TAGGED AS: Disney+, Marvel, streaming, TV
The MCU’s Spider-Man — well, one of them — gets his origin story in a new animated series, and the first reviews of the show are unanimously positive. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man follows the Hudson Thames-voiced Peter Parker from What If…? and also stars present Oscar nominee Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn, the superhero’s mentor in this timeline. While the show’s retro-inspired animation style is jarring initially, it’s ultimately one of the highlights of this comedic and nostalgic teenage Spidey series.
Here’s what critics are saying about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man:
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a marvelously good time… a truly fresh take on Spider-Man filled with many delightful surprises.
— Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man delivers a brilliantly clever new twist on Peter Parker’s origin story… the ultimate Spider-Man TV series.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
A vibrant, funny, dramatic, and endearing return to animation for Marvel Comics’ Wall-Crawler.
— Jarrod Jones, AV Club
It’s slight, but pleasantly so.
— Daniel Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man delivers in almost every way… Whether you’re a lifelong fan or simply a casual viewer, there’s plenty in this series to keep you entertained.
— Michael Thomas, Collider
What I want from a Spider-Man show is to be entertained, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man delivers that in spades.
— Joshua Ryan, FandomWire
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is what Marvel fans have wanted for the character in TV animation for years.
— Jacob Fisher, Discussing Film
Not only is it more than a match for its predecessors but [the] perceived weaknesses are what make the Marvel Studios series so inspired and among the best Spider-Man adaptations ever.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
It’s a spectacular adaptation reminiscent of the classic 90’s animated Spider-Man series.
— Joshua Ryan, FandomWire
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man stands with Spider-Man: The Animated Series and The CW’s The Spectacular Spider-Man as a respected, well-loved entry in the Spider-Verse.
— Aramide Tinubu, Variety
The fusion of classic and modern really pays off, giving Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man a unique identity compared to past iterations.
— Michael Thomas, Collider
The Spider-Verse movies are brilliant and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is just fun — one an exercise in pushing the medium forward, the other a backward-looking piece of nostalgia.
— Daniel Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter
It plays like a moving comic book in its editing, but doesn’t explore the same artistic freedom as the Spider-Versemovies.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
Compared to X-Men ’97, there’s no ambitious subtext to be elevated to the surface.
— Daniel Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter
If it doesn’t match the scope of X-Men ’97, that’s no ding against it; it’s simply because youthful Spider-Man keeps his social circles tighter than Marvel’s mutants.
— Jarrod Jones, AV Club
It doesn’t have that nostalgic rigidity of something like X-Men ’97 that people seem to love.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man brilliantly explores how Peter Parker may change or act differently in various situations when having someone like Norman Osborn as his mentor.
— Jacob Fisher, Discussing Film
In terms of the writing, we’re not kidding when we say there are ideas and moments here that have been conceived even more effectively on screen than what we’ve seen in Marvel Studios’ stellar Spider-Man trilogy. This is movie-quality storytelling on the small screen.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
I would have preferred more complex and dramatic episodes, but this is a thoroughly modern Spider-Man for the next generation of fandom.
— Julian Roman, MovieWeb
With mentions and nods to popular storylines occurring both in the comics and the MCU — and with Charlie Cox voicing Daredevil in one of the series’ best moments — the links to the mainstream continuity are fairly abundant.
— Joshua Ryan, FandomWire
A variant of the prime MCU— [it’s] similar enough to ease in casual viewers and different in all the ways that make it interesting and unique.
— Jarrod Jones, AV Club
The tie-ins to the modern Marvel films are also present as well, which makes Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man fully integrated into the MCU events.
— John Kirk, Original Cin
The handful of surprise superhero cameos don’t distract from the story but rather add to it in interesting ways.
— Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies
Harry and Norman Osborn are successful reinventions of two of Spider-Man’s most well-known supporting characters…While not all of his intentions are pure, [Norman] leans toward the side of good.
