The first two episodes of a brand new Spider-Man story, the animated Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, dropped on Disney+ this week and received rave reviews. Set in an alternate universe, this series from executive producer and writer Jeff Trammell comes up with new ways to tell a familiar story – tweaking the MCU origin that was given to Tom Holland but holding on to important cornerstones of the Peter Parker mythology (like Uncle Ben, Who Trammell spoke with us about). If you used your Disney+ subscription to check out the beginning of the 10-episode season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, you know that Trammell swapped Tony Stark for Norman Osborn (Colman Domingo) in this narrative, traded Flash Thompson for Lonnie Lincoln (Eugene Byrd), but brought Harry Osborn (Zeno Robinson) into the fold.
While speaking with Jeff Trammell on the week that his show was arriving, he often used the phrase “similar, but different,” meaning that longtime readers of and audience members for Spider-Man stories will recognize a lot of what’s happening in the critically-acclaimed show, but there have been crucial tweaks that create new tensions. Doctor Strange might show up in Episode 1 to fight an interdimensional creature, but he’ll be quick to point out that he’s “not supposed to be here.” What impact might THAT have on future events?
Still, there are anchor beings in Peter Parker’s world – characters whom I assume Jeff Trammell eventually will want to explore. And even before Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man arrived on the Disney+ streaming service, word had been shared that the series already had been renewed for Season 2 and Season 3! So, during our exclusive conversation, I asked Trammell if he envisioned Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane Watson being introduced into this alternate take on Peter Parker’s world. And the showrunner told us:
Oh, definitely. Again, you know, similar but different. But I would be… I don't – hmm, how can I say this? I’d be very surprised if one or both of those characters don't appear in later seasons.
Jeff Trammell acknowledged that it was difficult to do press for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1, because he’s already plotted out the details of Season 2, and had recently begun sketching the concept for Season 3. So when he tells us that he’d be “very surprised” NOT to see Gwen or Mary Jane, I believe that’s as close to a confirmation as we are going to get for the moment.
Now, what might that mean for Peter Parker in this show? We know off the bat that Peter harbors a crush for a new character named Pearl (Cathy Ang), who’s dating Lonnie. Classic Parker luck. In a conventional Spider-Man narrative, he’d meet Gwen first. But Trammell seems intent on flipping most of what we know about Spider-Man on its head, so perhaps we can expect some form of misdirect in Season 2… if that’s where these classic characters appear.
For the moment, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is holding us over until we get any update whatsoever on Tom Holland’s anticipated live-action Spider-Man 4. That sequel has a director in Destin Daniel Cretton, as well as a July 2026 release date. And it’s one of a handful of upcoming Spider-Man projects that we are eagerly tracking, so stay with us if you like more from the wallcrawler, in your future.
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