Summary
- Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man introduces a new twist on Peter Parker’s origin story under Norman Osborn’s mentorship.
- The animated series teases a new Lizard character, sparking mixed reactions regarding revamped classic characters.
- Despite potential controversy, the series has been renewed for three seasons, promising more on Dr. Carla Connors and her role.
There’s a new kid on the block, as Jeff Trammell’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man swings into action on Disney+. Hoping to capture the magic of Spider-Man: The Animated Series that ran from 1994 to 1998, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man takes place in an alternate reality to the MCU’s Earth-616. Here, Peter Parker (voiced by Hudson Thames) is mentored by Norman Osborn instead of Tony Stark.
Putting its own twist on the events of Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man picks up following the events of Uncle Ben’s death and gives Peter Parker a very different origin story. Despite only being two episodes in, the 10-part debut season has already introduced its own tangled web of potential heroes and villains.
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Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Teases a new Lizard
Unlike the typical portrayal of Norman Osborn in the comics, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s version appears as Peter’s heroic mentor. Instead of having the technology of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Stark Industries, this animated adventure unlocks the potential of Oscorp. It remains to be seen whether Oscorp will be as sinister as the various Spider-Man movies have shown, but among its ranks, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has already teased a fan-favorite Spider-Man villain.
January 29’s “The Parker Luck” is the show’s second episode and follows Peter as Norman Osborn invites him to be part of an exclusive internship at Oscorp. Others working there include Marvel Comics favorites, such as Amadeus Cho (the second Hulk), Jeanne Foucault/Finesse, and Bentley Wittman/the Wizard. But above all, the fact that Peter is assigned to work under Dr. Carla Connors is sure to pique some interest. Namely, it looks like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is introducing its own gender-flipped version of Dr. Curtis Connors, aka the Lizard.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has already come under fire for revamping some classic characters, with a vocal minority complaining that Harry and Norman Osborn have been race-swapped. Even Peter Parker’s voice actor has been embroiled in a drama where he seemed to refer to the cartoon as ‘woke.’ But a gender-flipped Dr. Connors isn’t anything to write home about, especially as Kathryn Hahn portrayed Dr. Olivia Octavius as a female Doctor Octopus in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Most on social media seemed to cheer the idea that the Lizard is waiting in the wings.
Disney+ has already renewed the series through to season 3, so even if Dr. Connors doesn’t fully transform into the Lizard by the end of the first 10 episodes, there’s a chance that a twist is being saved for further down the line. It’s also possible that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will follow in the footsteps of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy with Dylan Baker, and never see a full Lizard emergence. Zehra Fazal voices Dr. Connors. Known for voicing animated characters in everything from Young Justice: Outsiders to Watchmen Chapter 2, it seems unlikely she’ll transition into live-action.
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The Tragic History of Spider-Man Movies and the Lizard
Dr. Curtis Connors and the Lizard were both introduced in 1963’s The Amazing Spider-Man #6, going on to become a mainstay of the franchise. Typically portrayed as a tragic antihero inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Lizard has been a notable member of the Sinister Six and has been adapted into various cartoons and live-action movies since ‘Dr. Curt Conner’ appeared in a 1967 episode of the Spider-Man cartoon. Still, the Lizard has had something of a rough ride in Marvel movies. As previously mentioned, Baker never got to go full Lizard, although there were apparently plans for Raimi to finally debut his villain side in the canceled Spider-Man 4.
Elsewhere, Rhys Ifans played Dr. Connors/the Lizard in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man. As the de facto bad guy of Andrew Garfield’s first outing as the wall-crawling hero, Ifans’ portrayal was praised by fans, but paled in comparison to the likes of Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock in the Raimi movies. There was a chance for redemption when Jon Watts brought Ifans back for 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, although he was unfortunately sidelined. After Ifans teased his return for No Way Home, fans were disappointed that while he voiced Lizard, his appearance at the end of the movie in his human form used archival footage.
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When it comes to pushing the boat out with the Lizard, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse did it best, and that’s not even with Dr. Connors. The opening of the 2021 sequel featured Jack Quaid as the voice of Peter Benjamin Parker from Earth-65B. In this reality, Peter Parker was sick of being bullied and was transformed into a Godzilla-like monster when he drank the Lizard serum. Unfortunately, this version was killed during a fight with Gwen Stacy, meaning it’s unlikely he’ll return.
This leaves Dr. Carla Connors to carry the legacy of the Lizard. There’s some confusion about whether Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is canon in the MCU, but even if Carla Connors doesn’t appear in Spider-Man 4, she could easily appear in the delayed Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Audiences were promised a new spin on some classic Spider-Man characters. Although there’s some discourse surrounding a gender and race-swapped Lizard, there wasn’t the same backlash when Kathryn Hahn played Doc Ock. There will hopefully be more of Carla Connors to turn the original backlash around. With two more seasons on the way, audiences can expect to find out more about her backstory – something that Raimi never got to explore with Baker’s version. There’s only been a fleeting glimpse of Dr. Connors so far, so fans will have to wait and see how much of a role she plays in the evolving series. Either way, it’s about time the Lizard got their time to shine – even if it’s not officially in the MCU.
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Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Animation
Action
Science Fiction
8/10
Release Date
January 29, 2025
Network
Disney+
Writers
Jeff Trammell
Franchise(s)
Spider-Man
Cast
See All
Hudson Thames
Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voice)
Colman Domingo
Norman Osborn (voice)
Creator(s)
Jeff Trammell
Streaming Service(s)
Disney+
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Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Trend
