Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Spins A Unique Take On A Familiar Story [REVIEW]

Like many, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Marvel Studio’s newest take on Spider-Man and his iconic group of characters within the Marvel universe. Luckily, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man surprised me with a new take that felt fresh and exciting.

Does Whatever A Spider-Man Can (In This Iteration)

The show quickly gets into familiar territory before giving us slightly different takes on what we’ve seen before. For instance, it’s not a spoiler to mention that Norman Osborn is in the show, played brilliantly by Colman Domingo. However, where they take the character will surprise long-time fans and have people guessing as to what comes next. I’d dare not spoil anything, but rest assured, if you’re a fan of Spider-Man you’ll love where they take iconic characters like Peter, Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, and countless others.

While I enjoyed most of the changes made to the characters overall, there was one character who was made to be far goofier and less impactful than he has been in other Spider-Man iterations. I can’t say who specifically, as they haven’t been publicly shown to be in the show, but they’re an iconic character in the Spider-Man mythos. Some may not mind the change much, but I thought the character deserved better.

I’m also happy to say that if you’ve enjoyed the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, this show doesn’t step on the toes of those movies. You can happily enjoy Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as its own story, which I found refreshing. Although, keep an eye out for fun references and callbacks.

Marvel Characters And Stories You’ll Love All Over Again

The story across the ten episodes is expansive enough that each episode gives you a fun reveal, or sets up more to come. For the most part, it all flows very well.

My only exception to this is the finale. I can’t get into why for obvious reasons. That said, there were some logistical leaps that the story took that had me scratching my head as to how these things happen. I’ll be curious to see if it bothers others, or if they even notice. For me though, it was a very clear head-scratcher.

Aside from that though, you bond with almost every character and want to see them succeed. Even the characters that have less than altruistic intentions. Those stories and arcs are strong enough that they take you from the beginning of the show to the end. The show leaves a lot of interesting threads and while it did slightly feel like there were a lot of threads left at the end, like X-Men 97 I was glued to the screen, almost upset that Season 2 wasn’t already available. That’s a testament to the storytelling and how it takes a familiar story and group of characters and tells things differently while still keeping me enthralled.

Conclusion

While Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man isn’t a carbon copy of previous Spider-Man adaptations, that works to its benefit. There are enough changes that make it exciting for long-time Spidey fans, but also accessible enough for any curious newcomers to the Spider-Man mythos.

While the show falters slightly in a couple areas, you’d be hard-pressed to not enjoy discovering more of this adaptation.

You can catch the two-episode premiere of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+ on January 29th. Episodes 3-5 will release February 5th, followed by episodes 6-8 on February 12th. The final two episodes will premiere on February 19th.

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