YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER MAN ''Spider Bite'' Scene (2025)

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YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER MAN "Spider Bite" Scene (2025) Marvel Animated Series
© 2025 - Disney+

The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man have been released, revealing a new alternate timeline for the MCU's Peter Parker and his journey to become the iconic Webslinger. A new animated series on Disney+, this exciting show is quite unique, both in its art style and its plot as Peter Parker embarks on a new kind of origin that is both distinct yet very closely tied to the MCU's Spider-Man played by Tom Holland. This is incredibly evident by the ending of the premiere's second episode, as Peter starts making a name for himself as a new vigilante in New York.

In the main live-action MCU, Tom Holland's Peter Parker attends Midtown High with his best friends Ned Leeds and MJ. Beginning his superhero career in earnest after Spider-Man is recruited by Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War, the Spider-Man trilogy of movies is one of the MCU's best. However, Your Friendly Neighborhood offers an alternate origin for Spider-Man, deviating from what's been seen before in some very intriguing ways. To that end, here's our full breakdown of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episodes 1 & 2 and the major twist ending explained.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 1 & 2 Recap
"Amazing Fantasy" & "The Parker Luck"

At the start of episode 1, Aunt May drives Peter Parker to his first day of high school orientation at Midtown High.
Before entering the school, a portal opens up and unleashes an alien symbiote, followed closely by Doctor Strange and resulting in major damage to the school.
In the aftermath, Peter is bitten by a spider that also came from the portal right as he was meeting Nico Minoru.
Months later, Peter is operating as Spider-Man, wearing a homemade suit and attending Rockford T. Bales High.
Peter has a crush on Pearl Pangan, who used to be his babysitter.
As Spider-Man, Peter saves Harry Osborn from muggers, and the entire thing is live-streamed.
Sometime later, Spider-Man catches a stolen van before it can hit a bus, mirroring the video that got Tony Stark's attention in the main MCU.
Peter becomes science partners with Lonnie Lincoln, Pearl's new boyfriend.
Lonnie is Rockford's star quarterback who gets good grades and lives in Harlem, doing his best to take care of his parents and younger brother.
After returning some stolen money to a pizza restaurant, Peter heads home after finding a discarded DVD player.
Mirroring Spider-Man's debut in the main MCU, Peter is met not by Tony Stark's Iron Man sitting in his apartment but Norman Osborn, CEO of Oscorp Industries.
At the start of episode 2, Norman invites Peter to join Oscorp's internship program.
At Oscorp, Peter meets fellow interns Asha (who's from Wakanda), Amadeus Cho, and Jean Foucault who are all placed into various projects by Doctor Bentley Wittman.
Peter joins a team run by Doctor Carla Connors who's overseeing a project focused on creating a self-sustaining battery.
Unable to go to a school party, Spider-Man fights Butane, a pyromaniac using advanced technology.
Returning to Oscorp, Peter gets called to Norman's office, where Osborn shows Peter security footage of him putting on his costume and leaving to fight Butane, confirming Norma now knows Peter is Spider-Man.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 1 & 2 Ending Explained
Mirroring Peter Parker's MCU Debut in Captain America: Civil War

At the end of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 1, the final scenes are completely framed to perfectly mirror Spider-Man's MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War. Not only is the dialogue with Aunt May the same before the Norman reveal instead of Tony Stark, but Peter also finds a DVD player in a dumpster and takes notice of the crazy car out front of his building, just like Tom Holland's Peter Parker did. Likewise, the ending of the first episode even features alt-J's "Left Hand Free" playing, the exact same song used in the Civil War scene.

As such, the ending of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 2 with the security footage confirms what Norman likely already suspected. Now having evidence that Peter Parker is the hero who saved his son, it stands to reason that Norman will offer to become Spider-Man's mentor going forward in this new series. As such, Norman is effectively set to become the place of Iron Man in this alternate MCU timeline, though it will be interesting to see what Peter's initial reaction will be now that his secret has been exposed for the first time.

Why This Spider-Man's Life Is So Different Compared To Tom Holland's Peter Parker
Doctor Strange Seems To Be Involved
Doctor Strange in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 1 & 2
The destruction of Midtown High thanks to Doctor Strange and the symbiote monster seems to be the inciting incident resulting in this new branch timeline, one where Midtown's students are all split up and sent to other schools. This explains the absence of characters like Ned and MJ in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man who were presumably transferred elsewhere.

However, what makes the Doctor Strange encounter so interesting is the Master of the Mystic Arts' comment that they weren't supposed to be there, suggesting that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to Peter Parker's new origins. This is especially true considering that the spider that bit him and gave Peter his powers came from the same portal as well. To that end, it's going to be fascinating to learn more about Spider-Man's new timeline as this new series continues, and how he'll gradually evolve into a full-fledged hero given his new circumstances.

New episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man release Wednesdays on Disney+.
Since Stan Lee and Steve Ditko first created Spider-Man more than six decades ago, the character has been one of the most enduring superheroes in popular culture. From comics to animated series and a slew of live-action films (as well as 2018’s animated, Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), Peter Parker and his alter-ego have been showcased in various forms. In Disney+‘s “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” creator Jeff Trammell has put a new and refreshing spin on Spider-Man’s origin story. The 10-episode debut season is beautifully nostalgic, while still capturing the essence of being a teenager in the 2020s.

