# Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is an American animated television series created by Jeff Trammell for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Spider-Man. It is the 12th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from Marvel Studios and is produced by Marvel Studios Animation. The series explores Peter Parker's origin story and early days as Spider-Man, and is set in an alternate timeline from the main films and television series of the MCU where Norman Osborn becomes Peter's mentor instead of Tony Stark. Trammell serves as showrunner and head writer, with Mel Zwyer as supervising director.
Hudson Thames voices Peter Parker / Spider-Man, reprising his role from the Marvel Studios animated series What If...? (2021–2024), with Kari Wahlgren, Grace Song, Eugene Byrd, Zeno Robinson, Colman Domingo, Hugh Dancy, and Charlie Cox also starring. Disney+ announced the series as Spider-Man: Freshman Year in November 2021, with Trammell attached. It was originally intended to be set in the main MCU continuity but the creative team found this too restrictive and decided to move it to an alternate timeline, allowing the series to explore familiar ideas and characters in new ways. It was retitled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by December 2023. The 3D cel-shaded animation pays homage to the art style of early The Amazing Spider-Man comic books by Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr., with animation provided by Polygon Pictures and CGCG, Inc.
The first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premiered with its first two episodes on Disney+ on January 29, 2025, with the remaining episodes released in groups until February 19, as part of Phase Five of the MCU. The second season is expected to premiere in 2026, as part of Phase Six. A third season is in development.

## Premise

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man explores Peter Parker's origin story and early days using the Spider-Man persona. The series is set in an alternate timeline within the multiverse, where Peter gains his abilities through a temporal paradox caused by Dr. Stephen Strange time-traveling while he is fighting a symbiotic alien. Another change in this universe is that Norman Osborn becomes Peter's mentor instead of Tony Stark, as happens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) main timeline.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Hudson Thames as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A 15-year-old freshman at Rockford T. Bales High School who gains spider-like abilities after being bitten by a spider. Head writer and showrunner Jeff Trammell enjoyed exploring Peter's mindset, how he is impacted by the different characters around him, and the effect that has on his growth as Spider-Man.
* Kari Wahlgren as May Parker: Peter's widowed aunt
** Wahlgren also voices Roxanna Volkov, a Russian criminal
* Grace Song as Nico Minoru: Peter's classmate and best friend who secretly practices witchcraft
* Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln / Tombstone: Peter's classmate and captain of the Bales football team who reluctantly joins the 110th Street gang to protect his brother, leading him down a dark path
* Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn: An influencer and Norman's son who befriends Peter and provides him support as Spider-Man's "dude at the desk", referencing the "guy in the chair" terminology that is used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) main timeline.
* Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn: The CEO of Oscorp, Harry's father, and Peter's mentor. Trammell noted that Norman is not a hero like Tony Stark / Iron Man—Peter's mentor in the MCU's main timeline—and his methods "may not turn out in everyone's best interest".
* Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius: A scientist who sells his high-tech weaponry and equipment to various criminals
* Charlie Cox as Daredevil: A blind masked vigilante with superhuman senses who crosses paths with Spider-Man

### Recurring

* Cathy Ang as Pearl Pangan: Peter's classmate and childhood crush who formerly dated Lonnie
* Erica Luttrell as
** Mrs. Lincoln: Lonnie and Andre's mother
** Asha: An Oscorp intern who hails from Wakanda
*** Luttrell also voices Emma, Peter's classmate
* Roger Craig Smith as Phil Grayfield: The coach of the Bales football team
** Smith also voices James Sanders / Speed Demon, Maria Vasquez's lover and partner in crime who wears high-tech boots that give him superhuman speed; Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon, a Russian criminal who wears a mask to hide his identity; and John Gallo, an Oscorp security guard who Norman claims to be the true identity of Spider-Man when signing the Sokovia Accords
* Anjali Kunapaneni as Jeanne Foucault / Finesse: A vigilante allied with Daredevil who infiltrates Oscorp as an intern to spy on Norman
* Aleks Le as Amadeus Cho: An Oscorp intern
* Paul F. Tompkins as Bentley Wittman: An extremely strict Oscorp scientist who oversees the interns
* Zehra Fazal as Carla Connors: An Oscorp scientist who works with Peter during his internship
** Fazal also voices Susan O'Hara, Nico's adoptive mother
* Leilani Barrett as Big Donovan: The leader of the 110th Street gang
* Ettore Ewen as Bulldozer: A member of the 110th Street gang
* Anairis Quiñones as Carmilla Black: The second-in-command of the Scorpions gang
** Quiñones also voices Maria Vasquez, James Sanders's lover and partner in crime who uses high-tech gauntlets capable of generating energy blades
* Jonathan Medina as Mac Gargan / Scorpion: The leader of the Scorpions gang who wears armor equipped with a mechanized scorpion-like tail

