Warning: This article contains spoilers for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 1, "Amazing Fantasy."

Marvel's new animated new Spider-Man origin story to be told, which I was surprised to see include a notable Spider-Man villain.

Peter Parker seen in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. I loved seeing Peter Parker meet the likes of Carla Connors, Lonnie Lincoln, Nico Minoru and more in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's first two episodes, but I would have rather seen Tom Holland's Spider-Man meet one new character first.

Peter Parker Already Took On A Symbiote In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's Symbiote Is Key To Peter Parker's New Origin Story

While I would have loved to see the origin story of Tom Holland's Spider-Man finally explored in the MCU, as Civil War and 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming skipped over it, I was thrilled to finally see one version of this origin story brought to the screen in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. In this alternate reality, Peter Parker is ready to attend his first day at Midtown High School, but is interrupted by Doctor Strange coming through a portal while fighting a Symbiotic alien creature. Through this same portal comes the spider that fatefully bites Parker, beginning his adventure as Spider-Man.

The fact that this origin story is so different to the original version from Marvel Comics or the modernized interpretation from 2002's Spider-Man and 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man makes me question why Marvel Studios couldn't show us the origin story of Tom Holland's Spider-Man. This could have also introduced some exciting Spider-Man-related characters, such as the Symbiotes, to the MCU, which would have solved a major problem I have with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's origin story. The new Peter Parker has already battled a Venom-like being while Holland's Spider-Man hasn't been given this opportunity.

After 9 Years, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man STILL Hasn’t Battled Venom In The MCU

Tom Holland's Spider-Man Debuted In The MCU In 2016's Captain America: Civil War

I loved seeing a Symbiote finally appear in the MCU, but I would have preferred it if Tom Holland's Spider-Man had been the one facing it. Holland has been in the MCU for nine years now, and has become one of the franchise's central heroes, but he still hasn't come face-to-face with one of his best enemies. This is even despite the fact that Tom Hardy has been portraying Eddie Brock's Venom in Sony's Spider-Man Universe simultaneously with Tom Holland playing Spider-Man, and we even saw Eddie Brock briefly appear in the MCU's Earth-616 in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Venom was one of the multiversal villains pulled into the MCU's main continuity by Doctor Strange's original botched spell in No Way Home, but he was quickly sent back home in the mid-credits scene without ever battling Holland's wall-crawler. I consider this a massive wasted opportunity, and I'm still waiting for Marvel to do something with the piece of the Venom Symbiote being left in the Mexican bar. It's now been three years since No Way Home, and there's still no sign of Venom in the MCU, allowing Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man to do it first.

How Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s Symbiote Could Be Important To The Series

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's Symbiote Could Be Connected To Peter Parker's Spider

Currently, we don't know anything about the spider that bit Peter Parker in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, other than the fact that it came through the same portal as the Symbiote creature. Since the spider survived, I reckon episodes will explore its origin and what impact it will have on Peter Parker's story, and I think this might connect to the Symbiote itself, perhaps revealing that the spider and the Symbiote come from the same dimension. This would give Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's Peter Parker a direct connection to Venom.

I'm glad to see a version of Spider-Man finally meeting Venom and perhaps establishing a clear connection between the Symbiote and his heroic nemesis, especially after Sony's Spider-Man Universe skirted round the fact for six years. This decision ultimately led to the demise of the SSU, but I'm surprised that not even Tom Holland's Spider-Man has yet battled Venom, let alone established a connection between the Symbiotes and his origin story. I'm surprised Marvel Studios has already given its newest Spider-Man more substance than Tom Holland's wall-crawler, but the MCU can soon rectify this.

When Could Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Finally Fight Venom?

Spider-Man & Venom Could Still Fight In The MCU

Since Marvel Studios already teased the existence of Venom in the MCU back in Spider-Man: No Way Home's mid-credits scene, the Symbiote can soon appear alongside Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Tom Hardy's version of Venom sacrificed himself to save Eddie Brock in Venom: The Last Dance, which means the MCU's own version of Venom can become the primary iteration of Venom in live-action. Venom might have spent the last three years rebuilding his entire body, since only a piece of him remained in the MCU, so I think he's primed to reemerge very soon.

Tom Holland is billed to appear in a number of MCU projects, which presents a number of opportunities for his Spider-Man to battle Venom. Most notably, Venom may have a large role in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, in which Spider-Man is expected to feature prominently. Venom would also make the perfect villain for Destin Daniel Cretton's Spider-Man 4, which will release in 2026. After Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, I'm desperate to see Tom Holland's Spider-Man take on Venom, and I'd prefer it to happen sooner rather than later.

MCU Movies

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  Captain America: Brave New World

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  Thunderbolts*

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

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  Avengers: Doomsday (2026)

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  Spider-Man: Brand New Day

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

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