As established in Spidey’s first appearance in 1962’s Amazing Fantasy #15, drawn by Steve Ditko and written by Stan Lee, Peter Parker is a good-hearted and bookish kid raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Pete’s spindly stature makes him an object of abuse for bullies and an object of sympathy instead of admiration for girls. That is, until a radioactive spider bites Pete and gives him the ability to whatever a spider can.
The power goes right to Pete’s head and he promptly starts making money as a wrestler, putting his desires before the needs of anyone else. But when Pete refuses to stop a burglar, insisting that he now only looks out for “number one,” and that burglar kills Uncle Ben, he learns an important lesson about great power and great responsibility.
The MCU version of Spider-Man doesn’t ignore that origin, but it does go in a slightly different direction. Peter already has powers when he arrives in the MCU, in the form of Tom Holland, and Ben Parker has already been so long dead that no one even mentions him. Instead, it’s Tony Stark who becomes Peter’s mentor, giving Spider-Man access to billionaire technology while trying to teach him about responsibility.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man makes references to both origins, but takes them in very different directions.
The Birth of a Moral Conscience
Early in the first episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter realizes that he’s late for school, so he pulls up his backpack for something to give him an edge. Yet all he finds is a sandwich, not the costume and web-shooters we were expecting.
That’s because Peter doesn’t yet have his powers, which is a bit of a surprise to long-time fans. After all, as Aunt May drives him to school, Peter makes reference to “everything that’s happened with Ben,” that is, his death.