If you’re anything like me, you’ve been watching Marvel animation since childhood. The shows I watched may or may not be different from what you watched. I grew up with the second generation of Marvel animation, which contained the bulk of the shows people think of when someone mentions Marvel animated television. The first Marvel animated shows dropped in the mid-’60s, but I definitely wasn’t around for that. I grew up with shows like X-Men: The Animated Series; G.I. Joe, Transformers, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Hulk, and more. For me, Marvel animated products from the early ‘80s until the late ‘90s were television at its finest.
Marvel has had a couple of good animated shows and fan demand eventually got them to relaunch X-Men: The Animated Series under the new title X-Men ‘97, but the story is a direct continuation of the original series and makes frequent references to content from the first five seasons. The show was a tremendous hit and proof positive that fans know what they want and will support projects that honor their source material. Marvel is also wrapping up a three-season run of What If? later today and that was another show that received tremendous reviews. While the original What If? is ending after three seasons, it would seem Marvel plans to bring the show back under the new title The Exiles, which was a series of comics that explored more in-depth the ideas the What If? comics initially put forth.
Earlier today, Marvel dropped their debut trailer for what is sure to be their next animated hit, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. If the title of the show doesn’t give away its plot, I will help fill in the blanks. YFNSM is going to feature Peter Parker dealing with neighborhood issues and Peter Parker’s problems. In other words, it’s going to do what Spider-Man fans want to see Spider-Man doing; solving neighborhood problems and being a street-level hero. Everyone knows that Spider-Man can handle being an Avenger and is capable of saving the planet, but that’s not why people originally read the character and fell in love with him. People loved him because they could relate to Parker’s struggles with school, work, bills, and dating.
The trailer looks damn good and I can’t wait for the show. The last Spider-Man animated cartoon I even liked was Ultimate Spider-Man and people hated that show because it focused on galaxy-level threats and not the minor problems of everyday life. I get why they hated the show, but I happened to like the humor, writing, and the fourth wall breaking, which was another thing fans hated as Parker doesn’t do that in the comics. I liked the show but I think it is safe to say that it divided fans.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man seems like it heads back to the street and focuses on Parker’s development in school and as a hero. More importantly, the show exists as canon for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s right, even though this is an animated show, whatever happens in the show will be part of the live-action canon. If Marvel can make the show as interesting as Paramount made Star Trek: Lower Decks, then Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could go down with some of the greats. The show drops on January 29th and BSO will be doing video reviews of this and every other product Marvel drops in 2025, so keep your browser tuned in for our coverage.
