Marvel Studios finally released an MCU project where Peter Parker is a fully street-level hero — Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. With Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars looming over the horizon, the MCU’s Phase 5 is taking a short break from multiversal stories to focus on more realistic stories. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again, and Thunderbolts* all follow rather grounded conflicts. While Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s ending teased new street-level adventures for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episodes 1 and 2 beat Spider-Man 4 to the punch.
Many street-level heroes already roam the streets of the MCU’s Earth. Despite their grounded nature, however, the MCU’s street-level characters often get involved in world-saving battles way outside their original scope. For instance, the Defenders first ᴀssembled in New York to thwart a secret conspiracy that used a mythical dragon’s bones to threaten the whole world in Netflix’s The Defenders, Ms. Marvel went from protecting their neighborhood to fighting cosmic warlords, and Scott Lang went from sabotaging corrupt businessmen and fighting villains in his daughter’s bedroom to helping save the whole universe twice alongside the Avengers.
The MCU Already Has Multiple Street-Level Heroes
The MCU’s Main Universe Is Filled With Heroes Who Stick To Smaller Conflicts
Several of the MCU’s most famous street-level heroes have come by way of Netflix’s Marvel shows. Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil, Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, Michael Colter’s Luke Cage, and Finn Jones’ Danny Rand a.k.a. Iron Fist received their own Netflix series, and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher, Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, Simone Missick’s Misty Knight, and Elodie Young’s Elektra Natchios became vigilantes in those shows. After Charlie Cox’s Daredevil officially joined the MCU, all these characters are expected to be annexed to the franchise.
Kate Bishop has only fought enemies like Kingpin and the Tracksuit Mafia, but she has already been recruited by Ms. Marvel for a new Avengers team
Other characters have started their journey as street-level heroes, but they’ve expanded their scope since their debut. Apart from the aforementioned Kamala Khan and Scott Lang, Moon Knight started out as a mystical mercenary and soon ended up facing ancient gods, She-Hulk first used her powers to fight low-level criminals like the Wrecking Crew and soon ended up changing reality, and Shang-Chi went from participating in underground martial arts tournaments to fighting an Eldritch enтιтy with the Ten Rings. Kate Bishop has only fought enemies like Kingpin and the Tracksuit Mafia, but she has already been recruited by Ms. Marvel for a new Avengers team.
The MCU’s Spider-Man Has Never Really Been A Street-Level Hero
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Epitomizes The Idea Of Street-Level Heroes Abandoning Their Grounded Origins
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was introduced in Captain America: Civil War as a young Queens vigilante who fought low-level crime and saved civilians using homemade web-shooters and a homemade suit. Holland’s Peter Parker received a mᴀssive upgrade from Tony Stark, who fast-tracked his superhero career by bringing him into a dangerous battle between Avengers. Spider-Man only starred in another street-level story in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where he fought a villain that Iron Man and the Avengers preferred to ignore. After that, Spider-Man became a full-fledged universe-saving Avenger.
Despite being a novice superhero, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man fought Thanos, the Black Order, Mysterio, and five multiversal villains in a short timespan. Spider-Man also fought and defeated Doctor Strange in the Mirror Dimension, and he met two of his multiversal variants who had several years of experience as Spider-Men in their respective universes. By the time Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is back on square one at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, he has already gone through many experiences that most Spider-Man variants in the multiverse would only dream of witnessing.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Confirmed His True Street-Level Heroism In One Scene
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s Peter Parker Embodies His Famous Epithet Perfectly
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man presents an alternate take on Spider-Man’s MCU origin story, including his early feats of street-level crime-fighting. In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 1, Spider-Man catches a petty thief who stole some cash from a pizza store. After capturing her with his webs, Spider-Man knocks on the door, returns the money, and explains that the thief only stole the cash because she was down on her luck. After the store owner accepts her apology, Spidey releases the thief and apologizes to the store owner for the uncomfortable situation.
Not only is Spider-Man’s capture of the petty cash thief an inherently street-level encounter, but Spidey’s decision to go easy on her and advocate for her with her victim adds another layer of “friendly neighborhood” to this version of Spider-Man. Instead of just beating crime with his fists and webs, Hudson Thames’ animated Spider-Man provides a service to his community by maintaining peace and encouraging forgiveness. Spider-Man’s maturity in this situation probably kept a thief from eventually becoming a more dangerous criminal.
Upcoming MCU Movies
-
Captain America: Brave New World
- Release Date
-
February 14, 2025
Powered by
-
Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
-
May 2, 2025
Powered by
-
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
-
July 25, 2025
Powered by
-
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Powered by
-
Spider-Man Homecoming 4
- Release Date
-
July 24, 2026
Powered by
-
Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
-
May 7, 2027
Powered by
