'This isn't just me interrupting a back alley mugging, but possibly the start of a beautiful... and warped friendship.' Photos: Handout
It is appropriate, arriving on the heels of the just-concluded third (and for now, final) season of What If...? from Marvel Animation, that the studio's latest offering has a fair bit of DNA from that show.
For one thing, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man features actor-musician Hudson Thames winningly giving voice to Peter Parker aka Spidey, as he did on What If...?
For another, this series does have many familiar traits of Marvel Cinematic Universe Spidey but it's set in an alternate reality.
One where you may ask, for example, What If a certain arch-nemesis of Peter's from the comics mentored him instead of Tony Stark? Or What If it wasn't a radioactive spider that gave Peter his powers, but a (spoiler deleted)?
So, there's a lot here that is oh-so-familiar but yet decidedly different. OK, there is the inevitable gender- and race-swapping of key characters but you know what? I really don't mind all that, as long as the story is good.
And boy, has series creator Jeff Trammell (Cartoon Network's Craig Of The Creek) served up a good one.
'If you're going to have a chance with me, Parker, you're gonna need... platform shoes.'
Playing out over 10 episodes, this debut season of YFNSM follows Peter from the time he gets his powers through his rocky relationships with his classmates; and through the abovementioned mentorship, which may see him in over his head not just in terms of heroics, but balancing school and work... and web-slinging.
Expect the usual encounters with street punks, more organised criminal gangs, the inevitable supervillains, an extradimensional threat or several, and a bucket load of "guest stars" from a certain Master of the Mystic Arts to a Man Without Fear (voiced by, in the worst kept secret of them all, Charlie Cox ahead of his return in Daredevil: Born Again in just over a month).
Of course, it wouldn't be Spider-Man without a school crush, and newfound friends you know Peter will let down inevitably, although the customary Parker bad luck is not as high-profile here as in the comics and the non-MCU Spidey flicks.
Here, the underlying tone is about Peter's reluctance to commit to his abilities, and how consciously holding back could endanger not just the people around him, but his own life.
Given YFNSM's setting being outside the MCU's Sacred Timeline, don't be surprised to find characters popping up where they're not supposed to be – including a young, pre-bleached-skin version of Spidey second-string villain Tombstone, Finesse from the Avengers Academy comics, even Nico Minoru from Runaways.
'For the last time, stop... calling me... Ghost Spider!'
The Wall-Crawler's rogues gallery is on full display too, including variants of Norman Osborn (a stunning voice performance from Colman Domingo, Fear The Walking Dead, The Madness), Otto Octavius (a suitably gravelly Hugh Dancy, Hannibal), as well as Mac Gargan/The Scorpion, Dr Connors/The Lizard, good old Rhino, and a fan favourite that shall go unnamed here.
It's all told in a vibrant, simultaneously retro yet "modernist" visual style (complete with an array of those beloved comic-book corner boxes in the opening credits) that owes a fair bit to Sony's Spider-Verse epics.
All that, backed by familiar tunes from Spidey and MCU's history, funked up with beats beloved by... whatever this generation is that makes up the current target segment.
A solid debut season (two more are reportedly in development) for YFNSM, one that gives the young Peter Parker enough room to grow into his alter-ego without cutting corners or sacrificing milestones in his various relationships.
It ends with a ton of foreshadowing for upcoming seasons, but until those arrive, there is a lot of detail in this opening year's worth of tales hat should make the occasional rewatch worthwhile. Swing away, Webhead!
New episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man arrive weekly on Disney+ Hotstar
Summary:
Swing away
