Development By June 2021,
Marvel Studios Animation was developing a slate of at least three more series in addition to their
Disney+ series
What If...? (2021–2024). The next month, these were said to be in various stages of development and were not expected to debut until at least 2023.
Spider-Man: Freshman Year was announced during a
Disney+ Day event in November 2021, with Jeff Trammell serving as
head writer. Trammell was initially asked to
pitch for ''
X-Men '97 (2024–present) and endeared himself to Marvel Studios for wanting to tell an original story, despite plans for that series to be a revival and continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series'' (1992–1997). Marvel Studios's animation head
Brad Winderbaum and president
Kevin Feige felt Trammell would be good for a
Spider-Man series. He presented a pitch in November 2020, envisioning a four-season
story arc. During Marvel Studios Animation's panel at
San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022,
Spider-Man: Freshman Year and the other projects discussed were referred to as being part of the "Marvel Animated Multiverse". A
second season was announced at the panel with the title
Spider-Man: Sophomore Year. The series was retitled
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by December 2023. In January 2025, Trammell explained that the series was not limited to covering one school year per season. When Marvel Studios decided to change the series' title, Trammell provided a list of options to consider.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was suggested by Feige. Each of the
first season's episode titles are a reference to, or inspired by, comic book titles or elements from the comics. Mel Zwyer served as
supervising director, with Liza Singer and Stu Livingston as episodic directors. Marvel Studios's Feige,
Louis D'Esposito, Winderbaum, and
Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt were executive producers alongside Trammell. Also in January 2025, Winderbaum said a third season had been green-lit, and Trammell was listed as both
showrunner and head writer by
Marvel.com. The next month, Winderbaum said the second season would be released in 2026, more than a year after the first. He said
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and ''X-Men '97'' were the studio's top priorities for "get[ting] to a place where we can reliably have very strong seasons every year", and in October he said future seasons would be released annually "for a number of years".
Writing The series was originally planned to be set within the "
Sacred Timeline" of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), before
Peter Parker / Spider-Man's MCU introduction in the film
Captain America: Civil War (2016), and depict the character's
origin story. Marvel Studios decided not to tell the origin story in the
MCU films because they felt audiences would already know it due to the
Spider-Man films directed by
Sam Raimi (2002–2007) and
Marc Webb (2012–2014). The creative team found working within the Sacred Timeline to be too restrictive regarding which characters and comic book elements could be included, so they decided to move the series to an
alternate timeline, taking advantage of the MCU's
multiverse concept. The story begins similarly to
Civil War but depicts
Norman Osborn becoming Peter's mentor instead of
Tony Stark, which leads to Peter meeting other unexpected characters. Trammell said the series would explore Peter's identity pre-Spider-Man and how his superhero career began. The creative team took inspiration from early
The Amazing Spider-Man comic books by
Stan Lee and
Steve Ditko, as well as previous Spider-Man animated series.
Casting Starring in the first season are
Hudson Thames as
Peter Parker / Spider-Man,
Kari Wahlgren as
May Parker, Grace Song as
Nico Minoru,
Eugene Byrd as
Lonnie Lincoln / Tombstone,
Zeno Robinson as
Harry Osborn,
Colman Domingo as
Norman Osborn,
Hugh Dancy as
Otto Octavius, and
Charlie Cox as
Daredevil.
Animation and design Because Marvel Studios Animation does not have a "house style", the creative team was free to develop an animation style that differed from previous series
What If...? and ''X-Men '97
. They wanted to avoid copying one of the many different animation styles used for the animated Spider-Verse films and settled on paying homage to the early The Amazing Spider-Man'' comic books, specifically those featuring art by Steve Ditko and
John Romita Sr. Trammell described the series as a "moving comic book", which is achieved through 3D
cel-shaded animation provided by
Polygon Pictures and
CGCG, Inc. Polygon was chosen because of the 2D animation look they had achieved in their previous work. Trammell said the company was able to match their desired style while keeping the "characters feeling alive and real, without feeling stiff and mechanical".
Music Leo Birenberg and
Zach Robinson were revealed to be composing the series' score in June 2024. The series' theme song, "Neighbor Like Me" by The Math Club featuring Relaye and Melo Makes Music, is a
rap that samples the
theme song from the animated series
Spider-Man (1967–1970) by
Paul Francis Webster and
Bob Harris. Like the series' animation, Trammell wanted the theme song to be "something classic that we all love" through the use of the 1960s sample, while still having a modern style. The song was released as a single by
Hollywood Records and
Marvel Music on January 21, 2025. A soundtrack album featuring the theme song and excerpts from Birenberg and Robinson's score for the first season was released digitally on February 21. == Release ==