GHOST WRITES

Tag: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

  • Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – What’s Next?

    Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – What’s Next?

    The two episode finale of “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” left us with many exciting cliffhangers and set-ups for next season, some obvious and others less-so. Where do we think these storylines could lead to and can we uncover more hidden storylines if we look to the comics for leads? Let’s talk about it.

    Before we can really start I do have to say that I won’t be discussing the obvious; Yes, Norman will become Green Goblin. Yes, Lonnie will turn into a more comic accurate Tombstone. Yeah, I also saw the symbiote and Yes, Doc Ock will get his tentacles. Sure, those things are exciting but they’re not super fun to talk about compared to the outlandish theories I have cooked up, hence I’m not touching on them.

    Spoiler warning for Season 1 of “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”

    Taskmaster

    Last year, way before the show came out, even before we got any official trailers or promo material, I wrote a speculative article on the series trying to piece together what we could expect from its first season. One of my more outlandish theories from that article was a surprise appearance from none-other than Taskmaster, one of Marvel’s most iconic bad guys and a fan favorite for many. Now we obviously didn’t see Taskmaster in the show’s first season but the ending of episode 10 weirdly enough made me more certain we’ll see the skull-faced bad guy in the second season. 

    See Taskmaster is connected to one of the show’s minor characters; Jeanne Foucault, who we see teaming up with Daredevil at the end of season 1. Jeanne, going by Finesse in the comics, is a gifted Polymath, being able to copy anyone’s fighting abilities in an instance. Obviously these powers are very similar to that of Taskmaster, often implying that he’s Jeanne’s biological father in the comics. Now obviously her inclusion does not have to mean Taskmaster will show up next season, but the fact that the show opted for Jeanne instead of someone like Blindspot, who’s an actual Daredevil sidekick in the comics, leads me to believe Taskmaster has at the very least been discussed by the show’s creative team. 

    Imagine how cool a team-up episode would be where Daredevil, Finesse and Peter have to face Taskmaster? Tell me you don’t wanna see that!

    The Future of W.E.B.

    One of the final scenes in season 1’s finale ended with Harry Osborn establishing W.E.B, a tech company set up to help young scientific minds fund their brilliant ideas. We see a list of potential names to join the organization including Ned Leeds; a classic member of Spider-Man’s supporting cast with a headache-inducing amount of lore and retcons to his name – including being the Hobgoblin, and Max Dillon; better known as classic Spider-Man bad guy Electro. Also included are a bunch of the show’s crew members and a wide-array of minor characters from the comics. While those latter additions to the list are far from household names, there is a shared link between some of them; G.I.R.L.

    No, that doesn’t mean they’re all girls, it’s actually an acronym for the “Geniuses In Action Research Lab”, another enterprise focused on honing the skills of young scientific minds (though this one only focused on female members). This group is founded by Nadia Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym and known as the Unstoppable Wasp in the comics. I’d love to see Spidey team-up with another bug-themed do-gooder and the inclusion of Nadia would be another fun way for the show to differentiate itself from the sacred MCU timeline. I’d also enjoy seeing the W.E.B team face off against the G.I.R.L group as the two strive for scientific dominance. 

    Fallout of War

    Now what you might forget as a viewer is that “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is basically a “What If…” episode expanded into an entire show. It might be a bit of an unconventional one but the show does explore what would’ve happened to Peter’s life had he not joined team Iron Man during the events of Civil War. While the show never addresses the Sokovia accords and subsequent fallout of the new superhero laws in detail, Civil War is alluded to on several occasions, so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if the show delves much deeper into this “What If…” in subsequent seasons. 

    The inclusion of General Ross and Iron Man are my main reason for thinking we might be getting more down the line. Not only is their appearance in the show a sort of random addition, as neither character really interacts with Peter’s story at all, mainly being used as a tool by Norman, but the show also reiterates their importance in the season’s finale. Norman specifically mentions both characters in his speech to Octavius in jail as if the writers really wanted you to remember their inclusion in the show. 

    We also saw the actual Accords in the show’s final episodes and Cap makes a very minor appearance in the hallways of Oscorp, posing for a picture with Norman that’s hung on the wall for all of his visitors to see. To me it’s clear that the show keeps reminding the viewer that the superhero Civil War happened so people keep it in the back of their minds once season 2 or 3 continues developing the scenario. 

    The “YFNSM” prequel comic that Marvel has been publishing also established that this version of Peter is a bigger fan of Cap than he is off Tony, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the show decides to retroactively make Pete a member of Team Cap, especially since the webhead is definitely in conflict with the Sokovia Accords as a masked vigilante. I’d love to see what Peter would do once Cap is the first Avenger he meets instead of Tony and if he would join him in a fight against Iron Man.