### Guest

* Kellen Goff as
** A symbiotic alien that attacks Midtown High School
** Vincent Patilio: Octavius's assistant
* Robin Atkin Downes as Dr. Stephen Strange: A Master of the Mystic Arts
* Phil Lamarr as
** Mr. Taylor: Peter's science teacher
** Mr. Lincoln: Lonnie and Andre's father
* Jake Green as Butane: An arsonist who uses high-tech, flame-throwing gauntlets
* Matte Martinez as Andre Lincoln: Lonnie's younger brother
* Alex Désert as Grift: A member of the 110th Street gang
* Travis Willingham as
** Mikhail Sytsevich: A Russian criminal
** Thaddeus Ross: The United States Secretary of State who attempts to enforce the Sokovia Accords
* Sarah Natochenny as Mila Masaryk / Unicorn: A Russian criminal equipped with a high-tech helmet that shoots lasers
* Zach Cherry as Klev: A bystander who records Nico's street race
* Mick Wingert as Tony Stark / Iron Man: An Avenger who operates electromechanical suits of armor of his own creation
* Josh Keaton as Richard Parker: Peter's father who is incarcerated
The character Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen is set to appear in the second season.

## Episodes
### Season 1 (2025)

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Amazing Fantasy" | Mel Zwyer | Jeff Trammell | January 29, 2025 (2025-01-29) |
| On Peter Parker's first day at Midtown High School, sorcerer Stephen Strange emerges from a portal fighting a symbiotic alien. Peter rescues another freshman, Nico Minoru, from the alien. He falls unconscious after being bitten by a spider that also emerged from the portal. Several months later, Peter has developed spider-like abilities and is secretly operating as the vigilante Spider-Man. Due to the destruction of Midtown High caused by Strange's fight with the alien, Peter and Nico—now best friends—are attending Rockford T. Bales High School which does not have the advanced courses and technology that Peter was excited for at Midtown. Also attending Bales are Peter's childhood crush Pearl Pangan and her new boyfriend, football team captain Lonnie Lincoln. On the way to school one day, Peter saves Harry Osborn from a group of thugs who livestream the interaction. Later, he stops two criminals on the run from the police and receives wider public attention. After school, Peter returns to the apartment he lives in with his widowed aunt May Parker and is greeted by businessman Norman Osborn. |||||
| 2 | "The Parker Luck" | Liza Singer | Charlie Neuner | January 29, 2025 (2025-01-29) |
| Norman offers Peter an exclusive internship at his company, Oscorp, which Peter gladly accepts. The next day, he goes to Oscorp after school and meets fellow interns Jeanne Foucault, Asha, and Amadeus Cho. Peter is discouraged by the stern Bentley Wittman, a scientist who oversees the interns, but enjoys himself more after being assigned to work with scientist Carla Connors on an energy project. Peter misses the school's victory at a football game and is unable to join Nico when they are both invited to a party by Lonnie and Pearl. During a break in his work, Peter sees a news report about a building on fire and goes to investigate as Spider-Man. He finds an arsonist named Butane who has been hired to destroy a building with his high-tech flamethrowers as part of an insurance scam, though he is accidentally destroying the wrong building. Peter subdues Butane and notices a stylized infinity logo on his equipment. Arriving back at Oscorp later than he hoped, Peter is summoned to Norman's office. Norman shows Peter security footage of the latter putting on his Spider-Man suit. |||||
| 3 | "Secret Identity Crisis" | Stu Livingston | Jeff Trammell | February 5, 2025 (2025-02-5) |
| Peter attempts to deny that he is Spider-Man, but Norman is not convinced. He invites Peter to a private dinner where he explains that he became intent on discovering Spider-Man's identity following the rescue of his son, Harry. Norman created the internship project as a pretense to assemble Jeanne, Asha, Amadeus, and Peter, the most likely candidates for young people who could have created Spider-Man's technology. Peter turns down Norman's offer of partnership, but continues the internship to help May pay her bills. When Lonnie's younger brother Andre joins the local 110th Street gang, Lonnie goes to the gang's headquarters to retrieve him. The gang's leader, Big Donovan, forces Lonnie to join the gang in return for allowing Andre to leave. Criminals Maria Vasquez and James Sanders obtain high-tech gloves and boots from a mysterious benefactor and rob a jewelry shop. Peter fights them and is outmaneuvered by their technology, until Norman contacts him to assist. After defeating the couple, Peter notices the same infinity logo on their technology. Peter accepts Norman's partnership offer. |||||
