Spider-Man: Freshman Year Is Now Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will air on Disney+ and will be in an alternate timeline from the Tom Holland Homecoming version of the character.
What was originally titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year has become Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. And this is just the kind of web-slinging story we need right now.
This is after the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sony teamed up to finalize one of the truly great trilogies we’ve seen in quite some time.
Tom Holland, Jon Watts, and the rest of the Spider-Man crew completed the Homecoming story arc in truly brilliant, and at times heartbreaking, fashion. It was a cinematic feat on a number of different levels, essentially checking every box for the character, the Holland version, and the other Peter Parkers we’ve had in the past.
While the future for Tom Holland isn’t necessarily certain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, we are going to get another story in this arc, though it will be a bit different than what’s come before.
It’s going to be in the form of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man a look back at the origin story for this version of Peter Parker, something we didn’t get in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s take a look at everything we know so far about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and what’s to come with this animated offering.
TOM HOLLAND WILL NOT BE BACK FOR THIS SERIES
This is likely to be the biggest question fans want to be answered before the series hits. Will our favorite Peter Parker (is he your favorite? He should be) return to voice the character he played masterfully on the big screen?
While there’s been no official “No” on Tom Holland returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in animated form, we do know that he isn’t playing Peter Parker/ Spider-Man (at least not the main version) in this one.
As far as the broader MCU is concerned, Tom Holland has been non-committal about the prospect so far, even implying that he needed a break after No Way Home. That makes perfect sense. Holland has been about as high-profile as they come with his turn through the Marvel Universe, so wanting to step away from the character for a bit is totally reasonable.
Does Marvel need him to return to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. in order for it to happen? No, but they’ve been consistent with this kind of thing (when possible) with their animated offerings so far.
HUDSON THAMES IS PETER PARKER
While Tom Holland won’t be back as the web-slinger, we are going to get a return of another version of Spider-Man/ Peter Parker. The cast of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. includes Hudson Thames as Peter Parker, known for his roles as Spider-Man in Avengers: Quantum Encounter and Spider-Man/Peter Parker in What…If?.
So there’s voice work overlap with things that have already been done as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Other cast will include some new folks in popular roles. Eugene Byrd plays Lonnie Lincoln, with credits in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and The Legend of Vox Machina.
Grace Song takes on the role of Nico Minoru, recognized for her work in Kidding and Straight Up.
Hugh Dancy portrays Otto Octavius and Kari Wahlgren plays Aunt May. There’s also Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn.
YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN WILL BE AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE
Unlike the other Spider-Man movies we’ve gotten so far, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is going to actually be an animated series. Going back in time, the story will look at how this version of Peter Parker came about his Spidey skills the first time around.
And it’s important to recognize and understand that this version of Spider-Man is in an alternate timeline from the MCU/ Tom Holland version. No problem there considering Marvel has been going nuts with the Multiverse anyway.
In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter Parker is mentored by Norman Osborn (voiced by Colman Domingo), not Tony Stark. Is that going to lend a different vibe to the story? Of course it is.
Remember, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we first came about Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War when Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark tracks him down in Harlem and basically quietly outs him for being the web-slinger. Now, we’ll get more of story and a look at high school life for Parker.
CHARLIE COX WILL VOICE MATT MURDOCK/ DAREDEVIL
Though Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is in an alternate timeline, at least one Marvel star is in the mix here. That will be Charlie Cox lending his voice to lawyer Matt Murdock who will undoubtedly show up as Daredevil as well.
This is a cool addition especially considering we saw Cox make an awesome cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
In addition to Daredevil, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will have a couple of Marvel villains as well. Tombstone and Otto Octavius are set to have roles.
YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN WILL RUN FOR 10 EPISODES
As with most Disney+ shows, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will run 10 episodes in its first season. The first season piece is the applicable labeling too because we don’t know if this will be a one-and-done. Presumably, if the streamer found success with the offering then we could definitely see more stories, and there’s no reason to cap the initial arc as compromising the entirety of the titular school year.
They could definitely extend this out and have the year go over a number of different seasons. No reason to be quick with this story, especially around such a time-honored and popular character.
JEFF TRAMMELL IS LEADING YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
Jeff Trammell has been tapped as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s head writer and is said to be handling the script for this series. Disney+ has been consistent with this as an approach for their other series, often tapping one writer to lead the room who also handles the scripts for more than a few episodes.
And there’s been work to keep directing duties consistent as well, though it hasn’t always worked out perfectly with that.
Trammell comes to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man after having worked in the writer’s room for Craig of the Creek on Cartoon Network. The critically acclaimed series has a superhero leaning to it as well, though this was more of the imaginative space, seeing as how Craig and his friends have their own little kingdom along the creek in which they play.
YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN WILL AIR ON DISNEY+
The plan is for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man to air on Disney+ with the other Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings. The studio has been non-committal about the exact timeline, but a 2023 release would make sense. That part remains to be seen.
Unlike other MCU properties, since this one is going into the past, and we know how the next three years of Peter Parker’s life turned out, there isn’t quite the sense of urgency as with other projects. In this way, it’s more of a standalone project that can come along at almost any point.
That being said, with the popularity of the character and considering the massive box office gains from No Way Home, one would think the studio would want it to hit the streamer sooner than later.
