Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has swung onto Disney+ with a two-episode premiere. The first of Marvel’s ambitious 2025 slate, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, explores a new take on the popular hero origin story by drawing heavily from what audiences know/associate with the MCU incarnation but putting their spin on the material. It’s a new “What If” for Spider-Man and Marvel that isn’t actually What If…?.
The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are filled with Easter eggs and references to Marvel Comics, past incarnations of Spider-Man, and the MCU. From a catchy opening title song that captures many different eras of Spider-Man to much of the series’ supporting cast being drawn from all over the Marvel Universe, there are plenty of fun references for fans as well as potential clues for where this series might be heading. Here are the biggest Easter eggs and references in the first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

Read Our Review
Mirroring ‘Captain America: Civil War’

When Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was first announced, it was initially called Spider-Man: Freshman Year. The basic premise of the series would have looked at the early unexplored period in Peter Parker’s story before the events of Captain America: Civil War, but with the big twist in the episode being that this was an alternate timeline, one where, instead of Tony Stark recruiting Peter Parker, it is Norman Osborn.
The series was reformatted into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, one that, from the get-go, takes place in an alternate timeline due to the events of how Peter Parker gets his spider bite. Still, the episode is meant to mirror Captain America: Civil War, with the animated series opening on a big title card that reads “Queens” over Peter Parker’s apartment complex, just like his first scene ever in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Episode 1’s finale moment recreates the moment almost beat for beat, from the inclusion of “Left Hand Free” by alt-J and showing Peter Parker finding the DVD player, but now it is Norman Osborn coming to Peter Parker with a job offer.
While some fans might object to Tony Stark as a mentor, the idea of Norman Osborn being the one who takes on Spider-Man is even more terrifying given that he is best known as Spider-Man’s arch-enemy, The Green Goblin.
Uncle Ben in ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’

While Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes place in a separate reality from the MCU and the three Spider-Man movies, with the universe seemingly being a mirror of the MCU Universe, some hints at Peter Parker’s life can be true in both universes. The biggest is around the fate of Uncle Ben.
The MCU films notably never featured Uncle Ben, as by the time Spider-Man: Homecoming hit theaters in 2017, audiences had seen both Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man tackle his death. Uncle Ben was never even named in any of the MCU Spider-Man films, with the only references to him being in Spider-Man: Homecoming, as something has happened that put Aunt May through a lot, and then in Spider-Man: Far From Home, with Peter using Uncle Ben’s luggage. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man makes a more direct reference to Uncle Ben, saying he died before the series’ events.
However, this is a big change from the classic Spider-Man mythos as Uncle Ben dies after the radioactive spider bites Peter Parker. Peter selfishly does not stop a criminal from a robbery, and that criminal being the one responsible for Ben’s death is a major part of what motivates Spider-Man, knowing that “with great power comes great responsibility.” With Ben dying before Peter Parker gets bit by the radioactive spider in both Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and possibly in the MCU, it fundamentally changes Peter Parker’s origin and why he became Spider-Man.
Doctor Strange and Venom… From Across the Multiverse?

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man immediately signifies that it is a very different take on Spider-Man’s origin, as instead of getting bit by a radioactive spider while on a field trip or in a lab, it is during a giant battle taking place. Yet this isn’t just any battle. This is one between Doctor Strange and a Venom-like symbiote. The Venom creature is undoubtedly a big moment, as Venom is one of Spider-Man’s most iconic foes, but one typically not tied to his origin. This is an inverse of the story, where instead of Spider-Man being linked to Venom’s origin, Venom is now tied to Spider-Man’s.
Doctor Strange’s inclusion is a fun reference to the fact that he was the other major Marvel character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, along with Spider-Man. Doctor Strange also appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and director Sam Raimi helmed the original Spider-Man trilogy and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So Doctor Strange’s inclusion certainly feels like a layered reference but one that raises an interesting question: where did he come from/is he native to this universe?
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a reality that seems to mirror the MCU in terms of timeline, with Doctor Strange and Venom’s fight being a major point of divergence. However, The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline establishes that Doctor Strange had his accident in February 2016, which would be before the events of this fight, which took place in the summer/fall of 2015. This likely is because Doctor Strange is a multiversal variant.

Related

Biggest Easter Eggs in X-Men ’97’s Episodes 1 & 2

Here are all the major easter eggs and comic book references in the X-Men ’97 two-part premiere.

