We made it! The big finale day for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is here, and two very action-packed and exciting episodes have been released. The latest Disney Plus Marvel show has taken the world by storm thanks to its stellar writing and amazing world-building.
Fortunately, the ninth episode only takes things a step further by featuring a final confrontation between the wall-crawler and his biggest archnemesis to date: The Scorpion.
*** This article contains SPOILERS from Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 9. ***
The Scorpion makes a big play
Back during episode 8 of the series, Norman gave away Otto Octavious' whereabouts to General Thaddeus Ross. A SWAT team, along with Iron Man himself, were quick to arrive at the location and apprehend the mad scientist before handing him over to the police. Well, episode 9 kicks things off where that story was left off as Norman visits his old friend at jail. The owner of Oscorp Industries brags about how good the business has been ever since Otto left the company. Now, they're even branching into other areas such as "space exploration" (which is a very important detail going into the finale).
Norman also revealed that he made a deal with Ross not only to put Otto behind bars but also to keep all of his confiscated tech. Otto retaliates and claims everything Osborn ever does is hide in the shadows and benefit from other people's work. Then, the mad scientist starts to hit the glass separating them and claims he's going to "get Norman" for this before being taken away by the police.
While that confrontation took place, the police were confiscating every schematic and piece of tech found in Otto's hideout across town. Unfortunately, they're not alone as the few remaining members of the Tenth Street Gang watch from a distance how the weapons that could help them bring Mac Gargan and The Scorpion Gang down are taken away. Lonnie tries to convince the gang's leader, Big Donovan, that getting into a confrontation with the police to steal the weapons is not a great idea. However, the suggestion gets ignored and once an Oscorp truck is fully loaded with everything found inside Otto's lab, they attack.
A big chase sequence takes place, as members of the Tenth Street Gang continuously attempt to crash into the truck. Eventually, they succeed and manage to get it off the road. The Tenth Street Gang was just a few moments away from finally getting their hands on the loot just when Spider-Man arrived at the scene and started webbing them up to turn them in to the police. The hero is as quippy as ever, but he suddenly slows down as he sees his ex-classmate, Lonnie, among the gang's ranks. During this brief moment of hesitation yet another big player enters the scene. The Scorpion Gang arrives — along with Mac Gargan who's equipped with his mechanical suit — to finish what they started.
A big confrontation between gangs takes place, and The Scorpion is quick to take Big Donovan down. With the cards stacked against him, Big Don says he'll quit and give up his territory. However, the supervillain won't let his prey go away so easily. Just as Mac Gargan is about to give the finishing blow, Spidey swings into the scene and saves the day (as he usually does). In the middle of the chaos, Donovan sees a golden opportunity to spare his life and decides to flee the scene. Seeing as the few remaining members of the Tenth Street Gang just lost their leader, Lonnie takes the reins and gets inside the Oscorp truck containing all of Otto's tech.
While looking for a weapon to use to his advantage, Lonnie accidentally cracks open a container filled with gas called "Diox-3". As soon as "Tombstone" inhales some of this gas, he finally gains the powers we all knew he would, including enhanced durability and strength. Back in the street, things are looking very grim as the wall-crawler attempts his best to put up a fight with The Scorpion but slowly gets bested. Just in the nick of time, Lonnie steps out of the vehicle and decides to face Mac Gargan. Much to everyone's surprise, the supervillain's mechanical stinger gets broken when trying to stab Tombstone's impenetrable skin. As simple as that, the battlefield is leveled once again.
Will Spider-Man do the unthinkable?
Spidey and Tombstone join forces to put up a fight against Mac Gargan in a very awesome fight sequence. Eventually, the duo finally knocks The Scorpion down, and it seems like victory is finally within their grasp. However, during a brief moment of distraction, the supervillain cuts a rope holding a bunch of steel beams lifted in a crane right above Lonnie. The ex-football superstar is quickly buried below the beams, seemingly ending him for good — an act that completely breaks Spider-Man's spirit.
In a moment of rage, the hero remembers the words that Norman Osborn told him: "With great power, comes great respect". Determined not to hold back as his mentor told him, he starts beating The Scorpion up with all of his strength. The wall-crawler goes as far as almost stabbing the supervillain with his own mechanical tail. However, before Peter is able to cross the line, Tombstone steps in and tells him to recapitate. Spider-Man is a hero, after all — one that people look up to and who shouldn't be taking away any life. These words work, and Spidey simply webs the villain up so that the police can take the situation from there. But before the cops arrive at the scene, Tombstone and the friendly neighborhood hero share an emotional goodbye and go their separate ways.
Back in an alleyway near the scene, Peter and Nico Minoru finally meet. The former starts to apologize for not sharing his secret with her sooner, but the former also says she's sorry as well for giving him the cold shoulder. At long last, the two become friends again with no secrets this time around... or so it would seem, as Nico has a few special abilities herself that she hasn't told anyone about (but more on that in the finale!).
Back at Oscorp Industries, Norman gathers a special team made up of the heads from every department. Doctor Witman then reveals that the internship program is going along really well and that the intern's projects will finally be completed soon. Not only that, but he also revealed that tests to replicate Spider-Man's DNA structure are going "really well". The camera then pans to a blue spider being injected with blood. And just in case you're wondering: Yes, this is the exact same spider that bit Peter back in episode 1 of the series. So what is really going on here? Well, there's only one way to find out.
All episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are streaming on Disney Plus.