Marvel Entertainment has just dropped the trailer for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the long-awaited animated series that was first announced way back in 2021 under the working title of Spider-Man: Freshman Year.
The trailer reveals a retro look, referencing the early Spider-Man comic books as well as the classic animated series, while also bringing the story up to date in terms of technology and media use, and it also introduces some new faces. Fans are poring over all the Easter eggs in the two-minute trailer, but the concept and animation style is causing division (also see the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man logo).
This animated series will focus on Spider-Man's beginnings years, but with Norman Osborn, or Green Goblin, as Peter Parker's mentor, deviating from the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Parker is voiced by Hudson Thames.
But although Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is set in an alternate universe Fans are noticing a lot of references to Spidey lore and even other IPs, from Tobey Maguire's black suit reveal to a clip Tony Stark shows Peter Parker in Captain America Civil War. Screwball can be seen commenting on a Stream at the 1 minute mark, while another comment, "you got beat up by a guy wearing hockey pads lol" is a Batman reference.
As for the animation style, some fans are loving the retro look, seeing it as a modern day version of the Neil Patrick Harris-voiced Spider-Man: The New Animated Series and a tribute to the comic books. But others think it looks slow or 'laggy'. "This has a very much 'hey kids are we cool yet' vibe," one person wrote on X. "It's hard for me to picture Peter Parker as a Gen Z kid... I'm a 90s kid myself, but i mostly picture young Peter as being from the 60s or 70s," someone else wrote.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will be released on Disney+ on 29 January, 2025. See subscription plans below, and for more to watch, see our pick of the best TV VFX of 2024.