— Michael Thomas, Collider
Osborn and Octavius were both major villains in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films, which jumpstarted the superhero genre. However, with Trammell putting his unique spin on the characters in this alternative universe, they feel modern, different and unexpected.
— Aramide Tinubu, Variety
You won’t see Tombstone the same after this, and that’s a great thing, as this Lonnie could go down as the definitive edition of the eventual villain.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
The Scorpion is unleashed in one of his deadliest forms to date.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
It’s bright, high-energy, and inoffensively young-skewing.
— Daniel Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man aims for tweens and teens. This means pop music, social media apps, soap opera romance, and general adolescent uncertainty that drives the characters.
— Julian Roman, MovieWeb
It’s a worthy introduction to the character for younger audiences while never feeling specifically like children’s television.
— Joshua Ryan, FandomWire
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man falls perfectly in the middle of something made for kids and something made for adults, allowing fans of all ages to enjoy it. This is not Spidey and His Amazing Friends, but it isn’t Invincible either.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
Their target audience will mainly be older children and teens, but similar to beloved shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man never treads lightly on hitting hard with the emotional beats.
— Jacob Fisher, Discussing Film
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is surprisingly mature for being this energetic and squishy, a PG-rated take that treats its teen characters with respect by not insulting their intelligence or limiting their growth.
— Jarrod Jones, AV Club
Honestly, it does take a little getting used to; the movements are more rigid than you might be accustomed to… Once it finds a groove, though, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man utilizes its unique style to full effect.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
Utterly gorgeous animation — the colors pop off the screen, and these heroes and villains are brought to life through expressive character models which often appear as if they’ve jumped straight off the page.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Jeff Trammell and his team had a clear goal: to make the animation look like you’re watching a comic come to life. As seen in these first 10 episodes, Marvel Animation slightly succeeds at that. The animation is never as lifeless as you might expect, it’s actually quite thrilling.
— Jacob Fisher, Discussing Film
It’s astounding how the 3D cel-shaded animation captures the look and feel of classic 2D hand-drawn Spidey comics, to the point where it looks like Ditko and Romita art come to life.
— Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies
Almost achieving a Roy Lichtenstein pop art sensibility, only much more earnest… the style here aligns with the “aw shucks,” well-meaning sincerity embodied by Peter Parker and by Thames’s vocal work.
— Daniel Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter
While the animation isn’t perfect, as the frame rate can feel a bit wonky at times, almost like watching a video game struggle on a PS5, it’s easy to settle in for the ride after that initial hurdle.
— Michael Thomas, Collider
The action is slick and fast-paced, with the occasional, neat use of comic paneling as a wink to the source material.
— Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies
It has some of the best web-swinging and fight scenes we’ve seen from this iconic character in any realm.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Spider-Man swooping through streets and over vehicles will definitely get your pulse racing. There’s no lack of action as greater villains emerge to challenge Spidey.
— Julian Roman, MovieWeb
There is one particular fight on a helicopter pad that will blow your mind.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
Thames perfectly voices both Peter and Spidey, which might sound redundant however, while they are technically the same character, they need to be a little bit different and he pulls that off brilliantly.
— Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky
It’s no surprise how fantastic this version of Norman Osborn is when he is voiced by the incredibly talented Colman Domingo, who elevates the entire series with his own interpretation of the character while mixing in a voice that sounds similar to Willem Dafoe‘s Green Goblin.
— Jacob Fisher, Discussing Film
Domingo’s voice performance perfectly toes the line between a father figure and a sinister businessman.
— Michael Thomas, Collider
Hugh Dancy’s Otto Octavius is a genuine delight and the best interpretation of that villain since Alfred Molina in 2004’s Spider-Man 2.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
A little tighter storytelling focus would benefit things going forward.
— Daniel Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter
It has the untapped potential to say something a little weightier, should the writers choose to go in that direction.
— Joshua Yehl, IGN Movies
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man would benefit at times by focusing a little more on Peter than his supporting cast.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
97%
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: Season 1
(2025)
premieres on Disney+ on January 29, 2025.
