REVIEW: ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ Season 1 Is Marvel’s Best What If Yet

Marvel’s What If…? animated series has delivered plenty of alternate takes on classic MCU stories, but none have felt as fully realized as Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1. Instead of a one-off episode, this series gets ten episodes to explore its premise, giving it the space to breathe like an actual comic book run. And the question it asks is the most compelling What If…? yet. What if MCU Peter Parker never went to Midtown High? Never met MJ or Ned? Never got pulled into Tony Stark’s world? What if Norman Osborn found him first?

This timeline shift doesn’t just change Peter’s personal journey—it recontextualizes his entire role in the MCU. The Battle of New York, the Sokovia Accords, and Civil War all still happen, just without Spider-Man. And yet, the world moves forward. The genius of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is that it highlights how the MCU’s grand events don’t need Peter Parker, but New York does. Without the Avengers pulling him into intergalactic affairs, Peter (Hudson Thames) stays grounded in his city, dealing with street-level threats and watching his rogue’s gallery organically grow around him.

One of the biggest critiques of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has always been that he was too closely tied to Tony Stark. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man directly challenges that, proving that Peter didn’t need Iron Man to be a great hero. But the show also makes a strong argument for why it was ultimately a good thing that Tony found Peter—because, in this reality, Osborn (Colman Domingo) finds him first. And Osborn, unlike Tony, is not someone who fosters greatness without a cost.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man excels at making Peter feel like the “friendly neighborhood” Spider-Man again, emphasizing his struggle to balance school, work, and heroism. His supporting cast is fantastic, with fresh takes on classic characters that still feel true to their core.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 reconfigures Peter’s closest relationships. 

Lonnie Lincoln (Eugene Byrd), the future Tombstone, is one of the most compelling characters in the series. Unlike most interpretations where he’s already an established crime boss, here he starts off as Peter’s friend. He’s a star quarterback, physically imposing and naturally gifted, but that strength comes with heavy expectations. Everyone—from his parents to his school—assumes he can handle more than he should, rarely stopping to ask if he wants to.

His struggles feel painfully real, especially when it comes to his education. To attend a better school, he has to travel far from his neighborhood—an exhausting reality that many students face when trying to escape underfunded school districts. He wants to be a hero, just like Peter, but without superpowers, he doesn’t have the luxury of webbing his way out of bad situations.

Instead, Lonnie has to navigate the harsh realities of gang violence. Despite his best efforts to avoid it, he gets pulled in deeper, forced to trade his Friday night football games for something far more dangerous. When the Scorpions gang arrives, his choices become even more limited, and the pressure on him only increases. Lonnie’s arc is a tragic counterpoint to Peter’s—both are young men trying to do the right thing, but only one of them has the privilege of being Spider-Man.

Harry Osborn is a fresh take on a familiar character, reimagined as a charismatic, social media-savvy golden boy. Unlike past iterations where he’s brooding or unstable, here he’s just a genuinely good friend to Peter—at least for now. His warmth and easy confidence make him feel different from the tortured legacy of previous Harrys, setting up an interesting dynamic as the series progresses.

One of the best choices Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 makes is that Peter’s closest friendship isn’t with a love interest. His new best friend is Nico Minoru (Grace Song), a character better known to Runaways fans as Sister Grimm. Bringing her into Spider-Man’s orbit is a bold move, not just because she’s a fresh face in Peter’s world, but because it reinforces a larger theme of the show: just because you know a character’s comic book origins doesn’t mean you know what they’ll be like here.

Peter Parker is pulled in all directions—school, friendships, heroism, and the weight of responsibility

That uncertainty adds to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s appeal. The writers aren’t just following a roadmap; they’re remixing and reshaping familiar faces in exciting and unpredictable ways. This makes every character interaction feel new, even for longtime Marvel fans.

Romance is barely a factor in this first season for Peter, which is a bold move for a Spider-Man story but ultimately makes sense. Instead of getting tangled in relationship drama, the show focuses on Peter being pulled in all directions—school, friendships, heroism, and the weight of responsibility. By emphasizing those struggles, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man strengthens its core themes while keeping its side characters just as compelling as its lead.