| 4 | "Hitting the Big Time" | Liza Singer | Charlie Neuner | February 5, 2025 (2025-02-5) |
| The Avengers become fractured over the Sokovia Accords, a legislative act requiring superheroes to be registered and overseen. Norman believes he and Peter must step up to become the protectors of New York City and has Peter try on various new Oscorp-designed superhero suits. These yield mixed results until they settle on a suit closer to Peter's original Spider-Man design, though it is mostly white rather than the red and blue costume that Peter imagined. Big Donovan sends a reluctant Lonnie to get food for the 110th from a store that is in the territory of a rival gang, the Scorpions. Lonnie is threatened by some of the Scorpions, and when he returns Big Donovan explains that Lonnie and his family can now only be safe from the Scorpions if Lonnie is loyal to the 110th. Peter rescues some bystanders from a group of Russian bank robbers. When he returns to Oscorp, he accidentally reveals his identity to Harry. One of the Russians, Mila Masaryk, escapes with the money they stole and takes it to the benefactor that is creating high-tech gear for various criminals: Dr. Otto Octavius. |||||
| 5 | "The Unicorn Unleashed!" | Stu Livingston | Jeff Trammell | February 5, 2025 (2025-02-5) |
| Octavius sells Mila a helmet that shoots lasers from the forehead and uses analysis to predict an opponent's movements. A former associate of Norman's, Octavius plans to make a name for himself with the wealth he has gained from selling his technology. Norman decides that, due to his busy schedule, it would be best for Harry to also be involved in the Spider-Man partnership. Mila, calling herself the Unicorn, helps her Russian cohorts escape prison. Harry directs Peter to stop them and he fights the group. Mila nearly kills Peter, but is stopped by her accomplice Mikhail Sytsevich after Peter saved his life when Mila used Mikhail as bait during the fight. Peter apprehends them both, and Mikhail vows revenge for his imprisonment despite Peter's heroics. Peter joins Nico to watch a movie and invites Harry—a well-known socialite—to join them, upsetting Nico. Lonnie is forced to leave football practice to help the 110th in a turf war with the Scorpions. After saving Big Donovan from the Scorpions' leader, Mac Gargan, Lonnie earns the respect of the gang and Big Donovan gives him the moniker "Tombstone". |||||
| 6 | "Duel with the Devil" | Liza Singer | Charlie Neuner | February 12, 2025 (2025-02-12) |
| Lonnie is kicked off the football team as he continues to skip practice and school classes. He refuses to explain why to Pearl. Peter invites Harry and Nico to spend time at his home in hopes that they will become friends, but their clashing personalities make it difficult. While Norman attends a charity dinner, he learns that someone is breaking into Oscorp and sends Peter to investigate. Peter finds the vigilante Daredevil, who believes Norman is hiding something sinister. The two fight, which ends with Daredevil knocking Peter unconscious. When Peter wakes up, Norman explains that Octavius is behind the technology that criminals have been using and he believes that Octavius hired Daredevil to steal from Oscorp. While Peter is away, Harry accidentally reveals to Nico that Peter is Spider-Man. She confirms this when Peter returns, and leaves upset that he kept this secret from her. Lonnie is followed by Gargan's second-in-command, Carmilla Black, and returns to the 110th's hideout for protection. She tracks him there and informs Gargan, who is equipped with scorpion-like armor by Octavius. |||||
| 7 | "Scorpion Rising" | Stu Livingston | Raven Koné | February 12, 2025 (2025-02-12) |
