The MCU’s introduction of Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War came in a now-iconic scene. After a title card tells us we’re in Queens, New York, we cut to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. He gets home and finds his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) sitting with none other than RDJ as Tony Stark on the couch. We all know what happens next. Stark recruits Peter and becomes his mentor, giving him access to a high-tech Spider-Man suit he created. The rest, as they say, is history. In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, however, that history all plays out differently.
In the first episode of the new series, we see Peter Parker walking into his apartment after school, just as in Civil War. In fact, he’s listening to the same song on his earbuds. But instead of Iron Man sitting on the couch with his “unusually attractive aunt,” as Tony called May, she’s sitting with Oscorp CEO Norman Osborn. Spider-Man fans of course know that traditionally, the billionaire scientist/industrialist becomes Spidey’s arch-nemesis the Green Goblin. Osborn’s green suit is a not-so-subtle hint at that future.
Norman Osborn invites Peter Parker to intern at his company in a special science division for genius youth. The special internship at Stark Industries is the story that Tony Stark sold to May to get her to allow Peter to go with him. But in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, it’s a real thing. Other kids in the program are known names to Marvel fans, like Amadeus Cho, who later becomes the (Totally Awesome) Hulk. The head of this lab is Dr. Bentley Wittman, who in the comics is the Fantastic Four villain the Wizard. By episode two’s end, it’s clear Norman Osborn knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man. He will likely be his mentor, much like Stark was for the 616 Peter.
So what does this all mean for the future of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man? Well, comic book fans know where this is all going. Sooner or later, Norman will take enhancements himself and gain super strength. And, also, he will totally lose his mind in the process. When he becomes the Green Goblin, it will be even harder for Peter, as this version of Norman really will be like a father to him. The Willem Dafoe version of Osborn in the Sam Raimi films told Peter he was “Like a father to him.” But we never really saw fatherly love on display like that. He was mostly just a little nicer to him than he was to his own son, Harry. Here, we suspect it will be different.
This also raises the question, does a Norman Osborn exist in the MCU? So far, the reality that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man exists in is very, very similar to the MCU. Characters refer to major MCU events like the Chitauri invasion from Avengers, among other things, suggesting they have an almost parallel history. But in No Way Home, the Raimi-verse Norman Osborn said Oscorp didn’t exist in the MCU. Norman said he couldn’t find his son Harry either. But just because Oscorp doesn’t exist, doesn’t mean the characters don’t. It will be interesting to see if an MCU Norman Osborn appears at some point. We could see his voice actor, Colman Domingo, convincingly play him in live-action as well. We’d certainly be into that idea becoming reality.
