5 things we learned from Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1

In just over one month, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will finally be released on Disney+. It's been a really long wait for the animated series considering it's been three years since its official announcement. On the bright side, a new version of Peter Parker will very soon swing into action on the small screen and save the day from the problems that threaten New York City. So in anticipation of the big day, Marvel announced a prequel comic book series to get us up-to-date on how Peter became the friendly neighborhood hero we all know and love. And since issue #1 is finally here, it's time to break down everything we learned about this new version of the web-slinger.

1. This Spidey has been MCU-fied

We've seen a tendency over the past few years in which Marvel changes their characters — whether that is in comic book pages or TV series — to better resemble their counterparts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well, that's also the case in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2024) #1 as we see a younger version of Aunt May than we're used to (who even resembles actress Marisa Tomei), Peter taking inspiration from other MCU heroes such as Captain America to save the day, and the appearance of Delmar's grocery store which also was in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

It'll be interesting to see what other parallelisms we find as more issues are released. Chances are the TV show will use the same tactic as well, considering it takes place in the same world as the comic book series. But it's worth pointing out that this version of Peter will likely have a lot of things in common with that of Tom Holland's, speaking of which...

2. Uncle Ben has already passed away

We all know how the tale goes: A bright teenager gets bitten by a radioactive spider, his uncle says the famous line "With great power comes great responsibility", and then the uncle dies — an event that further pushes Peter to become a hero. Spider-Man's origin story is so well-known at this point that creators tend to skip it altogether as it happened in the MCU. Well, we have a bit of an interesting scenario in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2024) #1 we see Peter get bitten by a radioactive spider but, by this point, Uncle Ben has already passed away.

At the moment, it's unclear how Ben died or whether the event will be acknowledged in the future. Perhaps Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has a twist in store where it's revealed that Uncle Ben wasn't killed by a random burglar but by one of Silvio Manfredi's men (who appears to be one of the main bad guys of the series). That would make Spidey's crusade against the Mob Bosses in the city all the more personal, and it would switch things up from what we've already seen in comic book pages.

3. The Enforcers (and perhaps Sandman) are coming

Let's go over a few events that happen in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2024) #1, shall we? First, big Mob Boss Silvio Manfredi finds out about Spider-Man's existence, then his personal guard says he'll handle the situation, and lastly, that guard turns out to be named "Marko". Now, I'm not saying that he is for sure Flint Marko, AKA the Sandman. After all, he hasn't been revealed to be a part of the series. But if I had to guess... then yeah, I think he'll absolutely turn into the Sandman at some point.

To make matters worse, The Enforcers will also have a role to play in the story as Silvio will call them to deal with the wall-crawler. They're a group of common thugs who constantly cross paths with Spidey in comic book pages. They were first seen in Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's era of the character and even appeared in other series such as Ultimate Spider-Man (2000). So it's nice to know these classic villains will get to have the spotlight on the small screen as well.

4. The comic isn't really a prequel to the Disney+ series

If you go to the official Marvel page for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2024) #1, you'll see it says in big, capitalized letters: "PREQUEL TO THE ALL-NEW ANIMATED SERIES!". However, one of the first panels in the comic book drops us in the middle of Midtown High after a huge attack has already occurred. Later, an editor panel tells us to "see the first episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+ for details of the mysterious attack". That means... this isn't really a prequel.

Now, footage from the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man series was shown at D23 and we know exactly how that attack will come to be. From the attendant's descriptions: Doctor Strange will fight a symbiote in Midtown High right in front of Peter and his classmates. Then, a spider will jump from one of Strange's portals only to end up biting the timid teenager. It'll be interesting to see how that story will unfold and why exactly there was a multiversal battle right in Peter's school. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until the release of the animated series for that as the comic book won't dive into it.

5. Silvermane seems to be the main bad (for now)

So many characters will show up in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man that it's unclear who will be the main antagonist or what the overall narrative will be about. However, for the time being, it looks like the wall-crawler will go back to basics and stop the Mob Bosses that plague New York City. Silvio Manfredi is one of those villains, and the comic reveals he wants to own the Midtown High building for an unknown reason. That, of course, puts him in direct opposition to Spider-Man.

Considering that Spider-Man: No Way Home was a multiversal movie (and its follow-up will likely be a multiversal adventure as well), it's nice to see the latest Marvel animated series act as a breather of sorts. Of course, it's also extremely likely the spider that bit Peter will come from another dimension. However, the overall narrative in play could be a bit more small-scoped, and I'm all in for it.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will be released on Jan. 29, 2025.