    Future Villains

    Now the show has set up a whole heap of exciting new adversaries for Spidey to face next season with the obvious inclusions being more Doc Ock, Green Goblin and a Venom of sorts, but the show planted many more seeds for the future of Peter’s rogues.

    The show gives us a bunch of future bad guy material in episode 4 and 5 by establishing a crew of criminals looking to buy some of Octavius’ gear before being apprehended by the cops. These characters obviously included The Unicorn, who I don’t expect to see much more of, but it also included characters like Mikhail Sytsevich; father of the original Rhino in the comics. While this could mean his son Aleksei vows to take revenge on Spider-Man for putting his father away in prison, he does also sport a very bulky body himself, perfect for a Rhino suit in the future? Someone on the crew who does get their comic accurate costume already is Dmitri, better known as the Chameleon, the groups getaway driver. He dons his iconic white mask later on in the season while helping the 110th find Octavius’ gear. 

    While the 110th is obviously led by an increasingly scary Lonnie Lincoln now, the group does also include another well known Marvel bad guy; Bulldozer. Bulldozer is normally a part of the Wrecking Crew (who we saw in She-Hulk previously) alongside Wrecker, Piledriver and Thunderball. If we’ll see those three pop up in the 110th later on as well remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Lonnie goes to look for more super-powered allies after discovering what Ocatvius’ gas did to him.

    One of the show’s final teasers and one that puzzled me the most was that of Nico Minoru, as she used her previously hidden magical abilities to conjure up a spell. Now it wasn’t entirely clear to me what her spell was going to do but it obviously has something to do with her mother. Nico has sort of mystified me in this show, her inclusion is fun and I get that the series wanted to differentiate Peter’s supporting cast from other adaptations, but putting in the biggest member of one of Marvel’s most interesting titles, a character with such a well-established back story and identity, seems on purpose. While we don’t know what happened to Nico’s parents, we do know her story is much different from her comic book counterpart, yet I wouldn’t be surprised if the show manages to align the two versions a little more in subsequent seasons. For those who don’t know, the original Runaways story establishes Nico’s parents as villains working for an evil cult-like organization called the Cabal. I’m guessing “YFNSM” ‘s version of Nico’s mom is lost somewhere in a magical realm and Nico is desperately trying to get her back, but once she manages to do so, her mom will have turned in some way, either voluntarily or possessed by something on the other side (Mephisto?? We did see a hint of him in her Tarot deck…). 

    Whatever or whoever will appear in the shows upcoming seasons remain to be seen (though we did get an exciting Gwen Stacy reveal on Twitter today), but if the response to season 1 is any indication, fans will love whatever happens!

    There were many more exciting reveals in “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” and I’d love to hear what you are most excited to see happen next! And what did you think of the show’s first season. Did you love it? Hate it? Let me know! Be sure to follow along as I can promise the Wall-Crawler will be discussed much more in the future!

  • What To Read: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

    What To Read: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

    We live in a day and age filled with comic book adaptations. Movies starring our favorite superheroes, villains, anti-heroes and pulpy characters seem to pop up every month, tv shows adapting cult classic independent books are released so fast you can barely keep up with it and every now and again they even try to adapt the books we love for the stage (to middling success). Yet the stories that inspire these films and shows often get overlooked. The books that breathe life and color into these – often inferior – adaptations are sometimes completely ignored when a major studio gets their claws into them, a trend that frustrates me endlessly. That’s why I’m starting this series, where we look at upcoming comic book adaptations and discuss the books that inspired them, so you know what to pick up next time you’re in your local comic book shop.

    Today we’ll be looking at Marvel Studios’ upcoming Spider-Man show: “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”, the first ever animated Spidey show set to release under the MCU banner. The show sports a vibrant color scheme and a classic Spidey narrative wrapped up in a modern coating. The show’s aesthetic is clearly inspired by the first books on our list.

    Amazing Spider-Man by Ditko and Lee

    Yeah. This one feels sort of obvious. But it’s here for more than just that. Yes, of course every single adaptation of Spider-Man will harken back to the original stories shaped by Ditko and Lee. It’s an inevitability. But these original works are also the only comics that have been explicitly stated as a major influence on the show’s look by Showrunner Jeff Trammell. And that influence is not subtle. The bright look of the show and its vibrant classic character design are a clear indication that – at least in parts – this show will harken back to the 60s roots of the character. 

    Multiple episode titles of the first season refer to this era of Spidey comics, with both the pilot and the finale being named after seminal moments of Ditko’s time in the book. The Pilot titled “Amazing Fantasy” refers to Peter’s first appearance in “Amazing Fantasy #15” while “If This Be My Destiny…” refers to the iconic storyline of the same name which has been loosely recreated by Marvel Studios before in “Homecoming”.

