Maxance Vincent
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for episodes six, seven, and eight of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
After prioritizing Lonnie Lincoln’s (Eugene Byrd) arc over refreshing the titular character within the MCU multiverse, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has found the perfect balance in actively developing both journeys compellingly through its sixth episode, Duel with the Devil. What seemed like a rudimentary, by-the-numbers narrative begins to show a thrilling turn with the arrival of Daredevil (Charlie Cox), breaking into the Oscorp offices, while Norman Osborn (Colman Domingo) is out on a fundraising dinner and Peter Parker (Hudson Thames) hangs out with Harry (Zeno Robinson) and Nico Minoru (Grace Song).
When Norman eventually calls Peter to investigate Oscorp, he feels reluctant to leave his best friends because he genuinely feels Harry is forming a bond with Nico after an abrupt first meeting with the two. But he has no choice since security parameters have all shut down. Once he arrives, he realizes something is wrong and meets the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen for the first time. It does feel odd that, within the MCU canon, this is the first time we see Spider-Man actively cross-over with Daredevil through animation, and not a haphazard “really good lawyer” meeting tease like in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
But who am I to complain? The fight itself is the most tactile showdown the series has visualized so far, and Cox is as perfect as ever as Matt Murdock. It acts as another terrific primer for the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again show set to release on Disney+ next month, though his time in the Spider-Man series has (so far) been relatively brisk. He knocks down Spidey and quickly disappears, but not before telling him Norman is hiding something and sinister plans are afoot. What are they? Norman doesn’t dare tell Peter the whole truth, but he does give clues on the person selling the high-tech weapons that many criminals have been using since the show’s beginning.
We learn that Otto Octavius (Hugh Dancy) was a former associate of Norman but has since gone rogue and is believed to have hired Daredevil to steal from his rival. I don’t think the latter part is true; instead, it is a fabricated bit by Norman to cover his tracks. That makes him a far more suspicious character than he already was before. But we’ll have to see precisely his motives, especially considering that he sold Spider-Man out to the United States government without Parker’s knowledge during the fundraiser. Even worse news: while Parker is out and about fighting against Daredevil, Harry accidentally tells Nico that Peter is Spider-Man. Not believing him, she waits until her best friend returns and discovers the truth.
This is left in suspense for the next episode, and there is hope they will be able to patch things up as things intensify between the 110th Street Gang and the Scorpions, still the best part of the series. Lonnie has missed too many classes and football practice and has now been placed on probation, something his parents are unaware of. He also hasn’t opened himself up to Pearl (Cathy Ang) at all, leading her to worry for him. As Lonnie strolls around the streets of New York, he realizes he is being stalked by Camilla Black (Anairis Quiñones), Mac Gargan’s (Jonathan Medina) second-in-command. Thinking he will be safe by heading to the 110th’s hideout, Lonnie doesn’t realize that he has led the Scorpions right to them, with its leader now getting some enhancements thanks to Otto Octavius…
With its seventh episode, Tangled Web, Peter and Nico’s friendship has drastically changed. Nico doesn’t want to talk to Peter at school, leading him to break down in tears in front of Pearl, who is also facing her own problems with Lonnie. The two share a relatively heartfelt scene, perhaps forming the foundations of a romantic arc between them. That connection is short-lived as Peter leaves to meet Norman, while Pearl receives a text from Lonnie’s brother, revealing his involvement in the 110th Street Gang as the reason why he has been skipping school so much.
Norman tells Peter that Otto has been using gamma radiation as the primary source to power his weapons, which allows them to trace a source located in New York, causing havoc on its way to Harlem. Peter suits up to find what it is, while Norman attempts to narrow down on Otto’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, Harry goes to Nico’s foster home to apologize to her for revealing Peter’s secret, which causes them to bond and form an active kinship after her preconceived expectations of Norman’s son are thrown out the window. Still having difficulty forgiving Peter, Nico begins to potentially rethink her friendship with him after Harry tells her he likely did not reveal his secret to anyone to protect the ones he cared about the most and that he was just lucky to find out Peter is Spider-Man. A nice development, though I’ll be curious to see how he eventually talks to Nico in the eighth episode.
The rest of the episode occurs through a climactic showdown between Spider-Man and Scorpion, who attacks the 110th Street Gang hideout as Pearl confronts Lonnie, directly putting her in harm’s way, which he did not want to occur. The action scene is the show’s best (so far) because it gives tangible stakes to its protagonist and actively makes him fear for his life. Parker needs guidance from Norman at critical moments, as Gargan brutally kills members of the 110th Street Gang, but the Oscorp CEO is too busy attempting to find Otto to pay attention to his mentee. As a result, while he does gain the upper hand earlier in the battle, his white suit gets severely injured, causing Gargan to puncture Peter through his gamma-powered tail.
It’s not until that point that Norman gets a notification that Peter’s suit is damaged that he finally assists a GREEN GOBLIN GLIDER that arrives at the warehouse and destroys most of the building. Peter jumps on it, likely permanently scarred by this event. Norman is already the Green Goblin and has been hiding this secret all this time from Peter? I guess Spider-Man isn’t the only one who shields his true identity from his best friends…
This isn’t resolved in the eighth episode, Tangled Web, but we do get a sense that Norman isn’t the mentor Peter thinks he is. Profoundly shaken by his fight with Gargan, Parker has a profound crisis of faith on whether he should truly want to continue donning the mantle of Spider-Man if it means he can’t stop the people closest to him from getting hurt. Notably, when he goes to Pearl’s house to complete their science homework, Lonnie visits them after his texts to his girlfriend are left ignored.
Pearl appeases his senses and tells him he no longer needs to keep hanging out with the 110th Street Gang after Scorpion broke it up. However, despite Peter’s warnings as well, he believes his choice is made and must stay within the gang, leading to Pearl officially ending their relationship for good. Peter also has difficulty translating his inner feelings to Aunt May (Kari Wahlgren), still shielding her from the fact that he is Spider-Man. Will we ultimately get a reveal on that front? Who knows, I do appreciate that their conversations don’t try to mirror Uncle Ben’s talking points but instead instill the hope that, if they stay close together, they’ll find a way to move on despite his passing.
It’s after that discussion that he’s inspired to speak with Norman, who flips the classic Uncle Ben quote to its head, fully revealing his malevolent intention. Instead of saying, “With great power comes great responsibility,” he says, “With great power comes great respect,” and if Peter can’t learn to respect himself and assert his power as a dominant force against others, why should they continue being partners? It’s a chilling scene, chillingly realized through a note-perfect vocal performance by Colman Domingo, who should honestly be the live-action MCU’s Norman Osborn, though I’ll let the powers that be decide on that front.
Meanwhile, since Norman has discovered Otto’s whereabouts, he tips off General Thaddeus Ross (Travis Willingham), who issues a warrant for his arrest. We get a nifty action scene with the reveal of his octopus arms taking out SWAT members, but his advantage gets short-lived when Iron Man (Mick Wingert) comes to the rescue. With Big Donovan (Leilani Barrett) now plotting his revenge against Scorpion, they are tipped by Chameleon (Roger Craig Smith) of Otto’s hideout, prompting them to use his powerful technology to beat the Scorpions.
At Oscorp, Peter and Harry have a more poignant conversation than the one he had with Norman, who inspires him to do the right thing and suit up as Spider-Man, with a brand-new red and blue suit designed specifically for him. We don’t see what it looks like (we’ll have to wait until next week), but we have a pretty good idea that it will look incredible.
The sixth, seventh, and eighth episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are now available to stream on Disney+.
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