‘Is it MCU or not?’: Spider-Man’s much-anticipated Marvel return is leaving confusion in its wake, but not because Tom Holland is out the picture

counting down the days to Spider-Man 4.

While Sony and Marvel have yet to announce another Spidey flick, the House of Ideas has surprised us all with the news that the MCU’s first ever TV show based around the webslinger is on its way in 2024. And it goes by the name of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Although we haven’t heard this title before, the project itself is one you should be familiar with, as it used to be called Spider-Man: Freshman Year.

That show earned a fair bit of buzz when it was first announced in fall 2021, as it was pitched as a Captain America: Civil War prequel revealing the secret origins of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Unfortunately, its creative development has changed since then and now the series is believed to take place in an alternate reality. What’s more, Holland won’t reprise his role. Voice actor Hudson Thames (who already plays Peter in What If…?) will take up the part.

So when news of the title update and its impending release hit the — forgive me — web, most reactions weren’t necessarily one of excitement but puzzlement.

So, to answer everyone’s question, Your Friendly Neighborhood… You-Know is part of the MCU, in of being part of its multiverse. It’s just that it’s not part of the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. We know because characters who definitely aren’t part of Peter’s life on Earth-616 at this point in time, like Norman and Harry Osborn and Doctor Octopus (played by Hannibal’‘s Hugh Dancy, FYI), will feature in the show.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man it’s called, but we’re still not entirely sure which neighborhood he belongs to.