Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will tie a major episode count record when it swings its way onto Disney+.
The upcoming animated series, previously known as Spider-Man: Freshman Year, will provide a fresh take on the iconic web-slinger. Instead of focusing on Tom Holland's mainline MCU hero, it will center on another reality, recounting Peter Parker's early adventures donning the mask.
The Spidey-centric show will kick off Marvel Studios 2025 on Wednesday, January 29, sporting a unique comic book-inspired art style not yet seen in the MCU.
New Spider-Man Show Ties Disney+ Record
The episode count for Marvel Studios' Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has seemingly been confirmed, revealing the animated series is set to tie the record for the longest single season of Disney+ MCU TV yet.
The news comes by way of a recent press release promoting the series, announcing that the web-slinging spectacle will run for 10 episodes on the streamer starting on January 29. This ties 2024's X-Men '97 for the highest episode count for an MCU Disney+ show.
The show surpasses all live-action MCU Disney+ content to date on the episode count front, with the longest live-action Marvel Studios series being a three-way tie between WandaVision, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, and Agatha All Along (nine episodes each).
Comparing the series to another recent animated effort from the studios, What If...? (which ended the MCU's 2024 with a shocking cameo-filled finale) only ever peaked at nine episodes in Seasons 1 and 2. And its third season was even shorter than that, coming in at a paltry eight episodes.
It is worth noting that this is only considering Marvel TV shows that originated on Disney+, as some of the linear TV or Netflix titles from the brand have gone much longer than 10 episodes.
This is a record that should stand for at least the first half of 2025, as both Ironheart and Daredevil: Born Again are expected to come in several episodes shorter than Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Daredevil: Born Again was once planned to be the longest MCU Disney+ series by far, but due to creative shifts on the project, that will no longer be the case.
Below is a full list of MCU Disney+ projects and their episode counts to compare:
- WandaVision - 9 episodes
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - 6 episodes
- Loki Season 1 - 6 episodes
- What If...? Season 1 - 9 episodes
- Hawkeye - 6 episodes
- Moon Knight - 6 episodes
- Ms. Marvel - 6 episodes
- She-Hulk: Attorney At Law - 9 episodes
- Secret Invasion - 6 episodes
- Loki Season 2 - 6 episodes
- What If...? Season 2 - 9 episodes
- Echo - 5 episodes
- Agatha All Along - 9 episodes
- What If...? Season 3 - 8 episodes
What To Expect From Marvel's New Spider-Man Show
After years of waiting, fans are finally getting their first MCU Spider-Man TV series in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. And with 10 episodes to pack full of story, audiences should be ready for plenty of web-slinging action.
The upcoming super-powered adventure does not take place directly in the MCU mainline continuity (instead, taking place in an alternate world in the cast MCU Multiverse).
This is different from what was originally planned for the series. At one point, when the series was called Freshman Year, many had assumed it would follow the origins of Tom Holland's MCU hero, but that is no longer entirely the case.
The show has been branded as being "in the MCU," it just happens not to directly follow the Spider-Man Variant fans have fallen in love with on the back of the MCU Spider-Man trilogy (read more about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's canonicity here).
But that does not make it any less exciting. Recounting the early days of this alternate universe, Spidey will be an interesting prospect for Marvel Studios to explore.
Various teases for the show have revealed the series will include the MCU's first original take on Norman Osborn after including Willem Dafoe's version of the character in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
This introduction of the iconic Marvel Comics villain and the Oscorp mega-corp he runs is surely something that will pique the interest of many.
The new series will see Peter team up with Norman, learning from the scientist (seemingly before his transformation into the villainous Green Goblin) and getting a killer Future Foundations-inspired suit in the process.
Peter's new digs will be needed, it seems, as the animated effort is also set to include several big bads from across Spidey's nearly 65-year history.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man debuts on Disney+ on Wednesday, January 29.
