Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 Review by Ryan Balkwill

Plot: Following Peter Parker on his way to becoming a hero.

Season 1 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was hit and misses.

Pros: I like Dr. Stephen Strange ties into this Peter Parker journey to become Spider-Man. I did like a lot of his friendships with Nico, Lonnie & Pearl. I’m glad Otto Octavius, Scorpion & Tombstone were set up really well. How they recreated the animation style to look like his original comic books and I ended up liking this series a little bit.

Cons: They didn’t properly develop the chemistry with any of the heroes at all. I didn’t like these versions of the Osborns being black. Many of his suits wasn’t used that much. I didn’t like a lot of Spider-Man’s Ideals and talked down to him. A whole of it felt fast paced and they used a lot of elements from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but doesn’t feel connected to that world.          

Genre: AnimationActionAdventureSuperhero fiction

Created by Jeff Trammell

Written by Jeff Trammell

Based on Spider-Man; by: Stan LeeSteve Ditko

Starring: Hudson Thames, Kari Wahlgren, Grace Song, Eugene Byrd, Zeno Robinson, Colman Domingo, Hugh Dancy & Charlie Cox.

Music by Leo Birenberg; Zach Robinson

Executive producers: Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, Jeff Trammell

Production companies: Marvel Studios Animation

Network: Disney+

Casts & Characters:

Main:

  • Hudson Thames as Peter Parker / Spider-Man:
    A 15-year-old 
    freshman at Rockford T. Bales High School who gains spider-like abilities after being bitten by a spider. Head writer and showrunner Jeff Trammell enjoyed exploring Peter’s mindset, how he is impacted by the different characters around him, and the effect that has on his growth as Spider-Man.
  • Kari Wahlgren as May Parker: Peter’s widowed aunt
    • Wahlgren also voices Roxanna Volkov, a Russian criminal
  • Grace Song as Nico Minoru: Peter’s classmate and best friend who secretly practices witchcraft
  • Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln / Tombstone:
    Peter’s classmate and captain of the Bales football team who reluctantly joins the 110th Street gang to protect his brother, leading him down a dark path
  • Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn:
    Norman’s son who befriends Peter and provides him support as Spider-Man’s “dude at the desk”, referencing the “guy in the chair” terminology that is used in the 
    Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s (MCU) main timeline.
  • Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn:
    The CEO of Oscorp, Harry’s father, and Peter’s mentor. Trammell noted that Norman is not a hero like Tony Stark / Iron Man—Peter’s mentor in the MCU’s main timeline—and his methods “may not turn out in everyone’s best interest”.
  • Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius: A scientist who sells his high-tech weaponry and equipment to various criminals
  • Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil: A blind lawyer with superhuman senses from Hell’s Kitchen who leads a double life as a masked vigilante

Recurring:

Guest:

I still recommend watching this series on Disney+ to those who are Spider-Man fans.

Rating: 7 out of 10 Stars

Ryan Balkwill:

Resident TV reviewer,

Level Best Art Cafe

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