If there's anything that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man absolutely nails in its opening episodes, it's the soap opera-esque interplay between the characters in Peter Parker's life. In the span of a couple of episodes, the new animated series on Disney Plus makes it clear that the relationships and various connections that Peter makes between his family, friends, and peers is just as important (and perhaps even more so) than whatever grand villain schemes are going on. And at the forefront of this is a major twist that this alternative universe tale puts on an MCU storyline – instead of Tony Stark serving as Peter's mentor figure, it's Norman Osborn, Spider-Man's frequent arch-nemesis.
But if you look through Spider-Man history, particularly recent adaptations, this isn't a swerve that comes out of nowhere. In fact, linking Peter and Norman like this is the culmination of something that's been building for a while.
