Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 1 & 2 Review

‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ swings onto the scene in the new Disney+ animated show, and the first two episodes help establish the key cast of characters and set up the conflict for the rest of the show. It’s a pleasant introduction to the web head, showing his origins but also how he’s adjusted in the months after. Audiences also get to see the new takes on characters like Norman and Harry Osborne, as well as Nico Minoru.

The beginning of the show quickly establishes Peter’s close relationship to his Aunt May, who looks much closer in age to the version that’s shown up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s a quick fadeout, with the music rising making audiences think Peter already has the suit, but alas he does not. Peter and May share another close moment, before Midtown High gets attacked by a Venom-like monster, pursued by Doctor Strange. They are thrown down in the school, and there are some cool topsy-turvy effects.

Outside, a spider creeps out of the portal, naturally heading to Pete. When the Venom monster heads towards another student, Peter intervenes, showing his heroic heart. Afterwards, Peter and the girl introduce themselves, though are rather hilariously interrupted by the spider biting him. This cues the opening credits, which is a mix of the iconic 1960s theme and newer music, helping to tie this version of the character with past iterations while keeping things fresh.

A few months later, audiences see Peter has grown into his Spider-Man persona, creating his own suit, which stands out with the piping for his web fluid. There’s a crisp web swinging sequence as Peter makes his way to school, only to be interrupted by a robbing. This leads into a funny fight as Spider-Man beats up these livestreaming thugs. Afterwards, Peter tries to sneak into class but fails badly. 

Later, Pete catches up with Nico, who jokes about him only winning science awards. Peter bumps into his crush Pearl and goes all lovey eyes, apologizing profusely. Pearl is the Mary-Jane of this world, but Peter hasn’t yet worked up the courage to ask her out. Peter ditches school again for class, resulting in a high-speed chase with a catch very similar to the one in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. As Peter returns to school, he finds that Lonnie Lincoln, the young version of Tombstone, has asked Pearl out before him. In this universe, Peter lost his Mary-Jane. Ouch.  

In science class, Peter ends up being paired with Lonnie Lincoln, which annoys Peter. What he’s surprised to learn is that Lonnie is actually more intelligent than he originally thought, and a genuinely nice guy. Their friendship is built up as they catch up outside school, and audiences get to see some of Lonnie’s home hardships. It’s a great dynamic. Peter gets home in another sequence reminiscent of ‘Civil War’, but instead of Tony Stark it’s Norman Osborn. It’s a cute riff, and the episode ends there.

The second episode picks up right from there, as Pete accepts an internship at Oscorp. Crucially, Pete needs to be there straight after school. After more strong swinging, Peter arrives at school, and bumps into Lonnie’s crew. He gets invited to see a game, but that obviously clashes with his internship. Of course, Peter spends way too long at the game and is late for his internship. Classic.     

When Pete shows up, the internship is not what he thought. There are four other kids there, but no Osborn, only a cranky teacher. As the kids get split off to different sections of Oscorp, Peter begins to think he’s been misled on the internship, until he gets paired with Doctor Connors of the Lizard fame. She’s even missing her right arm. They start to form a bond with each other. On break, Nico informs Peter they’ve been invited to a party, and she’ll only go if Peter promises to show up. It’s another classic Peter scenario. Another conflicting problem is that an arsonist strikes up, and Peter feels compelled to stop him. So, he puts on his Spider-Man suit in the stairwell, and confronts the arsonist, who has high-tech flamethrowers. 

After an OK fight, Peter returns to Oscorp, naturally getting chewed out for being late. Osborn even wants to see Peter. Everyone thinks that’s it for Peter, and as he enters Norman’s office, he thinks it’s it for him too. He again profusely apologies, begging Norman to let him stay. 

Elsewhere, Nico is feeling awkward and alone at the party. She’s clearly getting frustrated Peter isn’t showing, and it’s hard for audiences not to feel sorry for her, as Peter is letting her down. At Oscorp, Osborn reveals that he knows that Peter is Spider-Man, ending the episode on a bit of a cliffhanger.

‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ is a good introduction to this new world, one that pays homage to what has come before but also one that wants to take things in a new direction. So far, in both these two episodes, Peter has been shown to have clashing wants, even without the Spider-Man of it all. It shows there’s an understanding that Peter as a character really struggles to hold everything together. While the animation is a bit bland, there are some crisp highlights. Voice acting is strong, with Spider-Man actor Hudson Thames capturing the youth of Peter Parker.