Spider-Man is my favorite comic book character of all time so when I heard that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was a new animated series on Disney Plus, I was very excited to check this out. I have very fond memories of being a kid and renting Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends and even the Spider-Woman animated series in the 80s from the video van…. That is right, we had a guy that would come round with a van and he would rent videos out of it!
How to Download Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man were released on January 29, 2025. You can download or stream them from Disney+. Click on the Download button at the end of this review. And if you’re in the market for superhero animated movies, check out our reviews of Harley Quinn and Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
The Animated Series Review
Since then, from comic books to toys and of course to that epic Spider-Man the Animated Series in the 90s. Spider-Man has just gone from strength to strength and I would argue that right now, he is the most popular superhero around the world. Spidey has actually been treated very well as far as animated series go. The Spectacular Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man are two somewhat recent animated Spider-Man shows that I thought were fantastic.
A New Take on Spider-Man’s Origin
With Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Disney wanted to do something a bit different and this is not your typical Spider-Man origin story. I am someone who struggles with change when it is things that I love, but I came into this with an open mind, and after the first two episodes, I am invested to see how this goes. So please keep in mind, that this review is about the two episode season premiere, the show will be airing weekly on Disney Plus after this, which I am not a fan of! Give me all the episodes and let me binge watch!
Peter Parker’s First Steps as Spider-Man
The first episode introduces us to Peter and May, but the way, I love the way the show looks (more on this later) but May Parker looks so freaking weird. Anyway, Peter is about to have is first day at his new school when a portal opens up and Doctor Strange comes out fighting a monster and this is how Peter gets bitten by the spider! It is a very different take on how Peter gets bitten by the spider and I have to say, I thought it was kind of cool and added a bit more mystery to this Peter Parker.
The Modernized Look and Feel
We then fast-forward a few months and already, Peter is kicking butt as Spider-Man, he has a rather interesting look with his homemade suit and what looks like a football jersey with a spider on it. I dug it though, you could just imagine this young Peter Parker cobbling this suit together as he goes out fighting crimes.
Speaking of which, this is a modern Spider-Man/Peter Parker so that means he is embracing social media and there is a scene where Spidey is fighting bad guys and it is live streamed. I do think that is very fitting and the recent Spider-Man video games actually also made social media a part of Spider-Man so I think it was very fitting here.
A New Supporting Cast
We meet some of Peter’s classmates and this is the first big change, if you are expecting MJ, Gwen Stacy, Flash Thompson, or even Liz Allen, you will be shocked. Granted, those characters could come into play here. However, they have given Peter Parker a much different supporting high school cast here, and some of them, Nico and Lonnie I really liked just after seeing them in two episodes. Actually, I think I liked Nico and Lonnie much more than I did Peter.
A Shocking Twist with Norman Osborn
While the way that Peter got bitten by the spider was a big change, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man had a really big cliffhanger in the second episode that I thought was awesome. Peter ends up getting an internship at Oscorp and Norman Osborne, knows that he is Spider-Man. Again, I am only two episodes in, but from what I understand, it is Norman Osborne who is going to be Peter’s mentor in this world and that is very, very interesting and I am excited to see how it all plays out.
The Unique Animation Style
The animation style used in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is really cool. It manages to look like the old ’60s Spider-Man animated series, but in a modern way if that makes sense. It makes for a very unique looking kind of show that I think makes it stand out from all the other Spider-Man adaptations. Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse are probably the easiest comparisons, but I do not even think that this show looks all that much like them. It has very smooth animation and while as of writing there have only been a couple of fight scenes, they have looked great.
Final Thoughts
As someone who is often accused of being resistant to change, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was something I really enjoyed. I watched the two episode premiere back to back and by the time that second episode ended, I was ready for the third one! X-Men 97 was a fantastic animated series and that carried on an already established universe. However, it is great to see that Disney is not scared to try and do something new too. Just remember this review is based on the two episode season premiere so as of writing, I cannot say if Spidey sticks the landing.
