Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the newest animated show to feature the Web Slinger, has had mixed reactions from fans ahead of the release. On just about every major social media platform, someone is talking about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Some Spidey fans are, of course, very excited for the upcoming show. However, there are equally vocal, or maybe more vocal fans that are very critical of the upcoming series. Both the excitement and the criticisms increased after the trailer was released which you can watch below.
One of the most common criticisms of the show and the teaser surround its animation style. Looking at the comments on YouTube, it’s clear that not everyone is on board with the show’s unique style with other users criticizing more specific things like Spider-Man wearing a mask to hide his identity while wearing fingerless gloves that would leave his fingerprints everywhere he goes and more.
The showrunner of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has spoken with TechRadar to defend the show and ask fans to give it a chance before writing it off completely. He wants those that have been put off by the animation style to watch the show itself instead of skip it based on the trailer.
“We wanted to set the show apart [from other Spider-Man animated shows]. Regardless of how you feel about the show, you have to there's nothing that looks like it. There's no Spider-Man that looks like our Spider Man. I think it's important to have one that's ours, and that feels unique [and] very much of its own thing. So, we really wanted to find something that set us apart from everything else, and kind of drives audiences towards us. So if you see our Spider-Man in a line-up, you're like 'that's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'.”
He is definitely correct when he says there is no other Spider-Man show that looks like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to fans to decide. He continued by saying the following:
“I think our style grows on you. So, I would say 'give it a chance'. I know there were a lot of initial thoughts about how it looked in the two minute teaser, but I'll also say that teaser is super cut up. Once the show comes out, you'll see those scenes don't play in the way that they play in that trailer. So, just give it a shot, watch it, and let it grow on you. If it doesn't, that's fine, too. I love our look and I think everyone else who gives it a shot will do as well.”
Tramell, like any artist, wants even the dissenters and those who have already been given a bad taste in their mouth by the trailer to give the show a chance. However, if it ends up not growing on viewers, he understands and is still proud of his creation.
Interestingly, Tramell did not choose to comment on the decision to race swap Norman and Harry Osborn, a major talking point online for critics of the show.
Regardless of whether viewers like or dislike the show, Marvel and Disney have already doubled down on it, as it was recently revealed that the show has been greenlit for not only a second, but a third season as well.
Just before that, the show’s very interesting release schedule was confirmed with episodes one and two premiering January 29th, episodes three, four, and five, airing February 5th, episodes six, seven, and eight airing on February 12th, and episodes nine and ten finishing off the first season on February 19th. It’s a very different release schedule, but it seems to be getting more praise than other aspects of the show.
Despite criticism from fans, the critic's first reactions have been almost entirely positive.
What do you think of Spidey’s upcoming animated adventure? Let me know in the comments!