Warning: This article contains spoilers for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 1, “Amazing Fantasy”
Marvel Studios still hasn’t explored Spider-Man’s full origin story in theMCU, even thoughYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manpromised to provide more insight into Peter Parker’s history.Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manpremiered on January 29 and brought MCU audiences to a new alternate universe, which allowed a brand-new version of Peter Parker to take center-stage. Voiced byWhat If…?‘sHudson Thames, this new Spider-Manhas already done something Tom Holland’s wall-crawler never did, but Marvel could have taken this further.
When Tom Holland debuted asSpider-Man in 2016’sCaptain America: Civil War, Marvel Studios neglected to explore his origin story as the web-slinging hero.Spider-Man: Homecomingrevealed that he had indeed been bitten by a spider, but, sincePeter Parker’s origin story as Spider-Manis quite well-known, Marvel decided not to bring it into live-action again.Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Mandid, however, asaudiences watched Peter Parker be bitten by a spider during Doctor Strange’s battle at Midtown High School, yet this still wasn’t enough.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Still Ignored Peter Parker’s Origin Story
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Didn’t Show Enough Of Peter Parker’s Origin
WhileYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Mandid open with an unpowered Peter Parker heading for his first day at Midtown High, getting caught in the middle of Doctor Strange’s battle with a Symbiote, and getting bitten by a spider, Marvel still failed to showSpider-Man’s full origin story. After being bitten and watching the eight-legged culprit escape on a nearby student’s backpack, Peter Parker’s story picked up"A Few Months Later.“Marvel once again decided to skip over some of the most important parts of Peter Parker’s evolution into Spider-Man, which was seriously disappointing.
Yes, the spider bite is perhaps the most pivotal event in Peter Parker’s life, so it was great to finally see this event depicted in the MCU. However,the aftermath of this is also crucial to Spider-Man’s evolution, as audiences still haven’t seen how or why Peter Parker decides to become a superhero in the MCU, particularly sinceUncle Ben was already revealed to have diedprior to Peter Parker receiving superpowers inYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Marvel still seems to be afraid to depict Spider-Man’s origin story on-screen, even though 13 years have passed since it was last seen.
Enough Time Has Passed Since Spider-Man’s Origin Story Was On-Screen For It To Be Explored Again
Peter Parker’s Origin Story Was Last Seen In 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man
Back in 2017, Marvel boss Kevin Feige revealed toComicBookthat Tom Holland’s Peter Parker would not get his origin story told on-screen. Many figured this was because Spider-Man’s origin story had been told not too long before in both2002’sSpider-Manand 2012’sThe Amazing Spider-Man, so it didn’t need to be told again. This made sense at the time, but now,13 years afterThe Amazing Spider-Mansaw Andrew Garfield suit up as Spider-Man, Marvel is still afraid to tell this story in the MCU, even though it would be wildly different from anything that came before.
[Spider-Man: Homecoming] will not be an origin story. But, with great power comes great responsibility. It is inherent to who [Peter Parker’s] character is. But we want to reveal it in different ways and spend much more time focusing on this young high school kid in the MCU dealing with his powers. There is a young kid [already] running around New York City in a homemade version of the Spider-Man costume in the MCU, you just don’t know it yet.
BothTom Holland’s Spider-Manand Hudson Thames’ version fromYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manhave very different histories to any previous iteration of the wall-crawler. These differences would drastically alter Spider-Man’s known origin story, so it’s unfortunate that Marvel Studios keeps missing the opportunity to tell a brand-new Spider-Man story.Perhaps more of Spider-Man’s early activities will be explored as the MCU progresses, or Marvel may simply choose to completely move on from this unseen period in Peter Parker’s life.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Cast
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man follows Peter Parker as he navigates the complexities of heroism, facing a series of extraordinary challenges.
