Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Streaming on: Disney+
Episodes viewed: 10 of 10

From his space-travelling, multiversal ride in the MCU, to the critically acclaimed Spider-Verse franchise, to a playable tag-team adventure with multiple web-slinging heroes, no superhero has undergone more reinvention across film, TV and video games in the last decade than Spider-Man. Despite this oversaturation, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, a new animated series from Jeff Trammell, manages to keep things fresh for Peter Parker (Hudson Thames) and his amazing friends (and villains) over ten fun, well-paced episodes. It’s an impressive feat.

The big ‘What if?’ change here sees Norman Osborn (Colman Domingo) become Spidey’s mentor instead of Tony Stark. It’s a smart move that opens up a wealth of new storytelling possibilities, including how the relationship influences Peter’s heroics, his friendship with Harry Osborn (Zeno Robinson), and more. This isn’t just a simple good-guy-bad-guy swap; there’s a genuine affection between both parties that adds welcome complexity in later episodes. It’s still recognisably MCU Spidey — with all the relatable trappings we’re familiar with — but different enough that even the most knowledgeable aficionados won’t anticipate various story beats.

The animation matches the quality of the story.

And the biggest surprise isn’t actually Peter or Norman, but Lonnie Lincoln (Eugene Byrd), better known in the comics as Tombstone. In a storyline running parallel to Peter’s, he starts off the series as the popular captain of the high-school football team before making a bad decision for the right reasons that knocks him onto a different path. It’s a sympathetic reimagination of a familiar character that earns our investment, and then some. And crucially, Lonnie, Norman and Harry being Black isn’t just for show — it has a noticeable impact on each character in different ways.

Most of the time, the animation matches the quality of the story. The blend of Steve Ditko’s art style with Alex Toth-style animation gives the visuals a likably comic-book feel. Each episode’s opening credits — which quickly reach hallowed ‘never-skip-intro’ status thanks to a fantastic update of the original ’60s theme — ends with a title card in the form of a classic cover, too.

There are times, admittedly, when characters’ faces can be distractingly stiff. Thankfully, even when the animation dips, the voice work never does. Domingo brings an easy, confident gravitas to Osborn, lacing his delivery with warmth when appropriate, and Thames — who proved a good substitute for Tom Holland in What If…? — finds moments to add his own flavour to Peter.

That also applies to the series as a whole. The vast uptick in multiversal storytelling has proven time and time again that no-one version of a character is definitive. But — when it’s done right — each new rendition can add to the mythos, while creating its own vibe. And Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a welcome addition to the wallcrawler’s ever-growing legacy.