Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is by far the best animated series Marvel Studios has made, especially being connected in some way to the MCU to me. Initially, this show was called Spider-Man: Freshman Year and was connected to the continuity of the Tom Holland MCU movies, but they decided to make the show its own thing. While the series has some similar elements from that version of the Marvel Universe, they also go their own way regarding characters and relationships that are totally original. They make this take have some surprises for those who know classic Spidey and those who only know MCU Spidey.
Unlike many other Marvel characters, Spidey is a little more flexible in how the character can be adapted to other media. From all the way back to the ’60s animated series this show samples the theme song for through to Electric Company and Japan’s Tokusatsu version through all the other 80s and 90s animated series through the many films. The audience is a bit more open to seeing Peter, or someone who has adventures and deals with the challenges of Great Power and Responsibility along with mixing up a few things that aren’t exactly what was done by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee along with the many others creating the original stories.
The series takes a big cue in its art style from the older comics of the 60s, especially in the early episodes. The show is animated using a 3D computer animation that’s made to look like the flat 2D art of traditional animated shows and the comics themselves. Peter here has a look reminiscent of Ditko, John Romita Sr., and a little Gil Kane. The animation is quite good but not as “fluid,” as some so-called online aficionados might like. The movement of the characters feels like a throwback in the school and Peter Parker (Hudson Thames) scene until you get to the Spider-Man scenes. The camera movement and character ramp up to wonderfully fluid action on the television screen.
You can see the influence of not just the many films’ interpretation of how Spidey moves but, to me, from the recent PlayStation games as well. There were times watching it I felt like I was having flashbacks to playing the game. The colors are bright and bold, and everything is easy to see when the action gets heavy. The show’s creators also did an amazing job of replicating the comic book artist-style look of pen and brush inkwork and hatching on the characters. Without spoiling the season, the characters we see bring joy to see them capture specific artists’ interpretations throughout the season, and it’s not all from the 60s. You’ll see references to the 80s, 90s, and even the modern era, like the style of Marcos Martin and Chris Samnee in how certain sequences look.
The writing of the characters all feel true to them. While the supporting cast isn’t the usual Flash Thompson, Liz Allen, or even Mary Jane and Gwen, the substitution of Nico Minoru (Grace Song) as Peter’s best friend adds a different dynamic to what you think can happen for if you know both characters and if you don’t. That potential to keep the story interesting for the many types of viewers is worth celebrating. Pearl Pangan (Cathy Ang) as Peter’s primary crush is a nice way to introduce fans to another Marvel character in a more subtle way. Using Lonnie Lincoln (Eugene Byrd) lets the show add another perspective and smartly crafted tragic (to me) story of the classic Marvel character that has yet to be used in the MCU. Let’s be honest: they don’t use enough Spidey characters in the MCU, period.
Let me just say it Coleman Domingo is so good with his voice acting as Norman Osborn that he should just be cast as Norman Osborn in the MCU right now. Domingo is one of the best actors alive right now, and it’s a boon that this show got a twice-nominated Best Actor nominee to voice one of the best Marvel villains ever created. They finally have a person who can do it besides Willem Dafoe. In this series, Osborn is his mentor instead of Tony Stark (something I’ve grown to hate as each year goes on), and he chooses to go closer to their dynamic in the early comics. This Osborn is brilliant, powerful, and charismatic. He’s caring in how he mentors and interacts with Peter. Their dynamic is a great story engine and one of the most entertaining elements of Peter’s journey, especially when you add the beginning of the friendship between Peter and his son Harry Osborn (Zeno Robinson).
A few things are not to my liking, but I’m also becoming an old Spider-Man fan. I don’t like that the MCU made that Peter needs to make and use a bootleg-looking suit in his early outings. May (Kari Wahlgren), being younger and more attractive, will still take a while for me to get used to, but I think it’s wise to have her look closer to the Marisa Tomei version. Yet the few nitpicks are small and from a very particular viewpoint of the character. Overall, the show revels in the Marvel Comic Book roots, with each episode having a cover title screen. Even with the corner box with Spidey in it in whatever outfit he has. The show uses other Marvel character cameos well in the classic Marvel way to drive the story along. As I said earlier, for me, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is the best-animated series they’ve done, even more than X-Men ’97. It has a great start all the way to the season finale, which makes me can’t wait to watch season two. This is definitely worth watching week to week.
Score: A
