TV Review: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - Sans Sony

 

As great and beloved as the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies are, there have been trials for Marvel to pull them off. They've had to play ball with Sony due to the character's film rights situation, and their partnership almost blew up before "No Way Home". This has lead to a common criticism that they shoehorn in more MCU references and characters compared to other characters' solo movies and pull away focus for a Spidey film. It does make one wonder how Marvel would have handled Spider-Man in the MCU without Sony in the mix. Which brings us to "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man"

Initially envisioned as a prequel to his debut in "Civil War", the web-slinger's Disney+ show takes place in an alternate timeline of the MCU where Peter finds himself being mentored by Norman Osborn rather than Tony Stark. Spidey already has a long history of animated series, and "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" is a welcome addition to that legacy.

For an experiment in reapproaching Spider-Man's introduction to the MCU, the results are successful. While there are MCU character guest appearances, the series focuses strictly on the Spider-Man mythos. It's just so interesting to see how things could have gone and what could be hints of things to come for Peter in the Sacred Timeline. This show also gives Marvel the chance to do things with Spidey either too small to explore in the movies or deliver things that may or may not come to pass. I mean, episode six gives us the closest thing yet to a Spidey and Daredevil meet-up. Plus, the Scorpion set-up from "Homecoming" feels like such a missed opportunity now after seeing how he was utilized here.

Aside from Aunt May, Peter has a totally different supporting cast compared to the movies. I feel this is due to a combination of trying to be different from the movies and possible rights and likeness issues with Sony, with Peter, May, and Gargan bearing resemblance to their live action counterparts. Despite the absence of Ned and MJ, the series still delivers a strong supporting cast. In this universe, Peter's best friend is Nico Minoru of "Runaways" fame. I love the chemistry they have here, and it makes me miss actress Lyrica Okano's presence in the MCU (bring her back, Feige!). There's also a surprise choice in making Lonnie Lincoln a friend of Peter's, but this leads to a compelling origin story for his turn into Tombstone.

Style wise, the show's animation is similar to the MTV CGI series and the Ultimate Spider-Man video game while applying the 60's Ditko and Romita aesthetic in a modern-day setting. It worked for me immediately, but it may take some getting used to for others. We also get the first full-on theme song for a Spider-Man series since "Spectacular", something sorely missed from the Ultimate and 2017 series. It's a real banger and made me realize that each Spider-Man theme song, also including the '67 and '94 shows, are reflective of their era.

I still believe "Spectacular" is the character's best series, but "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" is the heir apparent. It delivers a comparable coming of age story for Peter as he moves through his high school and superhero lives. "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" has the chance to reach the heights "Spectacular" aspired to before its early cancellation. With so much set up for the future in the season finale (including one shocking revelation no one will see coming), you'll be left eagerly waiting for the series' return.

Movie Review: "Captain America: Brave New World" - Phase One Callback

 

He was bestowed the shield in 2019. He accepted the mantle in 2021. Now in 2025, we finally get to see Sam Wilson take the lead in a Captain America movie. To quote Hope Van Dyne, "it's about damn time." But was "Captain America: Brave New World" worth such a long wait? I'd like to think so.

"Brave New World" brings us back to the political thriller genre that was prevalent in "The Winter Soldier" film and the "Falcon and Winter Soldier" series that preceded this film. What also gives the film some charm is how it seems to take Marvel back to their roots by going for a more grounded approach similar to the Phase One and Two era. This is mostly seen with the film's villains like the Serpent Society and main antagonist the Leader, foregoing outlandish costumes for a simple aesthetic.

As he has for over a decade now, Anthony Mackie continues to kill it as Sam Wilson. Picking up approximately a year after "Falcon and Winter Soldier", we find Sam settling into the Captain America role as the events of the film brings his first real test of mettle. Some may see this as retreading ground from the series, but while that was more about accepting Steve's choice in passing the shield, what Sam experiences in this film is living up to the ideals of Captain America and dealing with the pressures that come with it.

With the passing of William Hurt in 2022, the role of Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is taken over by sci-fi legend Harrison Ford. Ford not only makes his own mark as the character but the way he's depicted makes sense for where his journey has brought him. He's an 80-year-old man who's been dealing with superhero crap over two decades and just elected president; the years have worn on him and things aren't getting easier. This eventually boils over into his transformation into the Red Hulk, leading to a good old-fashioned gamma induced rampage not seen since "Age of Ultron". One can also see parallels to real world politics which at the time of production were probably intended to be allegorical but now sadly just feels like wishful thinking.

As I mentioned the Leader before, we see the return of Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, finally paying off a 17-year-old set-up from "The Incredible Hulk". Incarcerated since his last appearance, Sterns is much more cold and calculating, with his gamma powered mind making him a formidable threat. I found Nelson's performance comparable to the Leader's appearance in the "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" animated series where he was voiced by Jeffery Combs. I only wish they kept his involvement secret so his appearance would have been a big reveal like the HYDRA twist in "Winter Soldier."

Critically wise, I'm seeing the reception to "Brave New World" comparable to "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" where it's on the lower side of the MCU. Much like "Quantumania", I don't think the hate is deserved. I mean, I will give way to the idea that this could have also worked as a Hulk movie given some of the prominent characters involved. And if I had one personal criticism, it's the fight choreography. When there's special effects involved, things flow pretty well. But when it's straight up hand to hand combat, it feels way more stilted when you compare them to the fight scenes from the Russo Brothers' Captain America films.

