Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Drops Its Nice Guy Act

When the Scorpions gang was introduced early in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, it felt like a simple faction device; a means to usher in a new villain or two and maybe help flesh out some backstory. Save for a few mild curse words here and there, the series hadn’t strayed too far in any direction toward decidedly mature themes. With the easygoing nature of the show’s Saturday-morning cartoon feel, audiences may have felt the violence typically associated with street gangs wouldn’t really surface on the show. Well, those audiences were proven wrong in alarming fashion.

There was a considerable amount of hype leading up to Disney+’s release of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episodes 6-8. Vigilant fans knew episode 6, titled “Duel With The Devil,” would feature Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock. Series Creator Jeff Trammell delivered upon that excitement with high stakes and some truly standout action that pushed back on arguments against the series’ lack of visual flair. One of these fights even pushed the boundaries of the lighthearted fare Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man‘s title suggests. To the surprise of many, though, this fight would appear after episode 6 and would not be against Daredevil.

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Daredevil’s appearance was excellent. His high-rise fight with Spider-Man was filled with acrobatics, witty quips, and the spy vs. spy dynamics you’d expect from a battle between the sleuthing Spider-Man and a blind vigilante attorney. It seemed Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man had shown its hand regarding what it had to offer in the thrill department. Then, episode 7 came along. Scorpion Rising made Spider-Man’s Duel With The Devil look like a choreographed dance; one better suited to the stage than the unrestrained means of animation. Speaking of restraint, Marvel showed close to zero when depicting Spider-Man’s first gritty underworld test in a PG-rated cartoon.

Things Get Bad

There was a moment earlier in the season when Lonnie Lincoln saves gang leader Big Donovan from a knife attack during a gang fight. The attacker, who would later utilize Dr. Octavius’ technology to become Scorpion, then stabs Lincoln’s arm. This was a rather violent event, previously unseen in the show, complete with a dripping red knife. Mac Gargan’s scarlet, curved blade as he prepares to strike again would foreshadow Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man‘s flag-planting moment; a brutal showdown that sees young Peter Parker defy his first death, lose his white suit, and earn his trademark colors as Spider-Man.

The scene in which Spider-Man fights Scorpion begins with a parade of gunfire, as the 110th Street Gang attempts to dispatch the newly-super villain invading their hideout. Almost immediately, after shedding bullets thanks to his Octavius suit of armor, Scorpion spears a young red-haired gang member with his armored stinger. Scorpion impales him and thrusts him upward so that his body hangs midair like a limp carcass in the jaws of a predator. Later on, Spider-Man would yell for all the survivors to clear out so he could take on Scorpion more securely, and when they’re shown leaving, the red-haired victim would not be among them.

At this moment, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man rears a set of fangs that had been concealed all season up to this point. Fully automatic weapons donned by youths and their subsequent murder at the hands of a vicious gang leader were likely not forecast by anyone coming into this episode. Shockingly, the aforementioned killing would mark only the beginning of the barbarity Scorpion had in store for Peter Parker.

Things Get Worse

Scorpion’s fondness for pointy things, unfortunately, wouldn’t stop with just his knife and new ultra-large stinger. A keen set of eyes would note he’d also scored some spikes on his plated knuckles. Those spikes would soon be crashing down mercilessly onto the helpless face of this series’ outmatched hero.

Following the impaling, Spider-Man swings in to tie up Scorpion and save the day, but he’s caught off guard by Scorpion’s use of gamma radiation to escape the webbing wrapped around him. Peter thought his job was done, so he reported it via earpiece to his now-mentor, Norman Osborne. It’s this gamma radiation that distracts Osborne from hearing Peter’s calls for help once Scorpion escapes. Norman Osborne is preoccupied searching for his rival and gamma weapon manufacturer Dr. Octavius, dropping his earpiece.

This is where the already violent installment takes a tragic turn. Spider-Man suffers a harrowing beat while down left on his own. He’s graphically stabbed in the shoulder by Scorpion’s stinger, and for sixty agonizing seconds, he’s beaten bloody by the spiked knuckles of Scorpion’s metal-reinforced fists. For a moment, Peter cries out to Osborne: “Mr. Osborne… please… I need your help, sir.” The scene echoes Spider-Man’s plea to Tony Stark in Infinity War before he’s wiped out by Thanos’ snap. The emotional weight of Peter’s desperate request, while less built up here, is just as fraught.

What Does This Mean For The Series’ Future?

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is not afraid to swing for the emotional fences, and the series is all the more promising because of it. Norman Osborne will surely betray Peter again in the future. Given this gut-punch, it remains to be seen how much more painful the next betrayal could be. Osborne’s already showing his true colors, imploring Peter not to run from power, bastardizing Spider-Man’s famous maxim: “with great power, comes great… respect.” He may be speaking of a respect he doesn’t quite have for his son, Harry, whom he kicked out of the room beforehand. One thing’s for sure; this Spider-Man series isn’t nearly as friendly as it was thought to be.