| At school, Nico ignores Peter's attempts to apologize for keeping Spider-Man a secret. Peter and Norman deduce that Octavius is using gamma radiation for his technology and begin to trace it around the city to try locate him. Harry takes Nico out for food in an attempt to get her to forgive Peter. The two begin to bond after he teaches her how to drive and they engage in a street race against an unruly driver. While she still has a hard time forgiving Peter, Harry tells Nico that Peter kept his secret to protect her. Nico apologizes to Harry for how she treated him before and calls him a friend. Pearl learns of Lonnie's involvement with the 110th from Andre, and confronts Lonnie at their hideout. As Lonnie tries to push her away, the gang is attacked by Gargan, now calling himself Scorpion. Tracking the radiation in Gargan's armor, Peter rescues Pearl and Lonnie, who escape with the 110th. Norman, distracted with finding Octavius, provides minimal assistance in the fight and Peter is severely injured by Gargan. Norman locates Octavius and then sends a glider to rescue Peter before the latter is killed. |||||
| 8 | "Tangled Web" | Liza Singer | Charlie Neuner | February 12, 2025 (2025-02-12) |
| Peter is shaken after his fight with Gargan and questions whether he can win. Norman gives him an ultimatum to step up as Spider-Man or lose their partnership. Peter breaks down in front of May, and she expresses her wish that he still had his uncle Ben to turn to. Norman sends Octavius's location to Thaddeus Ross, the United States Secretary of State, who arrests Octavius for violating the Sokovia Accords with assistance from Iron Man. The next day, Peter goes to Pearl's house to help with an assignment. Lonnie visits and informs her that the 110th is going after Gargan. Pearl breaks up with Lonnie when he refuses to leave the gang. Thanks to a tip from one of Mila and Mikhail's associates, Dmitri Smerdyakov, the gang learns of Octavius's abandoned warehouse and plan to use his technology to combat Gargan. Without Ben, Peter turns to Norman for advice. Norman believes Peter lost to Gargan because he is holding back, and tells him that with great power comes great respect. Harry reveals to Peter that he had Oscorp's scientists develop a new red and blue Spider-Man suit for him. |||||
| 9 | "Hero or Menace" | Liza Singer | Jeff Trammell | February 19, 2025 (2025-02-19) |
| Norman visits Octavius in prison to gloat about his involvement in the latter's arrest, and to reveal that his technology is being given to Oscorp. Peter stops the 110th's attempt to hijack the technology as it is being transferred. Gargan arrives with the Scorpions and a brawl breaks out which Big Donovan runs away from. Lonnie steps up and searches Octavius's technology for something to use. He is exposed to a mysterious gas which gives him superhuman strength and durability. Lonnie uses his new powers to help Peter fight Gargan. After the latter buries Lonnie under rubble, Peter takes Norman's advice and stops holding back. He almost kills Gargan before Lonnie breaks free and stops him, convincing him to not cross that line and to remain a hero. Gargan is arrested. Seeing Peter save lives as Spider-Man, Nico forgives him. Norman thanks Peter for his work in stopping Gargan. He then meets with several Oscorp scientists, including Wittman, who are working on various secret projects. One of these is an attempt to replicate Spider-Man's powers by injecting a spider with Peter's blood. |||||
| 10 | "If This Be My Destiny..." | Stu Livingston | Charlie Neuner & Jeff Trammell | February 19, 2025 (2025-02-19) |
| Norman reveals to the interns that their projects are all being used to create a gateway to space for the secretive Project Monolith. Strange arrives to warn against this, but Norman orders the gateway be activated. The symbiotic alien comes through and attacks. Strange creates a portal that accidentally takes himself and the alien back in time to Peter's first day at Midtown High. One of the spiders that Oscorp injected with Peter's blood escapes through the portal and bites the younger Peter. Strange and present-day Peter send the alien back to space and destroy the gateway. Part of the symbiote remains behind and is found by Norman. Harry creates his own company, the Worldwide Engineering Brigade (W.E.B.), to support young geniuses like the Oscorp interns without exploitation. Invitees include Amadeus, who declines in favor of an engineering job at Oscorp; Jeanne, who is the superhero Finesse and was undercover at Oscorp at the behest of her vigilante partner Daredevil; and Lonnie, who becomes the new leader of the 110th. Later, May visits Peter's incarcerated father Richard Parker. |||||