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” opens in Queens, New York. Peter (Hudson Thames reprising his role from “What If…?”) rushes to his first day of school orientation with his aunt May (Kari Wahlgren). Peter is eager to begin his first year at the acclaimed Midtown High School, but things don’t go according to plan. Upon his arrival, he sees students being attacked by a murderous monster seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Though the creature is eventually subdued, amid the chaos, a radioactive spider bites Peter. The painful bite gives the 15-year-old unimaginable powers and abilities.

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Several months after the incident at orientation, Peter settles into Bales High (Midtown was destroyed in the attack). However, balancing his friendships, which include his new bestie, Nico Minoru (Grace Song), his crush, Pearl Pangan (Cathy Ang) and popular quarterback Lonnie Lincoln (Eugene Byrd), is proving to be way more challenging than expected. He has also fully embraced his newfound and highly secretive role as Spider-Man. Peter spends every spare moment flinging across NYC in a makeshift costume and fighting crime. Yet, he constantly flakes on Nico, who is becoming increasingly frustrated. Also, when Pearl and Lonnie start going out, Peter must reconcile his feelings for Pearl while trying to maintain a friendship with Lonnie, who is navigating some personal challenges behind the scenes.

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In addition to depicting Peter and his friends as they experience the typical teenage tropes of friendship, belonging, love and self-actualization, the series highlights the perils of greed, power and loyalty. Desperate for mentorship and a strong male figure to look up to, Peter begins interning at Oscorp, a multi-billion dollar engineering and science organization. His excitement is heightened when Oscorp CEO Norman Osborn (Colman Domingo) takes a personal interest in him. However, Peter soon realizes the businessman has alternative reasons for taking him under his wing. As “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” continues, Peter grapples with wanting to make Osborn proud while holding fast to his personal morals and values. Peter’s confusion about who Osborn is versus how the man portrays himself creates a compelling tension across the show.

Osborn isn’t overtly evil. However, there are plenty of big bads in “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.” 110th Street gang leader, Big Don (Ettore “Big E” Ewen), is wreaking havoc in Harlem. Elsewhere, Oscorp defector Otto Octavius’ (Hugh Dancy) volatile Gamma-fusion designs are finding their way into the hands of some of the city’s most menacing criminals. Octavius’ designs are so powerful that they even give Spider-Man a run for his money. It’s worth noting that Osborn and Octavius were both major villains in the Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” films, which jumpstarted the superhero genre. However, with Trammell putting his unique spin on the characters in this alternative universe, they feel modern, different and unexpected.

The series’ animation, led by Leo Romero and Polygon Pictures, combines 2D and 3D techniques. Still, Romero and his team give the show a retro feel similar to ’90s animation and illustrations seen in vintage comic books. Though this style is very different from what modern-day audiences have grown accustomed to, it gives the series a classic design that fits the narrative and enables “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” to stand with “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” and The CW’s “The Spectacular Spider-Man” as a respected, well-loved entry in the Spider-Verse. Appearances from several beloved characters, including Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) — who will, as of March 4, be in the spotlight themselves in Disney+’s live-action series “Daredevil: Born Again” — add another level of delight to the show.

Full of popular Marvel characters, a stellar voice cast and numerous Easter eggs, “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” captures everything fans have always loved about Spidey while delivering a fresh take on the teen superhero’s beginnings. Moreover, though Peter’s story anchors this narrative, Trammell and his writing team, led by Charlie Neuner, expand the stories beyond Peter and his immediate circle and into the multiverse. Intriguing, fun and timeless, the series is a love letter to those who’ve always rocked with the wall-crawler while welcoming new viewers into the fold.

The first two episodes of “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” premiere Jan. 29 on Disney+ with new episodes dropping weekly on Wednesdays.
The new clip, courtesy of an IGN exclusive, sees Peter helping up a student named Nico outside of their school as a spider drops onto his back. As the two converse, the spider bites the back of Peter’s neck, and he soon passes out, watching as the spider crawls onto someone else’s backpack.

Check out the new Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man clip below:

The series features the voices of Hudson Thames as Peter Parker, Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn, Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln, Grace Song as Nico Minoru, Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius, Kari Wahlgren as Aunt May, and Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn. In addition, Charlie Cox will also play Matthew Murdock/Daredevil for the first time in animation, ahead of Daredevil: Born Again’s premiere.

