Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025) Season 1 Review

Image Source: "Spiderman" by Valerie Everett is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. https://www.flickr.com/photos/66742614@N00/3005513635

This animated series spans 10 episodes and was released on Disney+ in late January 2025.
Here are some memorable quotes from this new Spider-Man animated series:

Peter Parker/Spider-Man: "Being a hero isn't about not being scared; it's about doing what's right even when you are."
Norman Osborn: "With great power comes great respect."
Nico Minoru: "Magic isn't about spells and potions; it's about believing in yourself when no one else does."
Lonnie Lincoln: "Everyone's got a past, but it's what you do with your future that counts."

Originally, this animated series was about the Peter Parker storyline from the recent Spider-Man movies; instead, it focuses on the early alternate time period of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man, with Norman Osborn mentoring the main hero instead of Tony Stark.

The animation style is inspired by the 1960's comic books, which blend classic aesthetics with modern CGI.
Hudson Thames provides the voice of Peter Parker, and Colman Domingo voice acts for the Norman Osborn character, which is quite decent in my personal opinion.
Even though this animated series has a lot of superhero action, but also mixes it quite well with high school drama.
There are themes of community building, finding identity, and taking responsibility in the story arc of Peter Parker.

The origin story of Peter Parker in this alternative universe has changed because Uncle Ben is deceased before Peter Parker is bitten by a spider that transforms him into Spider-Man.

If you are expecting either Gwen Stacey or Mary Jane Watson as being Peter Parker's girlfriends, then both of these characters are not present in this anime series; instead, we find Nico Minoru playing as the best friend of Peter Parker.

This anime series has a plethora of villains to keep Spider-Man busy, but we do not see the Norman Osborn character turn into the green goblin in the first season of the show. The two main villains featured in this show are the following:

Doc Ock: This is a classic villain of the Spider-Man franchise, and we see not only this character in full action but also his story arc with him having a history with the Norman Osborn character.
Scorpion: The scorpion gives huge issues in terms of giving damage to the Spider-Man character, as he is shown to have lots of power in this anime series. There were moments in the show where Spider-Man almost gets killed by the hands of Scorpion, which is really exciting to see.

I will give season 1 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man a 7 out of 10 because it does a decent job in sharing the early days of Peter Parker turning into Spider-Man in an alternate universe with a wealth of rich side characters and villains, which keeps the show fresh and entertaining to watch, specifically the last 5 episodes really pick up lots of steam.

Have you watched this new anime series from Marvel Animation? If so, what are your thoughts about it? Please let me know in the comments below.

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