The Marvel series The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has been running on Disney+ since this week. Find out why it’s better than you thought in our series review.
While Marvel fans are patiently waiting for Spider-Man 4 with Tom Holland, the young web-slinger from Queens is already experiencing new adventures on Disney+: in the animated series The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Don’t let the childlike look put you off, or you’ll miss the most surprising and best Spider-Man series in years.
Peter Parker and the MCU: In the new Spider-Man series on Disney+, nothing is as it seems
Peter Parker goes to Midtown High, lives with his attractive Aunt May, has recently lost his Uncle Ben and is bitten by a radioactive spider: at first glance, the new Spider-Man series on Disney+ could also be the prequel to the superhero known from the Marvel Cinematic Universe – in the German version, he is even dubbed by Tom Hollands’s dubbing voice (Christian Zeiger). In fact, the series takes us to an alternate reality within the MCU multiverse that plays with all our expectations.
In this timeline, the Avengers have also fought aliens in New York and are on the verge of clobbering each other at Leipzig Airport during the Civil War. However, Peter Parker in this universe is far from standing alongside Iron Man. Because an alternative course of history leads to Oscorp CEO Norman Osborn, not Tony Stark, becoming his mentor and partner – and his best friends are no longer called MJ and Ned, but Nico and Harry.
Fortunately, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man doesn’t want to be a butterfly effect like What If… and quickly starts to stand on his own two feet. Rather, it is the way it plays with expectations that characterizes the animated series. Here, the quarterback jock does not become a nasty bully, but a secret science nerd who befriends Peter, and not every villain known from the Marvel comics follows his villainous destiny.
Despite many familiar ingredients, this Spidey story delivers an unexpectedly fresh look at the origins of the popular Marvel icon, focusing on the core of Spider-Man as a street-level hero who helps people in his neighborhood with optimism and selflessness – and is sometimes allowed to fight lesser-known villains like Speed Demon, Tarantula, Unicorn or Scorpion.
Is the Marvel series The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man worth watching?
At the latest with his first real (blue and white!) costume, this Peter Parker stands out from all previous iterations from films and series – and that includes the look of the series itself. Panel frames and split screens create a classic comic book style, as do the character designs, which are based on the early comic adventures from the pen of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
As beautiful as the series’ style is, the computer-generated cel-shading animations are all the more disturbing, lacking any visual sophistication of the Spider-Verse films. Over the course of the ten episodes, I quickly got used to the initially alienating look, but obvious CGI moments keep creeping in, dampening the fun. But when Spider-Man gracefully swings through the urban canyons of New York, it’s all quickly forgotten.
This is actually only a minor point of criticism. The great strength of the series, apart from clever references to Spider-Man’s various appearances in films, series, games and comics, is above all the exciting characters and themes. Between school, friendships, an internship at Oscorp and activities as a vigilante, the core conflicts of a Peter Parker come to light more precisely with each episode, while he has to prioritize and recognize his own limits and weaknesses (in sometimes painful ways).
In particular, Spider-Man’s actual arch-enemy Norman Osborne (voiced by Colman Domingo in the original version) shines as an ever-shifting ally. His ambition to turn Peter into a more efficient superhero takes on increasingly unhealthy traits, making it exciting to see if he might cross the moral line into villainy at any moment. And at the latest, his variation on the famous Spidey quote “With great power comes…” gives you a real goosebump moment.
The Spider-Man series frees Peter Parker from the MCU shackles
Not only does this Spider-Man deal with surprisingly down-to-earth dangers such as theft, robberies or even a house fire. Series creator Jeff Trammell also succeeds in drawing a socially critical picture of Peter Parker’s “neighborhood” with all its problems, so that we understand why it is in desperate need of a savior and hero. Through Peter’s school friend Lonnie Lincoln, we experience in an impressive way how gang violence, crime and poverty can draw even the most innocent into a spiral of violence.
A major criticism of Tom Holland’s first Spider-Man adventures was the strong dependence on Iron Man and the Avengers, which could only be corrected by No Way Home. This alternative version of the young superhero, in contrast, distances him from all major MCU events (except for a few cameo appearances). Here, Spider-Man is simply allowed to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Even though the Spider-Verse movies have set the bar impossibly high for all subsequent animated Spider-Man adventures, the friendly Spider-Man from the neighborhood, despite the animation that can be criticized, is able to entertain damn well with plenty of charm and coolness, creative playfulness and storylines that build up over ten episodes. There hasn’t been a better Spider-Man series since The Spectacular Spider-Man in 2008. Fortunately, Disney+ has already ordered two more seasons.