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is written and executive produced by Jeff Trammel. It centers around Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man, with a journey unlike any we’ve seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots. The animated show will also introduce other Marvel characters such as Venom, Amadeus Cho, Pearl Pangan, Rhino, Scorpion, Chameleon, Speed Demon, Tarantula, White Rabbit, and more.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is set to premiere on Disney+ on January 29, 2025, with two episodes releasing on the platform, followed by three episodes on February 5, three more episodes on February 12, and then the final two episodes on February 19.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Genre Superhero
Created by Jeff Trammell
Based on Marvel Comics
Starring
Hudson Thames
Kari Wahlgren
Grace Song
Eugene Byrd
Zeno Robinson
Colman Domingo
Music by
Leo Birenberg
Zach Robinson
Opening theme "Neighbor Like Me"
by The Math Club feat. Relaye & Melo Makes Music
Country of origin United States
Original language English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 2
Production
Executive producers
Jeff Trammell
Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt
Louis D'Esposito
Kevin Feige
Brad Winderbaum
Producers
Danielle Costa
Tim Pauer
Animator Rick Glenn
Editors
Alexander Wu
Hannah Long
Running time 28–30 minutes
Production company Marvel Studios Animation
Original release
Network Disney+
Release January 29, 2025 –
present
Related
Marvel Cinematic Universe television series
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is an American animated television series created by Jeff Trammell for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It is the 12th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from Marvel Studios and is produced by Marvel Studios Animation. The series explores Peter Parker's origin story and early days as Spider-Man, and is set in an alternate timeline from the main films and television series of the MCU where Norman Osborn becomes Peter's mentor instead of Tony Stark. Trammell serves as head writer with Mel Zwyer as supervising director.

Hudson Thames voices Peter Parker / Spider-Man, reprising the role from the Marvel Studios animated series What If...? (2021–2024), with Kari Wahlgren, Grace Song, Eugene Byrd, Zeno Robinson, and Colman Domingo also starring. Disney+ announced the series as Spider-Man: Freshman Year in November 2021, with Trammell attached. It was originally intended to be set in the main MCU continuity but the creative team found this too restrictive and decided to move it to an alternate timeline, allowing the series to explore familiar ideas and characters in new ways. It was retitled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by December 2023. The 3D cel-shaded animation pays homage to the art style of early The Amazing Spider-Man comic books by Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr., with animation provided by Polygon Pictures and CGCG, Inc..

The first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premiered with its first two episodes on Disney+ on January 29, 2025, with the remaining episodes being released in groups until February 19, as part of Phase Five of the MCU. A second and third season are in development.

Premise
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man explores Peter Parker's origin story and early days using the Spider-Man persona. The series is set in an alternate timeline within the multiverse where Norman Osborn becomes Peter's mentor instead of Tony Stark, as happens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) main timeline.[1][2]

Cast and characters
Main
Hudson Thames as Peter Parker / Spider-Man:
A 15-year-old freshman at Rockford T. Bales High School who gains spider-like abilities after being bitten by a spider.[3][4] Head writer Jeff Trammell enjoyed exploring Peter's mindset, how he is impacted by the different characters around him, and the effect that has on his growth as Spider-Man.[5]
Kari Wahlgren as May Parker: Peter's widowed aunt[4][6]
Grace Song as Nico Minoru: Peter's classmate and best friend[4][7]
Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln: Peter's classmate and captain of the Rockford football team[4][6]
Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn: Norman's son and Peter's classmate[4][6]
Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn:
The CEO of Oscorp and Harry's father, who is also Peter's mentor and "man in the chair".[8][9] Trammell noted that Norman is not a hero like Tony Stark / Iron Man—Peter's mentor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) main timeline—and his methods "may not turn out in everyone's best interest".[10]
Guest
Robin Atkin Downes as Dr. Stephen Strange: A neurosurgeon who became a Master of the Mystic Arts following a career-ending car accident[11]
Cathy Ang as Pearl Pangan: Peter's classmate and childhood crush who is dating Lonnie[12][6]
Anjali Kunapaneni as Jeanne Foucault: An Oscorp intern[13]
Erica Luttrell as Asha: An Oscorp intern who hails from Wakanda[13]
Aleks Le as Amadeus Cho: An Oscorp intern[13]
Paul F. Tompkins as Bentley Wittman: An Oscorp scientist[14]
Zehra Fazal as Carla Connors: An Oscorp scientist who directly works with Peter during his internship. She is also an alternate, gender-swapped variant of Curt Connors.[13]
Jake Green as Butane: An arsonist equipped with high-tech weaponry[13]
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil: A blind lawyer with superhuman senses from Hell's Kitchen who leads a double life as a masked vigilante[14]
Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin: A powerful businessman and crime lord[15]
Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius[4]
Mick Wingert as Tony Stark / Iron Man[13]
Roger Craig Smith as James Sanders / Speed Demon and Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon[13]
Anairis Quiñones as Maria Vasquez / Tarantula and Carmela Black[13]
Travis Willingham as Mikhail Sytsevich and Thaddeus Ross[13]
Sarah Natochenny as Mila Masaryk / Unicorn[13]
Leilani Barrett as Benjamin "Big Ben" Donovan[13]
Jonathan Medina as Mac Gargan / Scorpion[11]
Additionally, Ettore "Big E" Ewen has been cast in an undisclosed role.[16] The character White Rabbit is also confirmed to be appearing in the series.[17]