    It’s always good to brush up on the origins of these classic characters, both the good ones and the bad ones, and “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is no exception. Doc Ock, Chameleon, Scorpion, Stephen Strange – they all harken back to that Silver Age of comic books – which funnily enough happens to be the golden age of Marvel if we’re being completely honest. We’ve seen many different books tell Peter’s origin as Spidey, and even more showing us the early days of his crime-fighting career, but none are as classic as Ditko and Lee’s time on the book.

    Yet, Lee and Ditko’s work can be tough to get through, it’s wordy. Very wordy. A trademark of the Golden age and Silver Age that has made it quite impenetrable for some modern audiences. I suggest reading this era one book at a time. Check out the characters you most like, read an issue at a time, take your time with them. These are stunning books, rich and fun, they are the groundwork on which all of this is built, all of these stories we love so much, don’t let some text get in the way of experiencing that. 

    Untold Tales Of Spider-Man

    “Untold Tales Of Spider-Man” is on this list for similar reasons as our previous entry. It’s a good classic Spider-Man book chronicling Peter’s early days as the webbed wonder. Written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Patrick Olliffe, Untold Tales sets out to fill in the moments between Lee and Ditko’s original stories, making it great supplementary reading material next to our previous entry.

    This is one of my personal favorite Spider-Man books, as it nails every beat a good classic Spidey story needs to hit. It has the big spectacular action beats as he fights classic villains like Vulture and Green Goblin, but it also focuses on the smaller scale day-to-day criminals, perfectly balancing a roster of A-tier evildoers and C-listers who might not always get the time of day they deserve. Having seen the roster of bad guys we’ll be getting in “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” it seems the creators of the show share a similar love for the C-listers, as we’ll be getting appearances from The Unicorn, Speed Demon and White-Rabbit to name but a few names, while also featuring classic villains like Doc Ock and Norman Osborn.

    Identity Crisis

    Back in 2022, Marvel Studios’ animation department had their big Comic-Con panel in which they revealed a ton of exciting stuff, among them was a whole bunch of cool tidbits about “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” (still titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year back then). Among those exciting pieces was one of Leo Romero’s amazing line-up shots featuring a bunch of different suits the webhead would be wearing in season 1, including 3 suits heavily featured in the “Identity Crisis” storyline.

    “Identity Crisis” – written by a group of writers including J.M. DeMatteis and Howard Mackie, with art by artists like John Romita Jr and Joe Bennett- follows Pete as he’s figuring out how to deal with one of Osborn’s more nefarious’ attacks. He’s been able to completely sully the Spider-Man name by framing him for murder, meaning Peter has to find some new alter-ego’s while trying to clear his name. Instead of going for the usual black suit or just laying low for a bit, Peter decides to create 4 distinct new super-hero personalities, all with their own distinct function, to fill the spider-sized hole in his life.

    From the show’s episode titles we can safely assume it’s third episode, titled “Secret Identity Crisis” will somehow focus on the “Identity Crisis” storyline, but in what shape or form that will manifest remains to be seen.

    Honorable Mentions

    There are a few more titles that I see as potential influences on the show, but I’m guessing they might not be as important as others on this list or even be bad guesses on my part which is why I’m putting them in their own little category.

    Based on the show’s premise as an early days Spider-Man story I’d feel it’s always a safe bet to read 2015’s “Spidey” run by Robbie Thompson and a rotating team of artists including Nate Stockman and Nick Bradshaw. That 12 issue run focused on a more modern-day retelling of the first adventures of Peter as Spider-Man and explored not just his own world of villains and supporting characters but also introduced the webhead to many different corners of the Marvel Universe as he teamed up with heroes like Iron Man and Black Panther. I’m sure the two versions of Pete’s early days will be similar in tone, making it a fun little read while you wait on more episodes to release each week.

    We know Pete will meet other heroes of the Marvel Universe in this new show as well. We’ll see Daredevil, Doctor Strange and Iron Man in the show to name but a few names and his supporting cast is filled with familiar faces like Amadeus Cho and Nico Minoru. I wonder if this means we can expect the show to pull from Pete’s time leading Marvel’s “Team-Up” books from the 70’s to mid 80’s. For a more modern take on this concept, check out “Avenging Spider-Man” from 2012, which saw Pete team-up with a bunch of characters from all sides of the Marvel Universe.

    In the episode titles we can also find references to the “Big Time” initiative of 2009, which jump started a new day and age for Slott’s time on the Amazing Spider-Man title. I don’t expect there to be any real influence in “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” that can be traced back to “Big Time” but the inclusion is certainly suspicious.


    Are you excited for “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”? And If so, will you be checking out any of these aforementioned books in preparation? Let us know in the comments! And give us a follow if you’d like to read more of my thoughts on Marvel Studios’ latest attempt at reinventing Spider-Man.