Marvel’s “Neighborhood Spider-Man” Reviews Are In

Marvel Studios debuted its new “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” series yesterday on the Disney+ service, and while no pre-release reviews were available, now that it’s out several dozen critical takes have popped up.

The verdict is quite good it seems. On Rotten Tomatoes the series is sitting at 96% (8.2/10) while on Metacritic it’s at 77/100. Though even the most praising call it ‘slight’, there’s an overall sense that it was widely liked by critics.

Audience response is a little more varied. On Metacritic the audience score is at 4.5/10 with the negative reviews focusing on the race-swapping of Norman Osborn, perceived ‘wokeness’ or agenda pushing, or a dislike of the art style.

Here’s a sampling of the critical take on the series:

“It’s bright, high-energy and inoffensively young-skewing, having a lot of fun with its buffed-up antique aesthetic… It’s slight, but pleasantly so.” – Daniel Fienberg, THR

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man hits its target audience like a bullseye with refreshing old school animation, a serialized plot, and whopper finale that’s far more clever than expected.” – Julian Roman, Movieweb

“It’s a solid swing at Spider-Man, featuring a gorgeously illustrated adventure through the streets of New York. It’s a worthy introduction to the character for younger audiences while never feeling specifically like children’s television.” – Joshua Ryan, FandomWire

“Yet another successful remix of Spider-Man and his world which nods to all that’s come before but charts its own bold path. We’ll happily hang in this neighbourhood a while longer.” – Amon Warmann, Empire

“Showrunner Jeff Trammell more than proves that he is the right man for this job, crafting a series that Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko would be proud of.” – Emily Murray, Total Film

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is surprisingly mature for being this energetic and squishy, a PG-rated take that treats its teen characters with respect by not insulting their intelligence or limiting their growth.” – Jarrod Jones, AV Club

“A visually-stunning animated series that has a fresh take on Peter Parker’s early days as New York’s only webslinging crimefighter.” – Joel Keller, Decider

“Its cel-shaded aesthetic takes a while to warm up to during quieter moments, which play like a feature-length video game cutscene. However, its early action sequences lack the weight or excitement to match its stakes.” – Isaiah Colbert, io9

“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” has its first two episodes available now with episodes #3-5 airing February 5th, #6-8 on February 12th and #9-10 on February 19th. The show has already begun development of two more seasons.

The post Marvel’s “Neighborhood Spider-Man” Reviews Are In appeared first on Dark Horizons.