Episodes
No. Title [18] Directed by Written by Original release date [19]
1 "Amazing Fantasy" Mel Zwyer Jeff Trammell January 29, 2025
On his first day at Midtown High School, freshman Peter Parker witnesses sorcerer Stephen Strange battle a symbiotic alien, causing destruction to the school in the process. Peter assists Strange with capturing the alien, but is later bitten by a spider that emerged from a portal that Strange created during the fight. Several months later, Peter has developed spider-like abilities and is secretly operating as the vigilante Spider-Man. Due to the destruction at Midtown High, he now attends Rockford T. Bales High School where he befriends several students, including his best friend Nico Minoru, childhood crush Pearl Pangan, and the football team captain Lonnie Lincoln. While on the way to school, Peter saves Harry Osborn from a group of thugs. Later, he manages to stop two criminals on the run from the police, and receives public attention. After school, Peter returns to his apartment and encounters businessman Norman Osborn.
2 "The Parker Luck" Liza Singer Charlie Neuner January 29, 2025
Norman offers Peter an exclusive internship at his company, Oscorp, which he accepts. The next day, Peter goes to Oscorp after school and is assigned to work with scientist Carla Connors. During a break period, Peter sees a news report about a building on fire, and goes to investigate as Spider-Man. There, he encounters the arsonist Butane, who attacks him using high-tech weaponry. Peter defeats him, but notices a familiar logo on his equipment. Later, Peter returns to Oscorp, where he is summoned to Norman's office. Norman then shows Peter security footage of the latter putting on his Spider-Man suit.
3 "Secret Identity Crisis" TBA TBA February 5, 2025
4 "Hitting the Big Time" TBA TBA February 5, 2025
5 "The Unicorn Unleashed" TBA TBA February 5, 2025
6 "Duel with the Devil" TBA TBA February 12, 2025
7 "Scorpion Rising" TBA TBA February 12, 2025
8 "Tangled Web" TBA TBA February 12, 2025
9 "Hero or Menace" TBA TBA February 19, 2025
10 "If This Be My Destiny..." TBA TBA February 19, 2025
Production
Development
By June 2021, Marvel Studios Animation was developing a slate of at least three more series in addition to their Disney+ series What If...? (2021–2024).[20][21][22] The next month, these were said to be in various stages of development and were not expected to debut until at least 2023.[23] Spider-Man: Freshman Year was announced during a Disney+ Day event in November 2021, with Jeff Trammell serving as head writer.[1] Trammell was asked to develop the series after pitching a different animated project to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and animation head Brad Winderbaum.[24] Mel Zwyer served as supervising director,[25] with Stu Livingston as an episodic director.[26][independent source needed] Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Winderbaum, and Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt were executive producers alongside Trammell.[25] During Marvel Studios Animation's panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022, Spider-Man: Freshman Year and the other projects discussed were referred to as being part of the "Marvel Animated Multiverse". A second season was announced at the panel with the title Spider-Man: Sophomore Year.[27] The series was retitled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by December 2023,[28] and in January 2025 Trammell said the series was not limited to covering one school year per season.[5] Also that month, Winderbaum stated that the series had been green-lit for a third season.[29]

Writing
Charlie Neuner serves as a staff writer.[30] The series depicts the origin story of Peter Parker / Spider-Man, which was never explored in detail in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films;[3] Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated in 2015 that they decided to not retell the character's origin in Captain America: Civil War (2016),[31] which was the character's first MCU appearance,[3] since there had already been two versions depicted in the Spider-Man films directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb and the studios decided to "take it for granted that people know that".[31] The series was originally planned to be set within the MCU's "Sacred Timeline" before the events of Civil War, but the creative team found this to be too restrictive regarding which characters and comic book elements could be included. They decided to move the series to an alternate timeline,[32] taking advantage of the MCU's multiverse concept: the story begins similarly to Civil War but depicts Norman Osborn becoming Peter's mentor instead of Tony Stark / Iron Man, which leads to Peter meeting other unexpected characters.[2]

Trammell said the series would explore Peter's identity pre-Spider-Man and how his superhero career began.[14] The creative team took inspiration from early The Amazing Spider-Man comic books by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko,[33] as well as previous Spider-Man animated series. Trammell took specific inspiration from the way characters were developed in The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–09).[5] He wanted to use the series to approach familiar ideas and characters in new ways, such as Norman Osborn's role as Peter's mentor and Nico Minoru's position as Peter's best friend.[5][24] Spider-Man's origin story in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man sees Peter get bit by a spider falling out of a portal created by Dr. Stephen Strange as he is fighting a symbiotic alien, connecting his origin to magic rather than science as in the comics.[17][34][35] Winderbaum said the series was "so essentially Spider-Man" because it features Peter trying to juggle high school, caring for his aunt May, and being a superhero. He said the large ensemble of characters allowed for interesting relationships and stakes,[33] and an emphasis on the "neighborhood" from the series' title by featuring supporting characters in prominent roles;[36] Winderbaum compared this to Trammell's work on the animated series Craig of the Creek (2018–2025).[37] Trammell considered adding Jessica Jones to the cast as one of Peter's classmates, before deciding against it.[38]