While it's no game changer like "Winter Soldier", "Captain America: Brave New World" is an entertaining film that cements Sam's position moving forward in the MCU as we prepare for the Avengers to reassemble next year.

Retro Re-Review: Power Rangers SPD

POWER RANGERS SPD (2005)

Adapted from Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger

Disney Era

The Power Rangers franchise is a bit in flux at the moment. Since talking about the final seasons with Dino Fury last year, the Netflix plans fell through and the potential reboot has been moved over to Paramount. But with it being 2025, I thought we'd take another look at a season I covered way back when I ranked them all up to Megaforce at that point.
While airing in 2005, Power Rangers SPD took place twenty years in the future. I posited the question on forums back then what the franchise would do if they reached 2025, and we were two years shy of finding out. But given we're in the year of SPD, it being its 20th anniversary, and it's chronologically the final season, I thought it'd be fun to give it another look. Besides the fact I haven't watched the season since its DVD release, it'd be interesting to see how well the series holds up on its own merits, how it fits with the established Power Rangers canon, and how its 2025 compares to our own. (Click the highlighted portion at the beginning of the paragraph for my original look back at the series.)

Within the now concluded main Power Rangers canon, SPD still fits in pretty well. It also helps that Beast Morphers and Dino Fury included some subtle references that help build up the setting for this season off-screen. If there are any inconsistencies that arise, it's within SPD's season itself, particularly when it comes to character backstories. The biggest hiccup to me is if each of the Ranger's parents secretly worked for SPD before they were born, why did Jack, Z, and Sam grow up on the streets unlike the others, especially if tabs were kept on all of them? Jack didn't even know his own birthday but referenced his parents were missionaries. Some things don't add up.

So how does the 2025 of SPD where aliens and earthlings reside together compare to the real world? Oh Power Rangers, you had such high expectations of us. We're still very far away from a world where humans live in peace and accept each other's differences, let alone live with aliens.
I feel like the team's police motif could be seen as controversial today. Modern perception of police is fractured to say the least given issues such as excessive force and profiling. The fact that SPD deals with alien-related crimes (even smaller ones compared to world domination like carjacking and bank robbery) doesn't help, especially when they're a government based public organization and not top secret like Men in Black. Funny enough though, Disney was kind of ahead of things because they had to tone down the violence while adapting Dekaranger. This included editing out bullets and creating the containment card system; otherwise, we'd be seeing our police officer protagonists killing every single criminal.
On the flipside though, SPD is full of instances of characters recognizing their biases and privileges, which in my opinion makes the series even more relevant than it was at its release. Character growth is a big part of the season not just for our main protagonists, but those associated with SPD that broke bad. It showcases the choice we all have to be the best or worst version of ourselves.

Back when I was ranking the seasons, I tried to give my overall thoughts on each one and rather than a deep dive focus like I did from Dino Charge to Dino Fury. But now that I'm giving SPD that treatment, I can talk about the two separate Dino Thunder team-up episodes.
The first episode entitled "History" shows Connor, Ethan, and Kira being transported from their high school reunion to the future via their Dino Gems by Broodwing, wanting to recruit them for his own plans in world domination. Why he thought he could persuade heroic figures from the past is anyone's guess. The three escape and encounter the SPD Rangers, eventually being given their old morphers from the SPD archives to assist in a fight with Grumm, Morgana, and an overwhelming number of Troobian foot soldiers before being sent back to the past with their memories erased. It was a pretty satisfying team-up, catching up with the core Dino Thunder Rangers and seeing them experience a future world and interacting with the current season's Rangers.
Another team-up entitled "Wormhole" sees Grumm traveling through a temporal wormhole back to 2004 where he hopes to conquer Earth without SPD's resistance. The SPD Rangers give chase, meet up with the Dino Thunder Rangers and together repel Grumm back to the future. "Wormhole" is a more traditional team-up that had come to be expected from the franchise up to this point, including the full rosters of each team and showcasing the Reds' battlizers. In that respect, I do prefer this over "History". But from a story standpoint, "Wormhole" feels out of place in more ways than one. Not only did this episode not air until the interim time between SPD's finale and Mystic Force's premiere, but the episode is placed directly after "History" on both the DVD release and how it's listed currently on Tubi where it simply doesn't fit. The only place this episode can happen is before the final three, and even then, there's a glaring continuity problem with Mora. By this point, Mora had been transformed back from Morgana and become fully corrupted by Omni, abandoning her more childish tendencies in the process, but they're still present in "Wormhole."

Besides these additional thoughts, my overall feelings toward Power Rangers SPD haven't changed since my season rankings. It's still a great season that cracks my top ten and giving it a rewatch for this occasion was a nice nostalgia trip. It holds up well and fans of the franchise should take a trip back to Newtech City this year to celebrate 20 years of SPD.

My Rankings of Power Rangers Seasons:
21. Megaforce
20. Operation Overdrive
19. Turbo
18. Samurai
17. Ninja Storm
16. Wild Force
15. Beast Morphers
14. Ninja Steel
13. Dino Charge
12. Zeo
11. Dino Fury
10. SPD
9. Lightspeed Rescue
8. Mystic Force
7. Lost Galaxy
6. Jungle Fury
5. Dino Thunder
4. Mighty Morphin'
3. In Space
2. Time Force
1. RPM