Season’s Thoughts

Well, we certainly have a lot to unpack in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s “Hero or Menace.” Will Lonnie embrace his life of crime after seemingly taking over the 110? Will Spider-Man’s DNA be used against him? Highly likely. Let’s swing into “Hero or Menace.”

Who knew Big Donovan was such a coward? He seemed fine with taking other people’s lives in one way or another but, when it came to his own, he turned tail and ran. I thought this was done rather well since you never know how somebody’s going to behave when their life is in jeopardy. I’m not sure if Lonnie will become an anti-hero or a straight up villain. I’m leaning toward anti-hero, but that could change.

Nico and Peter making up was a sweet moment. I hope we get to see some spellcasting in the coming episodes from Nico. I feel like she’d fit right in with Spider-Man’s crime fighting. The pacing for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been consistent, so we may see more of a focus on Nico in Season 2.

Norman visiting Otto in jail to gloat was gold. I know their feud is serious and is affecting people’s lives, but this encounter was comedic for me. I’m anticipated full-on Green Goblin in “If This Be My Destiny…” That sinister cackle Norman gave at the end of “Hero or Menace” is very telling.

Skye’s Take

Alright! We have solid action, relatable characters, big-name villains, and a compelling story. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is coming along well. By this point, the animation has grown on me. That and the frequent build-up for future villains.

In the case of “Hero or Menace,” I was mostly surprised with how Lonnie’s character progressed. At this point, it’s nice to see that he still has enough morality in him to help Spider-Man take down Gargan. However, I’m in no way holding my breath that it’ll stay this way. I’m actually hoping that Lonnie will become full-fledged Tombstone because that would create more complexity for his and Peter’s relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I’ll still cry when that happens. If you can’t tell, Lonnie’s still my favorite.

That aside, there were a couple standard things in this episode. Not bad necessarily, just standard. They showed Peter and Nico make-up and Spider-Man almost killing Gargan. I think the Peter/Nico thing made sense and fit well in the show. At the same time, it’s a standard friend breakup you know isn’t going to last. Peter and Nico are still cute, but it’s a commonly used trope.

Then there’s the Spider-Man/Gargan battle. I have few issues with this fight. It’s well laid out, tense, and gets you invested in the action. The only thing that’s standard about it is how it ends. Spider-Man has the opportunity to kill Gargan, but Lonnie talks him out of it. While this ties into the struggles we’ve seen Peter go through in previous episodes, the “what it means to be a hero” trope has been done, especially with Spider-Man.

In fairness, this episode got me excited. After seeing it, I can’t wait to dive into the next episode. Stick around and see our review drop at 11:00am.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 9 and 10’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).