By January 2025, the second season scripts had been written, with Winderbaum preparing at that time to hear Trammell's pitch for the third season. Given the series' renewal for three seasons, Winderbaum noted that Trammell had been building a narrative through-line for the series since the first season.[29]

Casting and voice recording
In July 2022, Charlie Cox was revealed to be reprising his role as Matt Murdock / Daredevil from previous MCU media,[27] while Paul F. Tompkins was cast as Bentley Wittman.[14] Cox recorded his lines in 2021 during breaks in filming the live-action MCU series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022).[39] In September 2023, a United States Copyright Office filing for the series revealed that Hudson Thames was voicing Peter Parker / Spider-Man, reprising his role from the first season of What If...? (2021),[4][40] with Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln, Grace Song as Nico Minoru, Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius, Kari Wahlgren as May Parker, and Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn.[4] The creative team were struggling to settle on an actor they felt could live up to Norman Osborn's reputation when Zwyer suggested casting Colman Domingo. Trammell thought that was a "genius idea" and they immediately approached the actor, who was "super excited" to take on the role.[5] Domingo's casting was announced in August 2024.[8] That December, Vincent D'Onofrio was revealed to be reprising his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin from previous MCU media,[15] with Cathy Ang as the voice of Pearl Pangan.[12]

Ahead of the series' premiere in January 2025, several actors were revealed to have been cast in the series: Robin Atkin Downes as Dr. Stephen Strange, Anjali Kunapaneni as Jeanne Foucault, Erica Luttrell as Asha, Aleks Le as Amadeus Cho, Zehra Fazal as Carla Connors, Jake Green as Butane, Mick Wingert as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Roger Craig Smith as James Sanders / Speed Demon and Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon, Anairis Quiñones as Maria Vasquez / Tarantula and Carmela Black, Travis Willingham as Mikhail Sytsevich and Thaddeus Ross, Sarah Natochenny as Mila Masaryk / Unicorn, Leilani Barrett as Benjamin "Big Ben" Donovan, and Jonathan Medina as Mac Gargan / Scorpion.[13] Additionally, former wrestler Ettore "Big E" Ewen was revealed to have been cast in an undisclosed role. He began work on the first season in 2022, and by January 2025, had begun work on the second season.[16]

Animation and design
Because Marvel Studios Animation does not have a "house style", the creative team were free to develop an animation style that differed from previous series What If...? and X-Men '97 (2024–present).[5] They wanted to avoid copying one of the many different animation styles used for the animated Spider-Verse films and settled on paying homage to the early The Amazing Spider-Man comic books, specifically those featuring art by Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr. Trammell described the series as a "moving comic book", which is achieved through 3D cel-shaded animation provided by Polygon Pictures and CGCG, Inc..[5][24] Polygon was chosen because of the 2D animation look they had achieved in their previous work. Trammell said the company was able to match their desired style while keeping the "characters feeling alive and real, without feeling stiff and mechanical".[24]

Leo Romero was the lead character designer, with comic book artists Chris Samnee, Paolo Rivera, and Ethan Young also working on the series.[24] Trammell praised Romero for modernizing the designs while retaining classic elements.[5] They leaned further into comic book references for Peter's suits and some of the villains' costumes,[24] including those for Octavius and Gargan.[41] Spider-Man suits featured in the series include a homemade suit made from "gym pants, sneakers, goggles, a blue sweatshirt, red undershirt, knee pads, very clunky web-shooters, and a red logo on the chest"; a yellow suit; a "classic 60s" red and blue suit;[42] a white and blue Oscorp suit resembling Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume from the comics;[43] a "beetle" costume reminiscent of the comic book character Hornet; and a dark suit similar to the comic book character Dusk.[44]

By January 2025, animatics for the second season were halfway complete.[29]

Music
Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson were revealed to be composing the series' score in June 2024.[45] The series' theme song, "Neighbor Like Me" by The Math Club featuring Relaye and Melo Makes Music, is a rap that samples the theme song from the animated series Spider-Man (1967–1970) by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris. The song was released as a single by Hollywood Records and Marvel Music on January 21, 2025.[46][47]

Marketing
The series was discussed during Marvel Studios Animation's panel at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, where character art was revealed.[14] The series was featured in a sizzle reel of Marvel Studios Animation's 2024 series in December 2023.[28] Trammell, Thames, and Domingo promoted the series during Marvel Studios Animation's panel at the D23 Expo in August 2024, where Domingo's role as Norman was announced and footage was shown.[48][17][49] Footage from the series was included in a video that was released by Disney+ in October, announcing the release schedule for Marvel Television and Marvel Animation projects through the end of 2025.[50]

Marvel Comics began releasing a five-issue comic book prequel series, also titled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, in December 2024. The comic was written by Christos Gage and features art by Eric Gapstur.[51] Trammell explained that the comic book fills a timeline gap in the series' first episode. He said it was possible that more comic books could be written to fill other timeline gaps later in the series.[5] A trailer for the series was released at the end of December, following the conclusion of What If...?'s third season. Toussaint Egan of Polygon described the series as "long-awaited",[52] and Jordan King at Empire called it "hotly anticipated".[53] King and IGN's Adam Bankhurst both highlighted the trailer's combination of classic Spider-Man references—including the art style and theme song—with contemporary animation and imagery.[53][54] Discussing the trailer for Gizmodo, Justin Carter said it was "well worth the wait" and felt the series would be appreciated by people who wanted the MCU's Spider-Man to have some "smaller adventures".[55]

