Summary

• Peter Parker reflects on his hero career, itting that the "Friendly Neighborhood" moniker no longer fits.
• Spider-Man's dialogue suggests he's outgrown the local hero label, now more of a world-class hero.
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2024 Annual #1 highlights Spider-Man's evolving role, emphasizing his cosmic adventures over neighborhood focus.

Warning: Spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man 2024 Annual #1!Over the years, one iconic Spider-Man nickname has become less applicable, as for some time readers have questioned whether the Webslinger still qualifies as a "friendly neighborhood" hero. Now, as Peter Parker reflects on his hero career in the Amazing Spider-Man annual, even he its that his long-time moniker doesn't quite fit.

In Marvel's official preview for The Amazing Spider-Man 2024 Annual #1 – written by Derek Landy, with art by Ron Lim – Peter Parker recognizes that he is a different superhero than he was in his early years. His dialogue makes it clear that Spider-Man has outgrown the "Friendly Neighborhood" moniker, something that fans have suggested for years now.

In a brief monologue before engaging in an encounter with Overtime, Spider-Man talks about how he might not be the same friendly neighborhood masked vigilante that he used to be. Especially not when faced with the harsher realities and trauma of street-level crime.

Spider-Man has been called many different things over the years, including, but not limited to: Spidey, the Webslinger, the Wallcrawler, Web-head, Webs, and of course, "the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man."

Peter Parker's Ready To Retire Spider-Man's "Friendly Neighborhood" Moniker

The Amazing Spider-Man 2024 Annual #1 (Derek Landy, Ron Lim, Don Ho, Israel Silva)

During his monologue in the preview for The Amazing Spider-Man 2024 Annual #1, Spider-Man refers to being the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as "an act," one that he finds difficult to keep up 24/7. Particularly in this instance, where he's not in a mood to be so friendly after watching a man die the day before. Peter Parker's agitation sears with each thought bubble, and even more so in his interaction with Overtime. His lines read very much like a man who is getting increasingly irritated with every step he takes on this day, setting the stage for fireworks.

As a reader, it is easy to see where that irritation comes from. Spider-Man is basically in the prime of his career, having done this for years at this point. A lot has changed since Spider-Man's first appearance, and after being a superhero for decades, crimefighting is a career at this point for him. Not everybody loves going into their job every single day, especially after working it for years, and there will always be some bad days, where a worker isn't going to feel like following the usual script. Spidey is having one of those days.

Spider-Man Has Outgrown The Neighborhood, Into A World-Class Hero

Spidey Is No Longer A Local Vigilante

Even beyond acknowledging that the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" is a front, Spider-Man hasn't been a man of the neighborhood for a long time. New York crimes used to be Spidey's bread and butter, but currently, Spider-Man has more world-spanning, even space-spanning adventures, than he does in his local NYC neighborhood anymore. That might be true of most comic book superheroes, but the incongruity stands.

After so many decades serving among or alongside the Avengers, Spider-Man is more of a cosmic hero than a neighborhood hero nowadays, so the neighborhood moniker isn't accurate for that reason alone. And one could argue that if Peter Parker were still focused solely on small crimes, the peoiple of the Marvel Universe would be much, much worse off because of it. But this comment from Spidey does raise one inriguing question fans will be forced to ask...

Did Spider-Man Earn His 'Friendly' Nickname To Begin With?

In a world filled with the likes of Captain America, Thor Odinson, Kamala Khan, The Thing, Ant-Man, and dozens of other icons beloved for their integrity, kindness, and warmth, one must ask why Peter Parker is given the "friendly" honorific. In his first comic appearance, Peter's role as wish fulfilment for the bullied or bookish led to more than a little simmering resentment, and overt pleasure in payback. In more recent years, Marvel's own clarification that Spider-Man was the 'villain' of the Venom symbiote story cast further doubts on the image of Spider-Man as a stalwart scion of 'friendliness.'

As evidence, we would also introduce the famous (infamous) scene in Web of Spider-Man #11 (1985) by Danny Fingeroth, Bill Mantlo, and Bob McLeod, in which Flash Thompson makes his case that while known to the world as "Peter Parker's bully," he never actually builled Peter at all. There will always be debate over the merits of Flash's argument (including that carried out by later writers in the pages of Marvel Comics itself), but the question deserves attention. Flash's argument that Peter "brought it on himself" is clearly flawed, but also not without evidence to the idea (or, at the very least, that Peter took an active role in his feud with Flash over the years).

While the first utterance of "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" occurs in Amazing Spider-Man #17 (1963), the turn of phrase had gained in use throughout America, as large business franchisees and chains used the wording to convey a sense of community to consumers. Half a century later, and the term "friendly neighborhood" is used almost exclusively to refer to Marvel's Spider-Man.

Spider-Man's Codename & Slogan Aren't The Only Ones Being Questioned

In questioning whether the nostalgic, romantic ideology out of which his character was created, Spider-Man finds himself in good company of late. Arguably the one other superhero with nicknames, slogans, and catchphrases as iconic and world famous as Spidey, DC's Superman has also put his history under review in recent years. Not only questioning whether an alien safeguarding the world should tout Superman's iconic "leaping" slogan makes zero sense.

The jury is still out on how long these changes will last (Superman's "American Way" motto has returned to comics since). But it proves no hero, not even the mascots of their entire juggernaut publishers, are exempt from discussions about what it means to 'modernize' an icon after a century in pop culture. Even if Spider-Man is allowed to be less-than friendly, and patrol a 'neighborhood' the size of a planet.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2024 Annual #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.