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One of the best decisions that the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever made was to not rehash and show Peter Parker's origin for the billionth time. By this point, even people who haven't seen a single Spider-Man movie know the story of a nerdy teenage boy who got bit by a radioactive spider and gained the ability to climb walls and shoot webs from his wrists. Telling the story of a still young and inexperienced Peter Parker across the Homecoming trilogy was absolutely a great decision for the MCU's introduction of Spider-Man, but in a round-about way, we can't help but wonder what Spidey was getting up to before he met Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War. When it was announced at Disney+ Day 2021, it seemed like we wouldn't have to wonder what the MCU Spider-Man's origins were anymore with the new animated series, Spider-Man: Freshman Year.
Does Spider-Man: Freshman Year Take Place in the MCU?
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The keyword here is "seemed" as even though it was initially presented as being set in the MCU, recent details revealed at the Marvel Animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 have cast doubt on the canonicity of the anticipated show. This is mainly due to what characters were going to meet as well as those who seem to be missing in action. Some of Peter's closest friends from the Homecoming trilogy appear to be absent thus far in the series, namely his "guy in the chair" Ned Leeds and his iconic love interest MJ. There are also characters present that we know Peter hasn't met yet, like Doctor Strange, Doctor Octopus, and Doctor Norman Osborn (a lot of doctors he meets later in his MCU career apparently). Osborn himself has been pitched as a mentor figure, with a piece of concept art shown at SDCC directly mirroring Peter's first meeting with Tony Stark.
Still, despite these apparent continuity breaks, Marvel has yet to fully deny that the show takes place in the MCU. Perhaps this is a case of Peter taking on a narration role and embellishing his origin a bit. The changes could also be the cause of a rights issue since Marvel is still sharing the live-action right to the character with Sony. Or the most likely option is that like What If...? and the upcoming Marvel Zombies show, Freshman Year will take place in a parallel universe and won't directly be tired into the main MCU universe. Overall it's kind of up in the air what universe the show takes place in, so we'll just have to patiently wait for more details to reveal themselves.
Is There a Trailer for Spider-Man: Freshman Year?
Footage was not screened for the audiences of the Marvel Animation panel nor was any trailer released online. However, that's not to say we didn't get a good look at the series, as there was a pretty hefty amount of stills and concept art from Freshman Year that was shown to the masses.
Art style-wise, Freshman Year seems to be taking heavy inspiration from the original Amazing Fantasy Spider-Man comics of the 1960s, with that classic cell-shading permeating every frame of the art shown. Most of the art were character designs, including both friends and foes as well as various suits Spidey will be wearing, including a new homemade suit, his classic Homecoming design, and even a costume that seems to be from his time with The Fantastic Four's Future Foundation of the comics. Apart from the character designs, we got a couple of scene stills, like the meetings with Norman Osborn that we mentioned earlier and a fight sequence where Spidey and Doctor Strange are about to fight some sort of four-armed shadowy monster (a symbiote perhaps?).
Is There a Release Date for Spider-Man: Freshman Year?
No official date has been set for the premiere of Spider-Man: Freshman Year, but we do know that the new animated Spider-Man will be swinging into Disney+ sometime in 2024.
What Is the Plot of Spider-Man: Freshman Year?
The self-explanatory title tells us that this will take place in Peter Parker's very first year of high school, and his very early career as Spider-Man. As per usual, Peter will probably have to juggle between his life as a normal teenage nerd and as a crimefighting vigilante. He'll have to conceal his identity from his friends and family and come face to face with some of his most iconic foes, but with the help of some familiar heroes like Doctor Strange and Daredevil as well as his mysterious mentor Norman Osborn, he'll be able to survive high school and learn what it means to be a true hero.
Who Is Making Spider-Man: Freshman Year?
Since the series is so early in development, we don't have too many concrete details on the creative team putting Freshman Year together. We do know that, even though the series may or may not be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios will still be producing the project, meaning Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige will still be involved with the series one way or another. We also know that the head writer of the series is Jeff Trammell who has plenty of experience with recent serialized animated gems like Amphibia, The Owl House, and Craig of the Creek.
What Characters and Actors Will We See in Spider-Man: Freshman Year?
There are conflicting reports that the MCU's own Peter Parker Tom Holland will not be returning to the role to lend his voice to his beloved character. While there hasn't been a hard confirmation as of yet, given that Holland didn't return to voice the character in What If...?, it seems unlikely that he would return for another project that appears to take place outside of the MCU.
We did get some casting news at SDCC, the most exciting of which being that Charlie Cox would be reprising the role of Daredevil in the series ahead of his appearances in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Echo, and Daredevil: Born Again. Comedian Paul F. Tompkins will also be apart of the cast as Bentley Witman, who in the comics is a mad scientist who eventually becomes the Fantastic Four villain, the Wizard.
That's about it as far as casting goes, but we did get a glimpse of the friends and foes that will be joining the Spider-Show. In addition to Daredevil, Peter's friends will include Doctor Strange, Aunt May, Peter's historic best friend Harry Osborn, future smart Hulk Amadeus Cho, and Runaways member Nico Minoru. The villains that Peter will face range from deep cuts to iconic antagonists, including Unicorn, Scorpion, Tarantula, Tombstone, Speed Demon, Chameleon, and Doctor Octopus. The show's version of Norman Osborn has been pitched as a mentor figure, but if we know Norman, he has his own ulterior motives.
Will Spider-Man: Freshman Year Get a Second Season?
Most of the Disney+ Marvel shows have been limited series that last only a season long, but we can confirm that won't be the case for Spider-Man: Freshman Year.
A second season is already in development, with a new and clever title officially labeling it Spider-Man: Sophomore Year. Whatever shenanigans Spidey gets up to in his first year of high school, he'll only be getting up to even more the year after.