Summary
- The series is a standalone story with influences from the MCU, paying homage to Spider-Man's legacy from the original comics.
- The show portrays a new take on Norman Osborn, challenging preconceived notions and adding depth to the character.
- The series accurately represents a diverse New York City, reflecting the current cultural climate and showcasing different races and cultures.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is the third series from the newly branded Marvel Animation and showcases a fresh new take on the wall-crawler. Set during the events of Captain America: Civil War (in a branching timeline), the series gives us a brand-new origin for Peter Parker as well as a fresh look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We spoke with the showrunner of the series, Jeff Trammell, about how the original comics inspired the series and the shift from the MCU to a more standalone adventure.
The MCU Connections and Honoring Spider-Man's Legacy
MICHAEL THOMAS: Jeff, love the show first off, fantastic job with this series.
JEFF TRAMMELL: Thank you!
I did want to ask you, when this show was first announced, it was presented as like MCU canon, like a prequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming and Captain America: Civil War. What changed throughout the creative process to where it's more of a standalone story?
TRAMMELL: You know, it's always kind of been a standalone story, weirdly enough. I think we were canon for maybe like the first two months of kind of figuring out the story, and then quickly early on, we're like, OK, well, that's not really gonna allow us to tell the best story we can tell, so we kind of quickly shook that off. But yeah, pretty much from the inside of the show, we've always kind of been our own thing. So, there's never been like a, oh well, we saved this scene from when it was that. No, it's always been this. Everything from the first script is everything you see in the first episode.
Interesting. Yeah, because you can still feel those MCU-like influences there throughout the show, but I love how you're able to have your own spin on it, and now we get to see it from a completely new perspective. When it comes to the art direction for this series, it's I love it because it's very 3D animation, but it's also still honoring everything that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko did from the original Spider-Man run. How much influence did those comics have on the creative process?
TRAMMELL: Oh, it's a lot, like, that's, that's what's been so awesome about the show is that, you know, there are 60 years of Spider-Man that we can kind of look to and be inspired by, and It's been really cool to be able to pull from all those things, but still, you know, make sure that they feel respected. We're not trying to replace any other show or be like the de facto Spider-Man, you know, we wanna make sure that we take from all these incredible things in front of us and add to that legacy. That's always been my goal with the show.
A New Take on Norman Osborn
Yeah, speaking of adding to that legacy, right, I want to talk to you about Norman Osborne in this series because again, this is giving us that first look of what that character could be in the MCU and seeing how different this interpretation of that character is, especially with Colman Domingo, delivering a fantastic performance. I just want you to talk about your approach to Norman because he's one of my favorite characters from this series.
TRAMMELL: Oh, thank you. That means a lot. Yeah, so when you hear Norman Osborne is Peter Parker's mentor, your mind immediately goes, this ain't good. So, I think, you know, in crafting our Norman, I very much want to try to fight that, you know, I think that we're all coming with a preconceived notion of we know who Norman is, because again, there's 60 years of character that says this is who Norman is, and just from the second you meet him, our Norman is different. Our Norman has different nuances. He's got a different take, you know, he's still got that kind of the commanding presence and the power of a Norman Osborn, but, you know, in a different way.
So I want to make sure that, when you meet Norman, In the back of your mind, even if you're 100% sure, I know where this is going, there's part of you that's like, but do I? Do I fully know? Because this is a different guy. So if this is different, he's different maybe. So, for me, it was always kind of finding a way to express that with the character. And what Colman does is so incredibly well is adding a level of nuance to Norman to where everything he says. You're like, oh, he means that, and in the back of your mind you're like, but does he? So he's very, he's he has the character down in such a great way that it allows us to play with, you know, everything he says can have double meanings.
Crafting a Realistic New York City
Yeah, as a Spider-Man fan, it really does keep you on your toes cause you do have those preconceived notions and ideas of what this character is, and I love how you kind of use that to the show's advantage. One thing I did notice about this series that I loved is New York City, and just how diverse it is from the different races of people, the different cultures, hairstyles we see throughout the show. How important was it to accurately portray what New York is, especially in today's climate?
TRAMMELL: Immensely. I mean, you know, I'm also coming from a show called Craig of the Creek that was very much like, you know, this show celebrates how diverse things can be, and coming over to Spider-Man, a world I love, a character I love, I wanted to make sure that we replicate, you know, the world as it is now, very visual, very like, yeah, it's New York's a melting pot, and you opened up those classic comics, there's not a lot of people of color in that just because of the times, but You know, times have changed, times are different, and I wanted this show to be very indicative of that. So, it meant a lot to me to, like, you know, see more people of color, see, you know, have characters that are Latinx, that are Asian, that are, you know, from the Philippines, like everyone, you know, really open up the world.
My last question for the audience at home is, what's the one thing you can't wait for them to experience with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?
TRAMMELL: Gosh, there's so many. I'll say, I'll pick one and say, Lonnie Lincoln. I think that is a character that has so much history, and being able to add to that history in a very different, fun way was very important to me. So I'm excited for people to see Lonnie's arc in the show and his journey and just kind of a new take on a character that, again, we know, but do we?
Yeah, Lonnie's arc in this series is phenomenal.
Marvel's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premieres on Disney+ on January 29, 2025.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
- Release Date
- January 29, 2025
- Network
- Disney+
- Writers
- Charlie Neuner
Cast
-
Hudson ThamesPeter Parker / Spider-Man (voice) -
Kari WahlgrenMay Parker (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Franchise(s)
- Spider-Man
- Creator(s)
- Jeff Trammell
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