### Season 2

A second season was announced in July 2022. Trammell and another writer wrote the season finale.

## Production
### Development

By June 2021, Marvel Studios Animation was developing a slate of at least three more series in addition to their Disney+ series What If...? (2021–2024). The next month, these were said to be in various stages of development and were not expected to debut until at least 2023. Spider-Man: Freshman Year was announced during a Disney+ Day event in November 2021, with Jeff Trammell serving as head writer. Trammell was initially asked to pitch for X-Men '97 (2024–present) and endeared himself to Marvel Studios for wanting to tell an original story, despite plans for that series to be a revival and continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997). Marvel Studios' animation head Brad Winderbaum and president Kevin Feige felt Trammell would be good for a Spider-Man series. He presented a pitch in November 2020, envisioning a four-season story arc.
During Marvel Studios Animation's panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022, Spider-Man: Freshman Year and the other projects discussed were referred to as being part of the "Marvel Animated Multiverse". A second season was announced at the panel with the title Spider-Man: Sophomore Year. The series was retitled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by December 2023. In January 2025, Trammell explained that the series was not limited to covering one school year per season. When Marvel Studios decided to change the series' title, Trammell provided a list of options to consider. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was suggested by Feige. Each of the first season's episode titles are a reference to, or inspired by, comic book titles or elements from the comics. Mel Zwyer served as supervising director, with Liza Singer and Stu Livingston as episodic directors. Marvel Studios' Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Winderbaum, and Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt were executive producers alongside Trammell.
Also in January 2025, Winderbaum said a third season had been green-lit, and Trammell was listed as both showrunner and head writer by Marvel.com. The next month, Winderbaum said the second season would be released in 2026, more than a year after the first, but he hoped that future seasons could be released annually. He said Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and X-Men '97 were the studio's top priorities for "get[ting] to a place where we can reliably have very strong seasons every year".

### Writing

The series was originally planned to be set within the "Sacred Timeline" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), before Peter Parker / Spider-Man's MCU introduction in the film Captain America: Civil War (2016), and depict the character's origin story. Marvel Studios decided not to tell the origin story in the MCU films because they felt audiences would already know it due to the Spider-Man films directed by Sam Raimi (2002–2007) and Marc Webb (2012–2014). The creative team found working within the Sacred Timeline to be too restrictive regarding which characters and comic book elements could be included, so they decided to move the series to an alternate timeline, taking advantage of the MCU's multiverse concept. The story begins similarly to Civil War but depicts Norman Osborn becoming Peter's mentor instead of Tony Stark, which leads to Peter meeting other unexpected characters. Peter's origin story is still told in the series, though it differs from previous depictions: Peter is bitten by a spider that falls out of a portal created by Dr. Stephen Strange as he is fighting a symbiotic alien, and the first-season finale reveals that this spider was empowered with Peter's own blood and then taken back in time by Strange's portal, creating a temporal paradox in which Peter gains his abilities from himself.
Trammell said the series would explore Peter's identity pre-Spider-Man and how his superhero career began. The creative team took inspiration from early The Amazing Spider-Man comic books by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, as well as previous Spider-Man animated series. Trammell took specific inspiration from the way characters were developed in The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–09). He wanted to use the series to approach familiar ideas and characters in new ways, such as Norman Osborn's role as Peter's mentor, and Peter's father Richard being alive. Winderbaum said the series was "so essentially Spider-Man" because it features Peter trying to juggle high school, caring for his aunt May, and being a superhero. He said the large ensemble of characters allowed for interesting relationships and stakes, and an emphasis on the "neighborhood" from the series' title by featuring supporting characters in prominent roles; Winderbaum compared this to Trammell's work on the animated series Craig of the Creek (2018–2025). Several characters not usually associated with Spider-Man are included in the series, including Nico Minoru in the role of Peter's best friend, as well as Jeanne Foucault / Finesse and Amadeus Cho. Trammell also considered including a young Jessica Jones as one of Peter's classmates.
Writers for the first season included Trammell, Charlie Neuner, Raven Kone, and Halima Lucas. Tramell wrote half of the season's episodes, but was only able to write around two episodes for the second season because of his other commitments as showrunner; this led to the expansion of the writing team for the second season. The writers' outline for the season features 56 pages of story elements. In January 2025, the second season scripts had been written and Winderbaum was preparing to hear Trammell's pitch for the third season. Given the series' renewal for three seasons, Winderbaum noted that Trammell had been building a narrative through-line for the series since the first season.