Could it be the exact same one played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the MCU and his fight with a Venom creature is part of his storyline happening after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Is this Venom that Doctor Strange is fighting, one of the symbiotes from Venom: The Last Dance, and will this series be how those two different live-action Marvel Multiverse stories connect? Well, it certainly would be more incredible than anything in movies like Madame Web. Benedict Cumberbatch’s recent comments about not being in Avengers: Doomsday might signify that this could be the MCU Doctor Strange, and he is dealing with multiverse threats, like Venom.
Yet this Doctor Strange is wearing something the MCU Doctor Strange no longer possesses: The Eye of Agamotto, aka Time Stone. The MCU version of Doctor Strange has not had the artifact since Avengers: Infinity War, and with this animated version wielding it, that could suggest this is not the MCU Doctor Strange. Could it be that Doctor Strange and Venom are not just fighting across space but also time? The Venom that Doctor Strange is fighting could be a hint at a future season of the MCU series.
The Venom symbiote seems to have a big collar on him, which could hint that this is the villain Kraven the Hunter wielding the Venom symbiote suit like in the comic series Spider-Man: Life Story. It also could hint at Peter Parker’s future, where he becomes possessed by a Venom symbiote, and Doctor Strange battles to help him free. With Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man already confirmed to return for Season 2 and Season 3, this feels like a plot line that can be established in later seasons.
A Major Spider-Verse Connection in ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’

While Venom and Doctor Strange battle in Midtown High, a spider falls through the hole in the sky. This is the same radioactive spider that bites Peter Parker, giving him his signature spider powers. Yet this spider coming through a portal with Doctor Strange and Venom suggests this spider is not native to this universe, which might make Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man an anomaly like Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reveals that the spider that bit Miles Morales wasn’t from his dimension and was brought into it by the villain The Spot instead. Not only did this mean Universe 42 didn’t get a Spider-Man, but Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films was never supposed to be Spider-Man. If the spider that bit Peter Parker in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man came from another dimension, does that mean another universe is left without a Spider-Man? This would also mean Miguel O’Hara would not recruit the Your Friendly Neighborhood incarnation of Peter Parker into the Spider-Society.
Yet there is another wrinkle. If this is supposed to be an MCU-adjacent world, that means Peter Parker WAS supposed to get bit by the spider. However, he got his spider powers from a different spider about five to six months earlier than in the MCU sacred timeline. That means the original spider who bites Peter Parker is still out there, along with the multiverse traveling spider, which crawls into another student’s backpack. This opens the door for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man to introduce even more web-slinging heroes like their own version of Gwen Stacey/Spider-Gwen, Cindy Moon / Silk, or even Miles Morales.
‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ Opening Credits

The opening credits to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are filled with little details and references to the wider Spider-Man canon. The series theme song, “Neighbor Like Me” by The Math Club featuring Relaye and Melo Makes Music, is a rap song that samples from Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris’s classic theme from the 1960s Spider-Man animated series that has become synonymous with the character.
“Neighbor Like Me” features the lyric “Spectacular, ultimate, he’s amazing,” referencing the many Spider-Man comic titles over the years and past adaptations.

The Amazing Spider-Man: First published in March 1963, it is Marvel’s flagship Spider-Man comic and inspired the name of Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The Spectacular Spider-Man: The second ongoing Spider-Man title that has been used on and off by Marvel for many years. It was also the name of the popular short-lived animated series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, which many consider the best Spider-Man cartoon.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Launched in 2000, Ultimate Spider-Man reimagined the origin story of Peter Parker for the 21st century and was the comic that introduced Miles Morales. Marvel recently began publishing a new Ultimate Spider-Man comic title in 2023 that follows an adult, Peter Parker, who is married and has children. The name was also used for the 2012 to 2017 cartoon Ultimate Spider-Man, Disney’s first Spider-Man animated series.

The opening credits feature a spider-biting Peter Parker and a visualization of the spider DNA rewriting his human DNA, almost a beat-for-beat recreation of the same scene and visual from Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man. The opening title cards of each episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man also recreate a classic Spider-Man comic cover, with episode 1, “Amazing Fantasy,” even recreating Spider-Man’s first-ever appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 from 1962.
Peter Parker’s Friends Range from Across the Marvel Universe

With Midtown High destroyed in the fight between Venom and Doctor Strange, Peter Parker now attends Rockford High. Because of this, he doesn’t meet Ned Leeds or Michelle Jones (MJ) from the MCU sacred timeline. Peter Parker has a new group of friends, one of whom he met at the Midtown High Orientation. Nico Minoru. Nico Minoru is one of the most famous members of the teen superhero team, The Runaways. Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, Nico debuted in Runaways #1 in July 2003 as one of six teenagers who discover her parents are evil supervillains. Nico’s parents were dark wizards, and she possesses magical abilities of her own. Nico previously appeared in the MCU adjacent series The Runaways, though this is a different version of the character within the Marvel multiverse.
The series reveals that Peter’s childhood crush before going to Midtown High was Pearl Pangan, with whom Peter Parker now attends school. In Marvel Comics, Pearl Pangan is the superhero Wave, a Cebuano superhero. Created by writer Greg Pak and artist Leinil Francis Yu, Wave originally debuted in War of the Realms, New Agents of Atlas #1 in May 2019 and was a water-based superhero.

