‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ Episode 1 Recap: ‘Amazing Fantasy’

The iconic webhead is swinging back on the scene in animated form, tackling multiverse shenanigans, but this time it isn’t Miles Morales. The new Disney+ series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has arrived starring Peter Parker, with Hudson Thames reprising his role from Marvel’s What If? Series. The series will air in weekly installments with the first two episodes being released January 29 and the finale airing on February 17.

While sharing some similarities with the main continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man quickly separates itself from Tom Holland’s live-action adaptation and Miles Morales’ highly stylized adventures in the Spiderverse.

Here is a recap of the first episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, “Amazing Fantasy,” available to stream now on Disney+.

The series begins with a Queens location title card styled in the same manner as the Queens location title card in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, immediately cementing the series as part of a greater whole. Peter wakes up late for his orientation at Midtown High and rushes to get dressed before clumsily bumping into passersby on the way to catch the train. The train takes off without Peter on board, and the show gleefully teases the idea of an established webhead with Peter slowly opening his backpack only to reveal the oatmeal his Aunt May packed for breakfast.

Luckily, his Aunt May (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) happens to be heading to work and offers to make a detour to drop him off for his first day of high school. On the drive to school, Peter gushes over his admission to his dream school, saying he’s “still waiting for them to say that they’ve sent the approval letter to the wrong Peter Parker” in a cheeky nod to the live-action version that also attends Midtown High and the multiversal activities Spider-Men are so drawn towards. The ride reveals a twist in this version of the Spider-Man mythos with Peter saying the new school year will be exciting and a distraction from “everything else that has been going on,” before saying how different things are without Uncle Ben, whose death conventionally catalyzes Peter’s superheroic exploits.

Before Peter can even set foot in his new high school, a portal opens above the school, and an inky black creature similar to Venom comes crashing into the streets below. As the creature prepares to attack the innocents, it is bound by a familiar orange magic as the Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Strange (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes) appears. This version of Dr. Strange appears to be from a different universe than Benedict Cumberbatch’s silver screen portrayal, as he sports a more classic look true to the comic book with yellow gloves and a pointed mustache. In the chaos, a peculiar spider descends from the open portal as Dr. Strange fights the beast and rescues the civilians.

The creature towers over one of Peter’s fellow students which spurs him into action, distracting the monster long enough for Dr. Strange to wrangle it and haul it back through one of his signature portals. The girl Peter just saved introduces herself as Nico Minoru, a fellow freshman, before Peter passes out from a multiversal spider bite. The opening credits revitalize the classic 1960s theme song with a modern sound that encapsulates the idea of the series blending classic elements like the Steve Ditko-esque animation style with newer sensibilities.

Following the credits, the series picks up a few months after the spider bite with Peter still waking up late, but this time stuck to the ceiling. As he rushes to get dressed, Peter shows off his newfound skills and agility by putting his pants on both legs at a time with an impressive leap. These new skills can’t compare to Peter’s dearth of luck as right before he reaches the train, Peter is hit by a taxicab, forcing him to opt for “plan B.”

Plan B proves to be Peter’s homemade Spider-Man costume and web-shooters. Peter’s new mode of transportation is swift enough to get him to school in time but a mugging on the ground below forces Spider-Man to save the day. Spider-Man swoops in to save a teenager from a trio of bullies in the first introduction to Harry Osborn (voiced by Zeno Robinson). Peter arrives late to class, which his friend Nico remarks will get him an award for “imperfect attendance.” Nico also urges Peter to ask out his childhood crush and former babysitter Pear,l who still calls him “Petey,” slyly telling him, “You better get to her before someone else does.”

In his history class, Peter notices a high-speed chase outside before asking to be excused to go to the restroom as a cover for his activity as Spider-Man. During this chase, Spider-man flips over a character that is clearly supposed to be the street vendor portrayed by Zach Cherry in the live-action Tom Holland films as he chases down a criminal duo in a black van. Spidey zips, leaps and flips through traffic until his web-shooters run out, forcing him to land on the ground.

After quickly refueling, Spider-Man lands a well-placed web on the van’s bumper, which tears away, and the resulting jerk causes the driver to hit his head on the steering wheel and fall unconscious while the van is still speeding through traffic. Spider-Man manages to stop the van from running into a bus using his amazing strength and steps out to an adoring crowd of New Yorkers celebrating him. Peter takes off from the scene with a new level of confidence, saying to himself, “If you can stop a truck, you can ask out the girl of your dreams.”

As Peter marches up to Pearl ready to ask her out, he’s grabbed by Nico, who was right all along as Pearl is now dating Lonnie Lincoln (the alter-ego of the villainous Tombstone in other Spider-Man media), voiced by Eugene Byrd. Peter, absolutely befuddled, stammers, to which Nico replies, “I know Pete. Trust me, I was really hoping it was going to be one of us.” A science teacher asks the students to pair up, which Peter takes as his opportunity to pair up with Pearl. Much to his surprise, however, Lonnie asks the teacher if he can pair up with Peter and not Pearl. Lonnie quickly impresses Peter with his scientific acumen, dispelling the rumors about jocks, and Lonnie says that he’d like to “have options” if he doesn’t become a professional football player.

Peter’s friendship with Lonnie begins to blossom, but he becomes visibly heartbroken by seeing his new friend kiss his longtime crush after school. Lonnie and Peter talk for a bit before Lonnie heads home since there is no football practice. As Lonnie exits the subway in one of the less glamorous neighborhoods, he’s trailed home by police and sees a break-in at a neighboring home while entering his own. Lonnie tells his mother that the sound from the car stems from the alternator and offers to fix it after taking out the trash and helping his little brother with his homework.

At a local pizzeria, Spider-Man returns a handful of stolen money and brings along a fully-webbed criminal, a woman who had just lost her job recently. Spider-Man implores the chef to forgive her, and in doing so, earns a free pizza. Spider-Man goes to chow down on his free pizza in an alleyway while putting on his normal attire and discovers a DVD player in mint condition by the dumpster and decides to take it home. What follows is a shot-for-shot recreation of the Tony Stark scene from Captain America: Civil War, down to the “crazy car outside,” but in this world, the person sitting next to Aunt May isn’t Tony Stark, it’s Norman Osborn (voiced by Colman Domingo).