Hudson Thames, who plays Peter Parker inYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, opens up about headlining his ownMarvel Cinematic UniverseTV show as the web-slinger. While Tom Holland’s Spider-Man return is still a year away, theMCU timeline has a new adventurein store with the iconic web-slinger, but with a twist.Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manexplores a new origin story for Peter Parker, in a reality where he has never met Tony Stark and the Avengers.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manfocuseson Peter living in a world where Norman Osborn ends up being his mentor after he gets bit by a spider that forever changes his life. With a clean slate, the Phase 5 show tackles aspects of Spider-Man’s life that his Earth-616 counterpart has not shared with viewers. After having voiced the character inWhat If…?, Thames is now playing a fresh take, making this his second MCU project where he portrays Spider-Man.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s Premiere Episodes Retell Peter Parker’s MCU Introduction: All 30 Easter Eggs And References Explained
The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man feature some very cool Easter eggs and references to Peter Parker’s MCU debut.
ScreenRantinterviewed Thames earlier in January ahead of theYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manpremiere about his transition from voicing Holland’s character inWhat If…?to havinghis ownSpider-ManTV show. Thames reflected on his Peter’s history, how Spider-Man looks at the Avengers of his world, and whether or not he would be open to playing the Marvel icon in live-action down the line.
Hudson Thames Previews Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1
ScreenRant: I’ve been waiting to see a very street-level Spider-Man in the MCU for quite a while. How does it feel to be the one to finally deliver it to everyone after all the years that we’ve seen Spidey, whether it’s in the MCU orWhat If…?
Hudson Thames: It’s been really cool, I think, how modern day without feeling forced this series is. [It] was something I was really grateful for when I started reading scripts, so it makes my job a lot easier as an actor, to not have any kind of filter of, ‘Let me put it through this way,’ to be able to be conversational and live in the time that I live is really helpful.
Peter Parker Deals With The Avengers Differently In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
“I think each iteration of Spider-Man really has its own thing.”
Because we’re seeing this from a different point of view of Spider-Man in the MCU multiverse, he has a different history. We get a taste of what Peter thinks about this world’s Avengers, but how do you think he would actually think about it in a larger sense if he actually had to work with them?
Hudson Thames: It’s funny, because I think each iteration of Spider-Man really has its own thing. And I feel like Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is definitely closest to the Tom Holland Spider Man, just in terms of age and energy. It’s really fun to come into Spider-Man at the very beginning, right? Because he’s just a person, and watching him figure out, ‘Oh, how am I going to be a superhero’ and just be so naive?
Because, by the second and third sequels of things, you see Spider Man start to come into his own a little bit and learn how to fight and do stuff. Right now, he knows nothing which is the most fun, I think, version of Peter to see, and I think he doesn’t think he probably could fight with the Avengers ever in a million years, and then he’ll just do it.
You’ve been playing Spider-Man for a good number of years for Marvel Studios, and let’s just say, if they ever came and offered you the chance to also play him in live action, especially as we’re getting towards the end of The Multiverse Saga, would you want to do it?
Hudson Thames: Yes! That is literally on my dream board to do that. So when this series happened, I was like, ‘Oh my God, it feels like almost that!’ So I would absolutely love to do that.
Peter & Lonnie Lincon’s Relationship May Get Complex In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s Future
“Their relationship really took me by surprise.”
One of the dynamics that I was not expecting to fall in love with so quickly was Lonnie and Peter. We know Tombstone is one thing in the comics, but in this show, they’re going in a lot of different directions with him. How difficult do you think the relationship is going to get over the course of the series?
Hudson Thames: The beautiful thing about Peter is he wants to help just things like in Lonnie’s life that he’s trying to pull him out of and, keep him on the right track. I think, or at least I hope, because I know as much as you do in terms of where it’s going. Their friendship just gets stronger and stronger, as opposed to them becoming like enemies and villains, which I could also see happening.
I think their relationship really took me by surprise. I didn’t think they were gonna become like best buds like that. But this Spider-Man is less of a loner than a lot of Spider-Mans that we know. He has friends, and that’s another kind of new aspect of the show. But things with Lonnie [are] cool, and I hope it just continues to get stronger.
About Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
“Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming a hero, with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots.
