Later this month, Marvel Animation is going to be releasing the first two episodes of a brand new Disney+ Original series, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”, which follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming a hero, with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots.

The upcoming series will star Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Zeno Robinson, Hugh Dancy and Charlie Cox.  It has been executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt and Jeff Trammell.

Disney has released some new details on the upcoming animated series, with the show’s head writer, Jeff Trammell, revealing how he is excited to tell a new story set outside of the MCU.

“We have the privilege of following the movies and shows, so we pay homage to them as well as the comics. We build on things we’ve seen before but present them in new ways. We use those expectations to our advantage and turn things away from where you might expect. I’m excited for people to see new twists on classic characters, and I’m also excited to introduce characters that aren’t normally featured in Spider-Man stories.”

The Head of Marvel Television and Marvel Animation, Brad Winderbaum, also shared some details on the casting, including why they decided to bring in  Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn, who is now a self-made, ruthless industrialist who will play a big role in Peter’s evolution.

“It was Jeff Trammell who had the idea to cast Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn.  The character is such a rich and complicated mentor for Peter, so we really needed an actor who could deliver many different dimensions. You can see in his work that he’s so multifaceted, so I can’t wait for the world to see his version of Norman.”

This series has undergone many changes since then. It was announced many years ago on Disney+ Day.  While it was initially going to be set prior to the events of “Captain America: Civil War”, it’s moved away from the MCU, and this has opened the show up to tell different stories within the multiverse.  Jeff Trammell also explained how the new series will feature many well-known characters from the Spider-Man comics.

“You’re going to see some familiar faces — and if you’re a fan of Chameleon, you’re going to see a few of his faces. You’re also going to see Scorpion, as well as a few characters who may seem new, like Speed Demon or Butane. We have a huge rogues gallery to play with, and so we’re looking forward to putting some of them in the forefront.”

The show was initially announced to be called “Spider-Man: Freshman Year”, and Winderbaum also explained, why the show went through a name change:

 “There’s a reason why we changed the title to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It’s about the neighborhood. It’s an ensemble show. Every character is well-defined and has amazing arcs, from Peter and Nico to Lonnie and Pearl.”

The first two episodes will be released on Disney+ around the world on January 29th 2025 and a new episode will be released each week.

Roger’s Take:  I think the decision to pull this series out from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is probably going to work out better in the long run, since it gives the creators much more room to tell new and different stories.  Keeping it locked to the events prior to “Captain America: Civil War” means he can only face off with low-level criminals, and that would get dull rather quickly.  However, personally, I think if they were going to pull away from the MCU, they should have done it completely, with nothing in common, but I get the feeling the development was too far along once the project changed directions.  While they initially announced a second season, I’m just not sure this one is going to click.

Are you looking forward to watching “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

View all posts