Release
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premiered with its first two episodes on Disney+ on January 29, 2025, with the remaining eight episodes being released weekly in groups of two or three until February 19.[19] Chris Agar of ComicBook.com described the release schedule as unusual for an MCU series and suggested it was designed to avoid overlapping with the debut of the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again in March.[19] The series was previously scheduled to be released in 2024,[28][56] and a filing for the first episode with the United States Copyright Office in October 2023 had indicated an approximate release on November 2 of that year.[57] The first season is expected to be part of Phase Five of the MCU.[58]

Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 96% approval rating with an average rating of 8.2/10, based on 26 reviews for the first season. The site's critical consensus reads: "Embracing the wholesome aesthetics of the webslinger's original comic run while adding some fresh plot wrinkles, this family-friendly Spider-Man is a lovable incarnation of the Marvel superhero."[59] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the first season a score of 77 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[60]

References
Hipes, Patrick (November 12, 2021). "Disney+ Day: All The Streamer's Film & TV News From Premiere Dates To Series Orders". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
Davis, Brandon (July 28, 2022). "How Spider-Man: Freshman Year Fits Into MCU Revealed (Exclusive)". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
Couch, Aaron (November 12, 2021). "Disney+ Orders '90s 'X-Men' Revival, 'Marvel Zombies' and 'Spider-Man: Freshman Year'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
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External links
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This article is about the main and original version of the superhero. For other uses, see Spider-Man (disambiguation). For other versions, see List of incarnations of Spider-Man and Alternative versions of Spider-Man.
"Spidey" and "Peter Parker" redirect here. For other uses, see Spidey (disambiguation) and Peter Parker (disambiguation).
"Web Slinger" and "Webslinger" redirect here. For an alternate version of Spider-Man with this codename, see Alternative versions of Spider-Man § Web-Slinger (Earth-31913).
Peter Parker
Spider-Man
A drawing of Spider-Man crouched, looking up to the camera stricking a pose on a street-sign
Virgin cover of Web of Spider-Man #129.1
(October 2012), by Mike McKone and Morry Hollowell
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Amazing Fantasy #15
(August 1962)
Created by Stan Lee
Steve Ditko
In-story information
Full name Peter Benjamin Parker
Species Human mutate[a]
Place of origin Queens, New York City
Team affiliations
Avengers
Fantastic Four
X-Men
Secret Defenders
Future Foundation
Daily Bugle
Heroes for Hire
Mighty Avengers
New Avengers
Spider-Army / Web-Warriors
Partnerships
Black Cat
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Silk
Mary Jane Watson
Captain America
Human Torch
Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
Notable aliases The Amazing Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ricochet,[1] Dusk,[2] Prodigy,[3] Hornet,[4] Ben Reilly,[5] Scarlet Spider,[6] Captain Universe[7]
Abilities
Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and durability[8]
Ability to cling to solid surfaces
Precognitive spider-sense
Genius-level intellect
Skilled hand-to-hand combatant
Proficient scientist and engineer
Utilizes wrist-mounted web-shooters
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. He has been featured in comic books, television shows, films, video games, novels, and plays.

Spider-Man has the secret identity of Peter Benjamin Parker. Initially, Peter was depicted as a teenage high-school student and an orphan raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City after his parents, Richard and Mary Parker, died in a plane crash. Lee, Ditko, and later creators had the character deal with the struggles of adolescence and young adulthood and gave him many supporting characters, such as Flash Thompson, J. Jonah Jameson, and Harry Osborn; romantic interests Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, and the Black Cat; and enemies such as Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Venom. In his origin story, Peter gets his superhuman spider powers and abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider. These powers include superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, stamina, durability, coordination, and balance; clinging to surfaces and ceilings like a spider; and detecting danger with his precognition ability called "spider-sense". He builds wrist-mounted "web-shooter" devices that shoot artificial spider-webs of his own design, which he uses both for fighting and travel, or "web swinging" across the city. Peter Parker initially used his powers for personal gain, but after his Uncle Ben was killed by a thief that he could have stopped but did not, Peter began to use his powers to fight crime as Spider-Man.

Before Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the protagonist's sidekick role. The Spider-Man comic series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, a high school student from the Queens borough of New York City, as Spider-Man's secret identity, whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" were issues to which young readers could relate.[9] While Spider-Man was a quintessential sidekick, unlike previous teen heroes Bucky Barnes and Robin, Spider-Man had no superhero mentor like Captain America and Batman; he had learned the lesson for himself that "with great power comes great responsibility" —a line included in a text box in the final panel of the first Spider-Man's origin story, but later retroactively attributed to the late Uncle Ben Parker.

Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series, the first and longest-lasting of which is The Amazing Spider-Man. Since his introduction, the main-continuity version of Peter has gone from a high school student to attending college to currently being somewhere in his late 20s. Peter has been a member of numerous superhero teams, most notably the Avengers and Fantastic Four. Doctor Octopus also took on the identity for a story arc spanning 2012–2014, following a body swap plot in which Peter appears to die.[10] Marvel has also published comic books featuring alternate versions of Spider-Man, including Spider-Man 2099, which features the adventures of Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of the future; Ultimate Spider-Man, which features the adventures of a teenage Peter Parker in the alternate universe; and Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, which depicts a teenager named Miles Morales who takes up the mantle of Spider-Man after Ultimate Peter Parker's apparent death. Miles later became a superhero in his own right and was brought into mainstream continuity during the Secret Wars event, where he sometimes works alongside the mainline version of Peter.

Spider-Man is one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes.[11] He has appeared in countless forms of media, including several animated TV series: the first original animated series Spider-Man, with Paul Soles voicing the titular character, a live-action television series, syndicated newspaper comic strips, and multiple series of films. Spider-Man was first portrayed in live-action by Danny Seagren in Spidey Super Stories, a recurring skit on The Electric Company from 1974 to 1977.[12] In live-action films, Spider-Man has been portrayed by actors Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, by Andrew Garfield in two films directed by Marc Webb,[13] and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Tom Holland. Reeve Carney originally starred as Spider-Man in the 2010 Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.[14] Spider-Man was also voiced by Jake Johnson and Chris Pine in the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with the former reprising his role in the sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Publication history
Further information: List of Spider-Man titles
Creation and development
A black and white picture of a man standing in front of a spider web.
Richard Wentworth, a.k.a. the Spider in the pulp magazine The Spider. Stan Lee stated the Spider influenced the creation of Spider-Man.[15]
In 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee was casting for a new superhero idea. He said the idea for Spider-Man arose from a surge in teenage demand for comic books, and the desire to create a character with whom teens could identify.[16]: 1  As with Fantastic Four, Lee saw Spider-Man as an opportunity to "get out of his system" what he felt was missing in comic books.[17]

In his autobiography, Lee cites the non-superhuman pulp magazine crime fighter the Spider as a great influence,[15]: 130 [18] and in a multitude of print and video interviews, Lee stated he was inspired by seeing a spider climb up a wall—adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not this is true.[note 1] Besides the name, the Spider was wanted by both the law and the criminal underworld (a defining theme of Spider-Man's early years) and had through years of ceaseless struggle developed a "sixth sense", which warns him of danger, the inspiration for Spider-Man's "spider-sense".[18]

Although at the time teenage superheroes were usually given names ending with "boy", Lee says he chose "Spider-Man" because he wanted the character to age as the series progressed, and felt the name "Spider-Boy" would have made the character sound inferior to other superheroes.[19] He also decided to insert a hyphen in the name, as he felt it looked too similar to Superman, another superhero with a red and blue costume that starts with an "S" and ends with "man"[20] (although artist Steve Ditko intended the character to have an orange and purple costume).[21]

At that time, Lee had to get only the consent of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman for the character's approval. In a 1986 interview, Lee described in detail his arguments to overcome Goodman's objections.[note 2]

Goodman eventually agreed to a Spider-Man tryout in what Lee, in numerous interviews, recalled as what would be the final issue of the science-fiction and supernatural anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy, which was renamed Amazing Fantasy for issue #15 (cover-dated August 1962, on sale June 5, 1962).[22] In particular, Lee stated that the fact that it had already been decided that Amazing Fantasy would be canceled after issue #15 was the only reason Goodman allowed him to use Spider-Man.[19] While this was the final issue, its editorial page anticipated the comic continuing and that "The Spider-Man ... will appear every month in Amazing."[22][23]

Lee received Goodman's approval for the name Spider-Man and the "ordinary teen" concept and approached artist Jack Kirby. As comics historian Greg Theakston recounts, Kirby told Lee about an unpublished character on which he had collaborated with Joe Simon in the 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him superhuman powers. Lee and Kirby "immediately sat down for a story conference," Theakston writes, and Lee afterward directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages.[24] Steve Ditko would be the inker.[note 3] When Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic".[24]: 12  Lee turned to Ditko, who developed an art style Lee found satisfactory. Ditko recalled:

One of the first things I did was to work up a costume. A vital, visual part of the character. I had to know how he looked ... before I did any breakdowns. For example: A clinging power so he wouldn't have hard shoes or boots, a hidden wrist-shooter versus a web gun and holster, etc. ... I wasn't sure Stan would like the idea of covering the character's face but I did it because it hid an obviously boyish face. It would also add mystery to the character....[25]

Although the interior artwork was by Ditko alone, Lee rejected Ditko's cover art and commissioned Kirby to pencil a cover that Ditko inked.[22] As Lee explained in 2010, "I think I had Jack sketch out a cover for it because I always had a lot of confidence in Jack's covers."[26]

