Man, Disney Plus’ new Spider-Man animated series, takes a lot of creative liberties with Peter Parker’s backstory. For one, his spider powers came from a mysterious interdimensional spider that appeared from a portal seemingly conjured by Doctor Strange.

The first episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes a drastic detour from the MCU in pretty significant ways.

“Amazing Fantasy” shows a handful of new characters that have not yet been given the spotlight. One of those is Peter’s best friend Nico Minoru (Grace Song), who is far different from Ned Leeds and Harry Osborn. She seems like the complete opposite of someone who would be friends with Peter.

The character was originally supposed to be played by Tom Holland back when it was a tie-in for Marvel’s MCU Spider-Man movies, but the project eventually transformed into something separate. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man ’s first trailer showed Norman Osborn mentoring Peter Parker instead of Iron Man,

The animated Disney+ series makes a bold change to Spidey’s MCU story and the result is a series that’s fun and smart with a hint of genuine danger.

Disney+'s new animated comedy, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, has to overcome being "the Farm" to at least two different versions of "Paree." Do an animated Spider-Man-centric series in 2025 and you're inevitably going to be compared to the Spider-Verse films,

Marvel's new animated series, "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man," premiered on Disney+ on January 29, 2025. This show offers a fresh look at Peter Parker's early days as Spider-Man, set in an alternate universe where Norman Osborn mentors him instead of Tony Stark.