Over the last half decade, Disney+ has cracked the MCU wide open. Alongside Marvel’s live-action series like WandaVision and Loki, the popular comic brand has gotten back in the animation game with Marvel’s What If…? and X-Men 97. Their next animated series is Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, tackling the famous Web-Head’s early high school days. Now, ahead of the series debut, Marvel has announced that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manwill be getting an official prequel comic.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, written by Christos Gage with art by Eric Gapstur, will be a five-issue limited series. It “introduces a young Peter Parker, his supporting cast, and some of Spidey’s legendary villains. The comic series introduces some of the amazing adventures to come in this highly anticipated animated series that takes place during Peter’s earliest days as Spider-Man.” When talking about the upcoming series, Gage couldn’t hold back his excitement, saying, “I’ve had the privilege of writing a lot of Spider-Man’s adventures, both in comics and in the Insomniac video games, but one thing I’ve never gotten the chance to do is recount his earliest exploits.”
He would finish by teasing, “And the exciting part about this book is it’s a brand-new take on those formative times. While this is definitely Peter Parker, the Spidey we know and love, he’s got a new cast of supporting characters – including Nico Minoru, who you may know from Runaways – and some surprising twists.” The first issue will feature two covers by artist Leonardo Romero. Both covers, which can be viewed below, emulate classic Steve Ditko covers while also further teasing the nostalgic and colorful art style of the Disney+ series. One of the covers even pays homage to Amazing Fantasy #15 from 1962. That book was the very first appearance of Spider-Man.
What’s ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ About?
The official logline for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man reads as follows:
“In Marvel Animation’s
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,
Peter Parker is on his way to becoming a hero, with a journey unlike what we’ve seen before and a style that celebrates the character’s earliest comic book roots. In this new comic book series, you can take the very first steps along with him as he discovers his powers, decides to become a hero, and even picks out his name and costume! Now Peter’s gotta survive an entire Freshman year as a newbie crime-fighting vigilante…and if you think you know how this story goes, you are in for a surprise!”
Spider-Man, more so than any other Marvel hero, has had such a rich animated history. Starting with the iconic 1967 series, that was ahead of its time given when it was released, cemented the wall crawler as Marvel’s most marketable character. From there, the New York-based superhero starred in other hit series like Spider-Man (1994), Spider-Man (2003), The Spectacular Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man. Because of that, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has a lot to live up to. However, from everything fans have seen so far, this looks to be a must-watch series. The series also takes place in a separate timeline from the MCU where Peter was taken under Norman Osborn’s wing rather than Tony Stark aka Iron Man.
Where Can You Stream ‘Spider-Man’?
Most of the extensive Spider-Verse, including Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Spider-Man (1994) and Spectacular Spider-Man, are streaming on Disney+. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is coming to Disney+ soon. The prequel comic will debut on December 11. You can find more information about it on Marvel’s website.
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