### Casting and voice recording

At Comic-Con in July 2022, Charlie Cox was announced to be reprising his role as Matt Murdock / Daredevil from previous MCU media for the series, while Paul F. Tompkins was cast as Bentley Wittman. Cox recorded his lines in 2021 during breaks in filming for the live-action MCU series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). In September 2023, a United States Copyright Office filing for the series revealed that Hudson Thames was voicing Peter Parker / Spider-Man, reprising his role from the first season of What If...? (2021), with Eugene Byrd as Lonnie Lincoln, Grace Song as Nico Minoru, Hugh Dancy as Otto Octavius, Kari Wahlgren as May Parker, and Zeno Robinson as Harry Osborn. The creative team were struggling to settle on an actor for Norman Osborn who they felt could live up to the character's reputation, until Zwyer suggested casting Colman Domingo. Trammell thought that was a "genius idea" and they immediately approached the actor, who was "super excited" to take on the role. Domingo's casting was announced in August 2024.
In December 2024, Cathy Ang was revealed as the voice of Pearl Pangan. Ahead of the series' premiere in January 2025, more actors were revealed for the series: Robin Atkin Downes as Dr. Stephen Strange; Anjali Kunapaneni as Jeanne Foucault / Finesse; Erica Luttrell as Asha; Aleks Le as Amadeus Cho; Zehra Fazal as Carla Connors; Jake Green as Butane; Mick Wingert as Tony Stark / Iron Man, reprising his role from What If...?; Roger Craig Smith as James Sanders / Speed Demon and Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon; Anairis Quiñones as Maria Vasquez and Carmilla Black; Travis Willingham as Mikhail Sytsevich and Thaddeus Ross; Sarah Natochenny as Mila Masaryk / Unicorn; Leilani Barrett as Big Donovan; and Jonathan Medina as Mac Gargan / Scorpion. Former wrestler Ettore Ewen was also revealed to be part of the cast, voicing the character Bulldozer. He began work on the first season in 2022, and was working on the second season by January 2025. Other actors for the first season include Zach Cherry, reprising his MCU role as Klev, and Josh Keaton as Peter's father Richard. Keaton starred as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man and Trammell was excited that they were able to cast him as Richard Parker.
After the first season was released in February 2025, Trammell announced that the character Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen would be appearing in the second season.

### Animation and design

Because Marvel Studios Animation does not have a "house style", the creative team was free to develop an animation style that differed from previous series What If...? and X-Men '97. They wanted to avoid copying one of the many different animation styles used for the animated Spider-Verse films and settled on paying homage to the early The Amazing Spider-Man comic books, specifically those featuring art by Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr. Trammell described the series as a "moving comic book", which is achieved through 3D cel-shaded animation provided by Polygon Pictures and CGCG, Inc.. Polygon was chosen because of the 2D animation look they had achieved in their previous work. Trammell said the company was able to match their desired style while keeping the "characters feeling alive and real, without feeling stiff and mechanical".
Leo Romero was the lead character designer, with comic book artists Chris Samnee, Paolo Rivera, and Ethan Young also working on the series. Trammell praised Romero for modernizing the designs while retaining classic elements. They leaned further into comic book references for Peter's Spider-Man suits and some of the villains' costumes, including those for Octavius and Gargan. Peter starts the series in a homemade suit made from "gym pants, sneakers, goggles, a blue sweatshirt, red undershirt, knee pads, very clunky web-shooters, and a red logo on the chest". He rejects several Oscorp suit designs which are based on alternate suits that Peter wears when he takes on different personas during the 1998 "Identity Crisis" comic book event: a golden suit with a red cape used for the "Prodigy" persona, a purple suit with hover-wings used for the "Hornet" persona, and a dark blue wingsuit used for the "Dusk" persona. Peter goes on to wear a white and blue Oscorp suit resembling Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume from the comics, and then a "classic 60s" red and blue suit. The first season's opening credits features splash pages inspired by comic book art. Romero reworked these to reference events in the series and to match its style.
Development on the first season took four years to complete, finishing in August 2024. Trammell said the season could have been finished earlier in 2024, but the season kept having various finalizing stages pushed back in order for Marvel Studios to accommodate other series. By February 2025, animatics for the second season were halfway complete and some animation was already complete.

