These Iconic Characters Won't Appear In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

The wait is almost over.

Back in 2021, Marvel officially unveiled Spider-Man: Freshman Year—A Dinsney+ animated series meant to tell Peter Parker's origin story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fast forward over 3 years, multiple delays, a change of name, and a single trailer later, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is finally upon us.

In just a matter of weeks, audiences worldwide will get to see this new version of Peter swing on the small screen and face no shortage of bad guys including Silvermane, The Scorpion, Venom, and the Kingpin. But even when we're so close to the release, there are still many things we don't know about this highly-anticipated project. Sure, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2024) #1 comic book spilled the beans on some interesting tidbits and details but, unfortunately, nothing too groundbreaking. We've yet to learn who the big bad of the series will be, or if episodes will be released weekly (though that's very likely the case).

But the closer we get to the big day, the more the curtain gets lifted. Case in point: Just recently the first official trailer was released and gave us a glimpse of the show's main theme. But if that wasn't enough, now we have the confirmation that Peter Parker never met two of his closest friends in this new parallel universe. It could've seemed obvious considering Marvel hadn't even teased them yet, but now a surprise appearance is all but ruled out.

Ned Leeds and M.J. never met Peter in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's place in the MCU is a bit confusing. First, the series was going to act as an origin story for Tom Holland's Peter Parker. Then, it was confirmed the show is not canon to the MCU. Now, it appears it's kind of a What If...? scenario starring the web-slinger we all know and love facing different circumstances than the ones we've witnessed before. As revealed by Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, the Vice President of Animation at Marvel Studios, a strange event will occur in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man that will create a new branched reality in which Peter never gets to meet M.J. or Ned Leeds:

"We were starting in a point in the MCU where Civil War happened, so the Sokovia Accords have been ratified. It's modern day, and then Peter gets to his first day at Midtown (...) and then a major thing happens and there goes our branch. So it's a very recognizable world but Peter doesn't end up going to Midtown. So in a world where he never met Ned, he never met M.J., who might he run into?"

M.J. has been Spidey's biggest love interest throughout the years (even if the mainline comic book saga likes to pretend like that isn't the case sometimes). Furthermore, while Ned Leeds hasn't had the levels of stardom as other characters such as Harry Osborn, his popularity only grew thanks to the MCU's arachnid trilogy. So it's a bit of a shock to learn none of them will be present in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. On the bright side: It's an indication that we're about to witness a tale different from anything that's come before.

With so many different adaptations of the wall-crawler across comic books, TV series, movies, and video games, it's important for every single one to have its unique ensemble of supporting characters. That's why we don't see Uncle Ben so often anymore—as that's a story we've seen a little too many times before. But while on paper it might seem a bit strange to pair Peter Parker with Nico Minoru instead of Ned, perhaps the results can be nothing short of spectacular. So fingers crossed that the void M.J. and Ned will leave is barely felt across the series.

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