Related

10 Strongest Spider-Man Villains He Hasn’t Fought in Live Action Yet

Despite taking down some of his greatest adversaries, there are still plenty of powerful villains Spider-Man has not fought on screen.

Pearl’s boyfriend is Lonnie Lincoln, who Marvel Comics fans will know as the Spider-Man villain Tombstone. Tombstone was created by Gerry Conway and Alex Saviuk and first appeared in Web of Spider-Man #36 in March 1988. The comic establishes him as an albino gangster, very different from the one seen in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, who is a contemporary classmate of Peter Parker. It will be interesting to see if Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes a similar approach to the MCU, where they used the name Ned Leeds, one of the men who adopted the Hobgoblin persona and made him one of Peter Parker’s best friends with no villainous intentions, or if this is seeding the development on Lonnie Lincoln to become Tombstone and a villain that Spider-Man will have to stop.
Speaking of friends who become foes, early in episode 1, Spider-Man saves a young man from a group of muggers. Only named “Harry” in the episode, this is, in fact, Harry Osborn, Peter Parker’s best friend in the comics and the son of Norman Osborn. Like his father, Harry Osborn eventually dons the persona of the Green Goblin. Harry Osborn debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 in December 1965 and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. James Franco previously played Harry Osborn in the Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man trilogy and then by Dane DeHaan in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While Harry Osborn is only seen in episode 1 so far, he will likely have a big role in the series’ future episodes.
Peter Working With Many Future Marvel Heroes and Villains

When Peter Parker arrives at OsCorp, he meets many new faces among his fellow interns and faculty members. These include many names from across the Marvel Universe, some of which originated in the 1960s and others created after the Marvel Cinematic Universe started. Peter Parker’s fellow interns include Jeanne Foucault, Amadeus Cho, and Asha.

Jeanne Foucault / Finesse was created by writer Christos Gage and artist Mike McKone and introduced in Avengers Academy #1 in June 2010. She is the daughter of Anthony Masters, who in the comics is the villain Taskmaster. Her powers are similar to Taskmasters in that she has photographic reflexes, which allow her to mimic any fighting style, but it comes at the cost of long and short-term memory.

Amadeus Cho was created by writer Greg Pak and Canadian artist Takeshi Miyazawa, and the character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #15 in January 2005. Cho later became an established supporting player of Marvel heroes like The Hulk and Hercules. The Korean-American teenager is one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe and, in 2015, became The Totally Awesome Hulk and later adopted the name Brawn after the original Hulk, Bruce Banner, returned from the dead. Cho will also appear in the upcoming Disney Jr. series Iron Man and His Amazing Friends as Iron Hulk.

Asha is a Wakanda exchange student. She was created by writer Matt Kindt and artist Steven Sanders and debuted in Infinity: The Hunt #1. In the comics, Asha attends the Wakandan School for Alternative Studies and develops the power to turn invisible and project light beam attacks.

Seemingly just fellow students, there is a good chance these characters might adopt their superhero identities.
While Peter’s fellow science interns are all future Marvel superheroes, many scientists working at OsCorp will be future Marvel villains. The first one he meets is Bentley Whitman, who in the comics is the Fantastic Four villain, The Wizard. The Wizard was created by Stan Lee and his brother Larry Lieber along with artist Jack Kirby and debuted in Strange Tales #102 in November 1962. The Wizard uses his knowledge of science, particularly physics, to commit crimes. He is already positioned as an antagonistic force in Peter Parker’s life, so it seems safe to say he will eventually become the Wizard.

Related

Is ‘Captain America: Brave New World’s Short Run-Time a Bad Sign for MCU Fans?

As fans continue to be skeptical of future MCU projects, ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ seemingly faces an uphill battle at every turn.

Peter Parker is also assigned the intern of Doctor Carla Connors, who is a gender-flipped version of Curt Connors, aka The Lizard. The Lizard was created Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #6 in November 1963. With Carla Connors being such a supportive mentor to Peter Parker in just one episode, her eventual turn into The Lizard will be tragic. Hopefully, Peter Parker can save her.
Her inclusion, along with Norman Osborn, also establishes how different Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is from the MCU as Spider-Man: No Way Home established that Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, and OsCorp did not exist and the MCU version of Peter Parker had not faced off against The Lizard, despite both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man having a Curt Conners in their universe. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is streaming now on Disney+.