels like an MCU elseworlds is because of how they weave the MCU Spider-Man origin within this story, along with inspirations from other classic origin stories for the character. Certain moments, certain dynamics feel familiar while being totally fresh and original. Like the inclusion of Norman Osborn in lieu of a Tony Stark in this series.
Even the introduction of Osborn (Colman Domingo) in the new Spider-Man series mirrors how Stark and the MCU Spider-Man (Tom Holland) meet. It’s almost the same scene beat by beat, but with Osborn on the couch with Aunt May instead of Stark, as in Captain America: Civil War.
New Series Explores A Different Mentor Dynamic
Image via Disney+.
Throughout the first few episodes, Osborn even acts as the mentor to this Peter, as Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) did to the MCU Peter. But with some very stark differences. (Pun intended.) While Tony treated Peter as a kid-superhero, most famously with the ‘Training Wheels’ protocol, Osborn pushes Peter in this new series to be the best superhero he can be. While we later know he was manipulating Peter, his approach was very much to push him to the limit of his abilities as Spider-Man.
This key change in the dynamic between a young Parker and his billionaire mentor changes the story entirely. It becomes more Shakespearean. Especially since the new story also incorporates elements from Sam Raimi’s live-action Spider-Man trilogy, namely Parker’s (Tobey McGuire) dynamic with that Osborn (Willem Defoe). The surrogate father figure/mentor, which makes the villainous turn of Osborn into Green Goblin later on that much more tragic for Peter. Almost losing two father figures since becoming Spider-Man.
Harkening Back To The Best Animated Spider-Man Series
Image via Disney+.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is one of the first original series from Marvel Animation and the studio’s best take on a multiverse story. The writers, Charlie Neuner and Jeff Trammell, do a great job of creating a world that, while it feels familiar to the MCU, reminds us of a time before shared universes.
Almost every character on screen in the new series has comic book origins. The world of this Spider-Man already has the Avengers, Iron Man, and other heroes that exist. But they don’t feel the need to explain or provide context for this to new audiences. It reminded me of the 90s animated Spider-Man series that did the same. There would be a supervillain of the week, a team-up with another popular Marvel superhero, and variations of existing comic book arcs, and there was no confusion or lack of following along.
The Multiverse Done Right, But In A Standalone Series
Image via Disney+.
Similarly, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man being almost like a totally different story in the multiverse just gives us a new hero in a world of superheroes and magic and aliens and doesn’t feel the need to explain everything. Or make everything interconnected to one another. It’s refreshing and a great change of pace from what we’ve become used to since the inception of the MCU: where everything is connected to everything, and also you have to do homework of past shows or movies to enjoy the newest release.
And while the show isn’t really set in the MCU, with notable changes in the universe that are apparent, the similarities are still fun and make the new show a very cool companion to the long-running MCU without being bogged down by its own history.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is now streaming on Disney+.
What did you think of this new Spider-Man series? Is it better than all the other Multiverse glimpses the MCU has given us thus far? Share your thoughts with me below or tag me on X: @theshahshahid