Cover art of Spider-Man, with big yellow letters "Amazing Fantasy".
Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962) first introduced the character. It was a gateway to commercial success for the superhero and inspired the launch of The Amazing Spider-Man comic book. – Cover art by penciller Jack Kirby and inker Steve Ditko
In an early recollection of the character's creation, Ditko described his and Lee's contributions in a mail interview with Gary Martin published in Comic Fan #2 (Summer 1965): "Stan Lee thought the name up. I did costume, web gimmick on wrist & spider signal."[27] At the time, Ditko shared a Manhattan studio with noted fetish artist Eric Stanton, an art-school classmate who, in a 1988 interview with Theakston, recalled that although his contribution to Spider-Man was "almost nil", he and Ditko had "worked on storyboards together and I added a few ideas. But the whole thing was created by Steve on his own ... I think I added the business about the webs coming out of his hands."[24]: 14  Ditko claimed in a rare interview with Jonathan Ross that the costume was initially envisioned with an orange and purple color scheme, rather than the recognizable red and blue.[28]

Kirby disputed Lee's version of the story and claimed Lee had minimal involvement in the character's creation. According to Kirby, the idea for Spider-Man had originated with Kirby and Joe Simon, who in the 1950s had developed a character called the Silver Spider for the Crestwood Publications comic Black Magic, but the character was left unused.[note 4] Simon, in his 1990 autobiography, disputed Kirby's account, asserting that Black Magic was not a factor and that Simon devised the name "Spider-Man" (later changed to "The Silver Spider"), while Kirby outlined the character's story and powers. Simon later elaborated that his and Kirby's character conception became the basis for Simon's Archie Comics superhero, the Fly.[29] Artist Steve Ditko stated that Lee liked the name Hawkman from DC Comics, and that "Spider-Man" was an outgrowth of that interest.[25]

Simon concurred that Kirby had shown the original Spider-Man version to Lee, who liked the idea and assigned Kirby to draw sample pages of the new character, but disliked the results—in Simon's description, "Captain America with cobwebs".[note 5] Writer Mark Evanier notes that Lee's reasoning that Kirby's character was too heroic seems unlikely—Kirby still drew the covers for Amazing Fantasy #15 and the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Evanier also disputes Kirby's given reason that he was "too busy" to draw Spider-Man in addition to his other duties, since Kirby was, said Evanier, "always busy".[30]: 127  Neither Lee's nor Kirby's explanation explains why key story elements like the magic ring were dropped; Evanier states that the most plausible explanation for the sudden change was that Goodman, or one of his assistants, decided that Spider-Man, as drawn and envisioned by Kirby, was too similar to the Fly.[30]: 127 

Author and Ditko scholar Blake Bell writes that it was Ditko who noted the similarities to the Fly. Ditko recalled that "Stan called Jack about the Fly", adding that "[d]ays later, Stan told me I would be penciling the story panel breakdowns from Stan's synopsis." It was at this point that the entire concept of the strip went through a major overhaul. "Out went the magic ring, adult Spider-Man and whatever legend ideas that Spider-Man story would have contained." Lee gave Ditko the premise of a teenager bitten by a spider and developing powers, where Ditko would expand upon to the point he became what Bell describes as "the first work for hire artist of his generation to create and control the narrative arc of his series". On the issue of the initial creation, Ditko stated, "I still don't know whose idea was Spider-Man".[31] Ditko did, however, view the published version of Spider-Man as a separate creation to the one he saw in the five pencilled pages that Kirby had completed. To support this, Ditko used the analogy of the Kirby/Marvel Thor, which was based on a name or idea of a character in Norse mythology: "If Marvel's Thor is a valid created work by Jack, his creation, then why isn't Spider-Man by Stan and me valid created work, our creation?"[32]

Kirby noted in a 1971 interview that it was Ditko who "got Spider-Man to roll, and the thing caught on because of what he did".[33] Lee, while claiming credit for the initial idea, had acknowledged Ditko's role, stating, "If Steve wants to be called co-creator, I think he deserves [it]".[34] He has further commented that Ditko's costume design was key to the character's success; since the costume completely covers Spider-Man's body, people of all races could visualize themselves inside the costume and thus easily identify with the character.[19]

Commercial success
A few months after Spider-Man's introduction, publisher Goodman reviewed the sales figures for that issue and was shocked to find it was one of the nascent Marvel's highest-selling comics.[35]: 97  A solo ongoing series followed, beginning with The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (cover-dated March 1963). The title eventually became Marvel's top-selling series[9]: 211  with the character swiftly becoming a cultural icon; a 1965 Esquire poll of college campuses found that college students ranked Spider-Man and fellow Marvel hero the Hulk alongside Bob Dylan and Che Guevara as their favorite revolutionary icons. One interviewee selected Spider-Man because he was "beset by woes, money problems, and the question of existence. In short, he is one of us."[9]: 223  Following Ditko's departure after issue #38 (July 1966), John Romita Sr. replaced him as penciller and would draw the series for the next several years. In 1968, Romita would also draw the character's extra-length stories in the comics magazine The Spectacular Spider-Man, a proto-graphic novel designed to appeal to older readers. It lasted for two issues and represented the first Spider-Man spin-off publication, aside from the original series' summer Annuals that began in 1964.[36]