Spider-Man has been swinging through pop culture for decades, but not every landing has been a perfect three-point pose. “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” is the latest Disney+ take on the webhead. It has the potential to be a light-hearted, fun take on the iconic hero, but unfortunately, gets tangled in its own messy storytelling web. In the first two episodes, the show seems to be caught between trying to stay true to the Spider-Man traditional narrative and taking creative risks, but the finished product doesn’t quite stick the landing.

Let’s start with the elephant-sized spider in the room: Peter Parker’s origin story. Instead of sticking to the tried-and-true radioactive spider bite that fans know by heart, we’re introduced to him via a chaotic fight scene at Midtown High where a portal opens and a symbiote creature battles Doctor Strange. It’s definitely a bold choice, but feels unnecessarily complicated. The introduction of a symbiote before Peter even becomes Spider-Man just robs the show of that iconic moment of tension. And when the spider finally bites Peter, it feels almost like an afterthought. The whole “it just happened to be there” vibe takes away from the magic of Peter’s origin.

Then we get a six-month time jump and suddenly, Peter is already Spider-Man. While I get that we’ve seen his origin a thousand times, the lack of context is a bit jarring. We don’t know why Peter decided to be Spider-Man in the first place—there’s no tragic catalyst like Uncle Ben’s death, and the iconic “With great power comes great responsibility” line is noticeably missing. In fact, Uncle Ben is already gone, but we never find out what happened. The show has no emotional depth to make us understand Peter’s motivations, so he ends up feeling like just another hero in a crowded field. It’s hard to care about a character when you don’t really know why he’s doing what he’s doing. Not to mention, watching Peter discover and learn his new powers is one of my favorite scenes in any adaptation. The lunch tray catch for Toby Maguire, the basketball scene for Andrew Garfield, and especially Mile Morales’ awkward school run all capture the “Why is this happening?” panic of growing into Spider-Man. So, the decision to leave this part of the journey out was a disappointment.

Another major change they threw in appears as a twist: Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin himself, offers Peter a job. Yep, instead of throwing pumpkin bombs at Spidey, he’s throwing internships. In almost an exact parallel to Tony’s appearance in “Captain America: Civil War,” Osborn appears in Peter’s apartment to offer him an internship with a group of other young scientists, and it just… doesn’t add up. I get that Peter’s a genius (that’s nothing new), but the sudden leap from high school student to intern for one of the richest men in the world is a bit hard to swallow, especially without any real build-up or explanation. Peter didn’t apply and didn’t win any major contest—it just happened to be that Osborn was looking through random high school transcripts and was impressed by Peter’s grades. At least Tony Stark had a motive to recruit Peter—he knew he was Spider-Man! Only later on does Osborn discover Spider-Man’s identity after Peter, for some reason, fails to check for cameras while changing into his suit. I get that he’s supposed to be a rookie, but that was a little too careless for me.

As for the visual quality of the show itself, the animation is fine, but it doesn’t quite match the energy or style of other recent animated superhero productions like “Into the Spider-Verse” or “X-Men ‘97.” These films manage to capture what makes these characters special while also bringing something new to the table. “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” on the other hand, feels like it’s retreading old ground without much to say. It tries a little too hard to be fun and quirky, but doesn’t really find its own voice. The show has potential to be an exciting new addition to the Spider-Man franchise, but it’s overshadowed by missed opportunities and pacing issues.

So, is “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” a total flop? Not exactly. It’s entertaining enough for a casual watch, and the animation isn’t terrible. But right now, it’s less “Spectacular Spider-Man” and more “Spider-Man: Just Kinda There.” If the show wants to really thwip into action, it needs to weave a tighter web of storytelling before it completely unravels. Otherwise, it’ll just be another Spidey adaptation that flails around before taking a great fall—like Gwen Stacy, but with less emotional impact.