The rogues gallery in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 is one of its strongest features. Spider-Man has one of the best sets of villains in comics, second only to Batman, and this show fully embraces that. But instead of cramming in bad guys for the sake of spectacle, it carefully layers them into the world, making each one feel like a natural part of Peter’s evolving story.

Scorpion’s introduction is tied to the gang wars in Harlem, grounding his presence in a world that feels more real and dangerous. He isn’t just another high-tech villain with a scorpion tail—he’s a product of the environment Peter is trying to protect, making him a more compelling and deeply woven antagonist.

At the same time, Lonnie Lincoln’s journey into becoming Tombstone isn’t a sudden heel turn. It’s something the show builds toward with tragic inevitability. His descent into crime reflects the limited choices available to him, making him as much a victim of the city’s power struggles as he is a future kingpin. Beyond the street-level conflicts, another war is brewing at the corporate level. Norman Osborn is locked in his power struggle, showing that the battle for control isn’t just playing out in alleys and gang hideouts—it’s also happening in boardrooms and laboratories.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man adopts a comic book aesthetic. 

This layering of threats—street gangs, corporate maneuvering, and Peter’s personal dilemmas—constantly shifts the stakes. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 doesn’t just throw villains at Peter for the sake of action; it builds a world where every conflict feels interconnected, adding depth to the characters and the city they inhabit.

Visually, the show is stunning. It fully embraces its comic book roots in its art style. It looks like a comic book come to life, with bold panel transitions, split screens with white gutters, and an overall aesthetic that feels lifted from the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man comic. The character designs pay homage to classic comic styles while adding fresh updates. Doc Ock’s signature micro bangs appear, Iron Man’s retro armor is fully intact, and even Norman Osborn’s race-bent design echoes his look from the ‘90s comics and animated series.

One of the show’s greatest strengths is its commitment to diversity, not just in race and gender but also in body type and background. Season 1 of the series embraces a wider spectrum of representation without ever feeling forced, allowing characters to exist as fully realized people rather than token inclusions.

Even with race or gender changes, each character’s essence remains intact. Norman Osborn’s reimagined portrayal still carries the same calculating genius and presence. At the same time, Lonnie Lincoln’s arc as a young Black athlete navigating systemic challenges makes his eventual transformation into Tombstone feel even more impactful. These changes don’t feel like gimmicks; they enhance the story by offering fresh perspectives while honoring what makes these characters iconic.

Spider-Man is integral to New York City. 

Unlike Marvel’s What If…? animated series, which often feels detached from the MCU, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man succeeds because it embraces the world it diverges from. It keeps the continuity of the larger universe intact while showing how Spider-Man’s absence changes things.

For long-time fans, it’s a treasure trove of Easter eggs and callbacks celebrating every iteration of Spider-Man—from the comics to the Sam Raimi films, the Andrew Garfield era, and the MCU itself. And for newcomers, it serves as a perfect entry point into the world of Peter Parker, showcasing the heart and soul of a character who’s always been about more than just the mask.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man isn’t just a great What If…? style story—it’s a great Spider-Man story, period. It turns a bold premise into something deeply personal, reminding us why Peter Parker is one of the most enduring heroes in any universe. By focusing on his early years, his relationships, and his struggles within New York, the series delivers a version of Spider-Man that feels refreshingly new and timelessly familiar.

In a time when multiversal stakes and cosmic threats often define superhero stories, this show proves that Peter doesn’t need an Iron Man suit or an Avengers membership to be compelling. He just needs New York, a little bit of web fluid, and his unshakable sense of responsibility. Whether you’re a lifelong Spider-Man fan or just looking for a story with heart, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is well worth your time.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 is more than just a side story or a footnote in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—it’s a fully realized exploration of what makes Peter Parker an enduring hero. By stripping away the influence of Tony Stark and keeping Peter rooted in New York, the series crafts a narrative that feels both fresh and intimately familiar. It’s a Spider-Man story that digs deep into the challenges of balancing heroism with everyday life, making Peter’s journey resonate on a personal level.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premieres on January 29, 2025 on Disney+, with new episodes every Wednesday.