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Plenty of animated shows have been coming out on Disney+, all relating to the characters we know and love from the MCU and beyond. What If? offers a look at how the movies could have played out differently in the live action outings, while X-Men 97 continues the story told by the cartoon of the 90’s.
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Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man sits between these two ideas, not being completely disconnected from the canon but not being part of it either. The animated show is considered to be in a sister universe, but what does that mean? And why are there so many references to the movies if they didn’t happen?
Is Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Connected To The MCU?
The short and simple answer is no; this Spider-Man and the one portrayed by Tom Holland in the movies are two separate entities. This means that you are free to skip this animated show if you only want to follow the main canon of the MCU, since the story details told within won’t be referenced in future films, at least not likely.
Of course, Spider-Man has had his fair share of multiverse-spanning stories, both in animation (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and in live-action (Spider-Man: No Way Home). There might be hidden references to this show in future films, but it’s doubtful it would be extremely relevant to their plots.
Why Are The Events In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man So Similar To The MCU?
Many elements of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man seem to be taken straight out of the MCU, particularly the events of the first two Avengers movies and Captain America: Civil War. While those movies were already based on existing comics, the fact that they are happening exactly like in the movies is at the very least confusing.
The only difference seems to be that Spider-Man wasn’t recruited by Tony Stark for the final battle of Civil War.
This is without mentioning the similar aspects between this Spider-Man story and the MCU one, particularly with the depiction of Aunt May. Even the way Scorpion is depicted in the animated show is eerily similar to how he was teased at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
One real-world reason as to why these elements are so similar is that, when the show was first being developed, it was going to tell the origin story of the MCU’s Peter Parker. This idea was scrapped due to how limiting it was, but vestiges of it can still be seen in the design of Peter and the world he inhabits.
The Sister Universe
There is a reason why this is called a sister universe instead of a different or parallel one: it has too many similarities to the main MCU canon. It is not only using ideas from the movies, the show expects its audience to know what Sokovia is and why Captain America is a wanted criminal.
The best way to look at the show is as a What If scenario: What if Marvel had the full rights to Spider-Man from the beginning? Well, this is the story they would have told, one with Spider-Man villains interacting both with each other and with heroes like Iron Man, and where Peter can be an open fanboy of Captain America.
Of course, if the events of the movies are happening much in the same way, it could mean that Thanos is about to snap a lot of people away in the not-so-distant future. Time will tell just how much of the Avenger’s antics will alter Peter’s life.
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