Note: Mild spoilers for the first three episodes.
We have to go back in time to talk about this show to understand what it is. Originally announced as Spider-Man: Freshman Year, the show was meant to basically explain how MCU Spider-Man came to be. Now given the rehashings of Spider-Man’s origin story so many times over the years along with No Way Home reframing the trilogy of movie’s so far as an origin story for Tom Holland’s iteration, it makes sense to change it up. So in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man we get a mix of MCU and comics with a few other twists.
This doesn’t mean we avoid the origin story entirely, but they largely skip past things, so you won’t need to watch Uncle Ben die again. This show does still follow the MCU timeline to a certain extent, though that’s largely occurring in the background. Rounding out our cast we get some Spider-Man mainstays, along with some characters who comic book fans might recognize but I certainly didn’t recognize.
The story that comes together offers a pretty neat take on what could have been if Marvel properties were all united under one banner. This show can deal with the local level that is more associated with Spider-Man while also thinking about the ramifications of the Sokovia Accords. Additionally what might seem like simple character swaps, such as having Norman Osborn take the place of Tony Stark as Peter’s mentor, lead to very different outcomes. While Tony largely left Peter alone as seen in Homecoming, Norman actively uses Peter for his own purposes. It’s an interesting contrast.
As a TV show, there’s more time to explore the world. This means multiple plot threads and characters to follow. As a fan of the recent games from Insomniac, despite any flaws, it’s nice seeing multiple things going on rather than the (I would argue necessary) singular focus of the movies. This all culminates in a wider, more interesting world than we’ve had available for Spider-Man in most mediums. It’s a good time to be a fan.
Verdict
Watch