In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, fans are seeing a fresh new take on the wall-crawler. Hudson Thames’ Peter Parker is looking to clean up crime in New York City after being bitten by a spider from another dimension. Clearly, it’s not the same story Marvel told in the Sony films or the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The show has already started subverting villains as well, as seen with Lonnie Lincoln. He isn’t Tombstone yet, but he is a friend of Peter’s who loves football and science. Interestingly, as the first two episodes air, fans also get to witness another big change. This arc reimagines the iconic Spider-Man villain, the Lizard, in an arc that could make the character integral to people other than Peter.

Who Is Marvel’s Sinister Lizard?

Dr. Curt Connors Helped Peter Before Becoming a Monster

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Many comics and other media focused on the arc where Dr. Curt Connors taught Peter. He adored the boy’s high-school mind, but things grew dark when he experimented on himself to grow back his missing limb. Curt would become the Lizard. There were two personalities, similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Lizard was ruthless and wanted death and destruction. Even when Curt gained control, his family considered him a pariah. This broke him, as he wanted to be seen as a hero by his wife and son.

Curt Connors Comic Details

Tragedy would befall Connors’ family as well. Martha died while Billy was transformed into a Lizard, but Spider-Man always tried to help Curt, regardless. The doctor helped him with Aunt May’s illness in the past, so Peter showed compassiony and hope. He knew there was a good man inside battling to break free of his reptilian side. Unfortunately, Curt’s evil side killed Billy, which left him in a depression. Since then, Curt and his family had their own Clone Saga, which has fans eager to see if his psyche will be cured down the line, or if he’ll let his dark side keep controlling him.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Changes Curt Connors

Dr. Carla Connors Is a Black Woman Teaching Peter At Oscorp

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In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episode 2, Peter starts an internship at Oscorp. Colman Domingo’s Norman Osborn loves the genius that the boy is, so he offers to test his brain with this job. Peter wants to go into robotics, as he adores Tony Stark. But he gets placed in the energy department, where Dr. Carla Connors is the lead. She will be mentoring him to craft his future as a scientist.

Just like in the source material, Carla only has one-hand, confirming she is this world’s version of Curt. She doesn’t speak much about biochemistry or animal DNA, so it’s uncertain if she’ll go that route of becoming the Lizard. However, her role so far is very important. Peter’s other teacher, Bentley Wittman, doesn’t like him, while some of his colleagues, like Amadeus Cho, don’t think he’s worthy. The showrunner, Jeff Trammell, sets Carla up to be that parent on the job.

Peter lost Uncle Ben, and while he has Aunt May, she won’t be around as much as he takes on the internship. Carla will fill that gap. As a Black woman working with the white, toxic Bentley, she can show Peter what it means to stand up to authority. This augurs well for Peter and his diverse group of friends, including Nico Minoru (an Asian) and Lonnie (a young Black athlete). They’d all be inspired by how Carla gets things done and the wisdom she has to impart. It removes the solely personal connection that always belongs to Peter and teases her making a bigger impact on everyone.

Lonnie is a smart kid living in a bad part of the Big Apple, for example, so Carla can help mentor him, too. Nico would just like her for being that cool, unflinching teacher who cares. Carla feels relatable and human, even if she doesn’t mutate. If she does, Peter will have help from the science squad, the inventions at work, and most of all, his crew at school. This ultimately adds a bit more nuance and diversity to the Connors character, while subverting the crux of the latter’s journey: family.

The first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are now streaming on Disney+. New episodes debut on Wednesdays.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Release Date

January 29, 2025

Network

Disney+

Writers

Jeff Trammell

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  Hudson Thames

  Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voice)

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  Colman Domingo

  Norman Osborn (voice)

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