You Should Watch - Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

I had a chance to finish Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man over the weekend, and it's worth your time.

Throwback Season

The show is designed to bring a 1960s comic book to life. Those who remember the old character designs and comic book style will get a dose of nostalgia. Iron Man gets the OG suit, and Doc Ock has the bowl cut and square sunglasses. There are some other design easter eggs for the veterans. Some people hated the art style, but choosing retro gives it a fresh spin. Do I wish the show consisted of all hand-drawn art and animation? Yes, but that ship has sailed, and computer graphics are here to stay. At least we get an animated comic book.

Peter Parker and His Amazing Friends

What I enjoyed the most about this series was the world-building and character development. This series isn't one of those shows where the focus is solely on Peter and how he handles the responsibilities of wearing the mask. Instead, it's an origin story for Peter's friends and a chance to build a universe where we care for more than just Peter and MJ. Sidebar: Those born in the 80s are now at the age where we are taking 'young' Aunt Mae out for a night on the town.

An Amazing Universe

In the late 1900s, it was a big event for characters to crossover into another show. Does anyone remember when Wolverine appeared in the old Spider-Man cartoon? The benefit of Neighborhood Spider-Man existing within(adjacent?) to the MCU is the ability to add anyone from the comic universe. We saw this in the first episode with Dr. Strange and later with The Devil of Hell's Kitchen. I hope this series becomes a testing ground for more unique ideas and storylines and a chance to revisit classic storylines that we haven't seen since the 90s cartoon. Could the X-Men find their way into this universe? Only time will tell.