Editor’s note: Contains spoilers.
It has been years since a solo Spider-Man series aired, and “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” from Disney+ brings promise to the wall-crawler. The series focuses on Peter Parker’s early years as Spider-Man and has some fun details in the premiere.
Episode 1 is titled “Amazing Fantasy,” a reference to Spider-Man’s first main comic in Marvel in “Amazing Fantasy #15.”
The episode begins in Peter’s hometown of Queens, New York. He’s running late for freshman orientation at Midtown High School. As he grabs his phone, cracks on it resemble a spider’s web, hinting at his eventual transformation.
Inside the car, an Iron Man ornament hangs on the rearview mirror as May and Peter talk about Peter’s excitement for Midtown’s robotics program. He says, “It’ll be nice, you know, to have something to distract from everything else that’s been going on.” After that sentence, May’s ring flashes. This is a reference to the death of Uncle Ben, a major mentor figure in Peter’s life. He gets referenced later on when May wishes Peter good luck.
When Peter arrives at Midtown, a strange portal appears in the sky and from that portal falls a symbiotic alien, a clear hint to Venom, a prominent antagonist to Spider-Man in the comics.
Venom is unique in his appearance with a blue and black color scheme, no spider symbol and a more savage design with three digits on each hand and foot, mandibles, dinosaur-like legs and a fur patch near his head. This is different from most iterations of Venom which are more human-like while this symbiote is more animalistic.
Panic ensues as Dr. Stephen Strange emerges from the portal and snags Venom with mystic bands with his theme from the 2016 movie “Doctor Strange” playing in the background. Strange looks around confused that this world is not his own while Venom breaks the bands and fights Dr. Strange.
While the fight is happening, a third guest drops in. That guest is a spider, the spider that is destined to give Peter his powers.
Just when the villain thinks he has the upper hand on a student, Peter gets Venom’s attention briefly. The distraction gave Dr. Strange enough time to snare the alien and leave through the portal while the spider falls and subtly lands on Peter’s neck unbeknownst to anyone.
Introductions are made as Peter meets a fellow freshman, Nico Minoru who fans might recognize from “The Runaways” series. The spider bites Peter and the world goes fuzzy as the spider scurries off and Peter passes out.
This slight change in backstory frames the incident with a different path as compared to other Spider-Man origins. The spider in this series bites Peter from a portal created by Dr. Strange, not from a lab or a spider meant for someone else. It’s different from the original bite in the comics, but as long as the spider bites someone and gives the person bit superpowers, it counts as an origin for Spider-Man.
A few months after the attack at Midtown, Peter is on the way to school. A hero shot of Spider-Man shows off his new design, similar to his design from the MCU. This includes exterior web-shooters, a mask with bulky eyes, a red and blue color scheme different to his iconic outfit, a hockey jersey with a spider symbol painted onto it, large canisters of web fluid on his back and regular sneakers.
The new suit design acts as a starting point as Peter is still new to being Spider-Man and doesn’t have the money to buy or make something fancier.
After class, Peter meets up with Nico and they run into Pearl Pangan. Like Mary Jane Watson, Felicia Hardy and Gwen Stacy before her, Pearl is the love interest for Peter. Try as he might, Pearl sees Peter as nothing more than the kid she used to babysit. To complicate things further, she has Lonnie Lincoln, the high school football team captain, as her boyfriend.
Later on, Peter finds out that Lonnie is a good person and not a stereotypical jock. The two become friends, but Peter is still a little heartbroken that he didn’t get his childhood crush. Spider-Man has always been loved due in part to his relatability and this adds to that. Not everyone can have the love of their life.
As Peter returns home, he finds a visitor. The man introduces himself as Norman Osborn, who fans know better as the Green Goblin. In the comics, the rivalry between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man is legendary. Norman will act as a mentor figure for Peter, which is surprising. Granted, Peter nor the audience has seen the true intentions of Norman, but that could change as the series goes on.