‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ Trailer Confirms Main Characters Are Race-Swapped
Disney+ is set to release a new Spider-Man cartoon titled Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on January 29th, 2025. The first trailer, released by Marvel Entertainment, has sparked controversy, particularly for its race-swapped characters. Notably, both Harry and Norman Osborn are shown as Black men, a significant change from their usual depictions.
While X-Men ’97 was generally well-received despite some reworked elements, it seems Disney+ has taken things further with Spider-Man. The trailer includes a hip-hop remix of the classic Spider-Man theme, possibly aiming to attract a new audience, alongside old fans of the series.
Peter Parker is seen in a homemade suit similar to Scarlet Spider’s, working with Norman Osborn to create a new, tech-enhanced Spider-Man costume.
The trailer introduces a completely different supporting cast compared to the classic Spider-Man comics, as you can see for yourselves:
As you can see, the supporting cast is significantly different from what we’re used to when Spider-Man stories are concerned, although the identities of these characters and their overall significance for the plot are still unknown, so there might be absolutely no issue with this aspect, regardless of what some “fans” will say.
As for the changes, you will agree that the most striking change is the race-swap of both Osborns, as well as significant changes to their overall appearances.
While Norman and Peter are going to work closely, which is not contradictory to the well-established canon, Harry’s appearance (the race-swap aside) is also significantly different, with fans speculating that he might be an LGBTQ+ character.
While X-Men ’97 stuck closer to its original character designs, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man seems to be pushing boundaries with these changes, which could prove to be a good thing going forward.
You will remember that X-Men ’97 faced some criticism due to some of the controversial (for some) changes, and it seems that the upcoming Spider-Man project may face similar criticism from one portion of the fanbase due to the changes.
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