YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN Showrunner Offers More Details on Breaking Away from the MCU
As previously reported, Marvel upcoming animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man won’t unfold in the familiar MCU timeline.
Showrunner Jeff Trammell recently opened up again about the creative offering more insight into why they wanted to set the show in an alternate reality, explaining that his gave the creative team the freedom to tell fresh, original stories.
Trammell, speaking with Animation Magazine, explained: "I’m a huge fan of the MCU Spider-Man films, but if our show existed in the main MCU timeline, we would be severely limited in the types of stories we could tell and would have a pretty short shelf life.
“Taking place in a sister timeline one universe over allows us quite a bit more freedom and helps us tell stories that don’t necessarily have to go down a familiar route."
This departure from Earth-616 opens up a world where Peter Parker’s mentor is Norman Osborn rather than Tony Stark, and where Spider-Man never attended Midtown High.
These changes, Trammell said, are designed to explore a more nuanced portrayal of the web-slinger’s journey.
He said: "One of the big things we wanted from the series was to not only show Spidey at his peak but also his valleys. He has his fair share of victories but experiences some big losses as well, which will hopefully make him a more adept hero in the long run.”
The showrunner also teased how the alternate universe shakes up Peter Parker’s relationships.
He shared: "Peter Parker has many friends over the years, but Peter and Nico Minoru as best friends? That’s new, that’s unique, and that immediately changes your perception of his world, because it changes Peter’s perception as well. The same goes for Harry and Norman Osborn, Lonnie Lincoln, and so on.”
By reimagining these characters fans may recognize, Trammell hopes to strike a balance between familiarity and surprise:
He said: "These are characters you may know but not necessarily the ones you’re familiar with, which again, allows us to go down a familiar avenue but in an entirely unexpected way."
I like that the series is set in a completely different corner of the Marvel universe, and I’d actually like to see them do more of that. Not everything needs to be connected to the main storyline.
Trammell also addressed the creative vision behind the visual style of the series, which draws heavily from Spider-Man’s comic book roots.
"Looking at John Romita and Steve Ditko as inspiration, then being able to modernize that style thanks to artists like our lead character designer, Leo Romero, allowed us to really plant our flag in a style that feels like a moving comic book.”
The show also brought in acclaimed comic artists to shape its visual look. Trammell said: "In addition to leaning on the classic Spidey comics, we were also lucky enough to work with many artists working in comics today, including Chris Samnee, Paolo Rivera, and Ethan Young, just to name a few.”
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premieres on Disney+ on January 29, 2025.