### Music

Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson were revealed to be composing the series' score in June 2024. The series' theme song, "Neighbor Like Me" by The Math Club featuring Relaye and Melo Makes Music, is a rap that samples the theme song from the animated series Spider-Man (1967–1970) by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris. Like the series' animation, Trammell wanted the theme song to be "something classic that we all love" through the use of the 1960s sample, while still having a modern style. The song was released as a single by Hollywood Records and Marvel Music on January 21, 2025. A soundtrack album featuring the theme song and excerpts from Birenberg and Robinson's score was released digitally on February 21.

## Marketing

The series was discussed during Marvel Studios Animation's panel at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, where character art was revealed. The series was featured in a sizzle reel of Marvel Studios Animation's 2024 series in December 2023. Trammell, Thames, and Domingo promoted the series during Marvel Studios Animation's panel at the D23 Expo in August 2024, where Domingo's role as Norman was announced and footage was shown. Footage from the series was included in a video that was released by Disney+ in October, announcing the release schedule for Marvel Television and Marvel Animation projects through the end of 2025.
A trailer for the series was released at the end of December, following the conclusion of What If...?'s third season. Toussaint Egan of Polygon described the series as "long-awaited", and Jordan King at Empire called it "hotly anticipated". King and IGN's Adam Bankhurst both highlighted the trailer's combination of classic Spider-Man references—including the art style and theme song—with contemporary animation and imagery. Discussing the trailer for Gizmodo, Justin Carter said it was "well worth the wait" and felt the series would be appreciated by people who wanted the MCU's Spider-Man to have some "smaller adventures".

## Release

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premiered with its first two episodes on Disney+ on January 29, 2025, with the remaining eight episodes released weekly in groups of two or three until February 19. Chris Agar of ComicBook.com described the release schedule as unusual for an MCU series and suggested it was designed to avoid overlapping with the debut of the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again in March. The series was previously scheduled to be released in 2024, and a filing for the first episode with the United States Copyright Office in October 2023 had indicated an approximate release on November 2 of that year. The first season is part of Phase Five of the MCU. On February 19, 2025, the first episode was made available for free on YouTube. The second season is expected to premiere in 2026, as part of Phase Six. Winderbaum hoped that future seasons could be released annually.

## Reception
### Viewership

Whip Media's viewership tracking app, TV Time, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, reported that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was the most-anticipated new television show of January 2025. According to market research company Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, the series was the most in-demand Disney+ TV show during the week of February 28 to March 6. The animated series ranked No. 1, surpassing The Acolyte, which came in second. This high level of demand was observed not only in the U.S. but also in international markets such as Russia, the UK, Canada, and Australia.
Spider-Man was one of the ten most-streamed original series in the U.S. from February 2–9, according to Whip Media. TVision, using its Power Score to evaluate CTV programming through viewership and engagement across over 1,000 apps, reported it as the fifth most-streamed series from February 3—9. Streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, which monitors daily updated VOD charts and streaming ratings across the globe, announced that Spider-Man was the most-streamed Disney+ title on February 9. Disney+, which calculates its "Top 10" list by considering daily views for episodes and movies alongside the growing popularity of newly released titles, revealed that the show was the seventh most-popular title in the U.S. on March 11.

### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 97% approval rating with an average rating of 8.2/10, based on 35 reviews for the first season. The site's critical consensus reads: "Embracing the wholesome aesthetics of the webslinger's original comic run while adding some fresh plot wrinkles, this family-friendly Spider-Man is a lovable incarnation of the Marvel superhero." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the first season a score of 77 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Domingo was named an honorable mention for TVLine's "Performer of the Week" for the week of February 17, 2025, for his performance in the last two episodes of the first season. Eric Goldman wrote for the site that Domingo made the season's slow-burn approach to Norman Osborn work well, providing "the right underlying tension" behind the character's support for Spider-Man.

## Other media

In September 2024, Marvel Comics announced a five-issue comic book prequel series, also titled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, written by Christos Gage and featuring art by Eric Gapstur. Trammell explained that the comic book fills a timeline gap in the series' first episode. He said it was possible that more comic books could be written to fill other timeline gaps later in the series. The comic book includes characters not featured in the series such as Silvio Manfredi / Silvermane, Crusher Hogan, and the Enforcers members Montana, Fancy Dan, and Ox. The first issue was released in December 2024.