Is Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man connected to the MCU? Connections explored

The first trailer for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was released yesterday, December 29, 2024. Revealing that the animated show is set to premiere on January 29, 2025, the trailer promised a fun and quirky take on the character that will focus on his early days as the iconic Wallcrawler. Not only that, but it also showcased a cell-shaded art style.

While Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was originally revealed to be a prequel to Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming, the show was then shifted to have no connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only that, but the series was originally titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year as well, but it was later changed to its current title.

So, those who are expecting the upcoming animated series to be connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe should not have much expectations regarding that. The series will be taking place in an alternative universe of its own.

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Marvel Television boss explains why Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man isn't MCU canon

Recently in an interview with Phase Zero on December 20, 2024, Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum explained exactly why Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man isn't MCU canon anymore. He explained this decision was made to ensure that the developers behind the show weren't locked into following a single canon.

Straying away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe offered them the freedom to tell their own story.

"It started out as 'Okay it's Spider-Man’s freshman year, he’s going to be a freshman, can we get away with this being entirely in the MCU?' and very early on in the development process, we realized how locked in that actually made us," he explained.

He continued:

"We couldn't really use his rogues gallery, we couldn't really use his origin. It was not fun, honestly. We would've had to put so many limiters on our story to get it to lock into canon."

Winderbaum then also further commented that, however, the show will still be borrowing elements from Tom Holland's take on Spider-Man. Furthermore, the show will also be borrowing elements from Steve Ditko's take on the character in the comics.

"It does have a lot of DNA that is very similar to the MCU depiction of the Tom Holland Spider-Man, but it really also draws all the way back to Steve Ditko," said Winderbaum. "It's adjacent to the main continuity but really speaks to what is inherent about the character."

While Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man won't have any connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some MCU castings will still carry forward into the show. For example, actors Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio will return to voice Daredevil and Wilson Fisk in the show.

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What is Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man about?

The upcoming Disney+ animated series will focus on a Spider-Man just new to his crime-fighting career. The official synopsis reads as:

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is an animated series that follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming a hero, with a journey unlike we've ever seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots.

The series will star the voices of Hudson Thames as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn, and more. For further updates, stay tuned with us.