What an incredible journey Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been. The latest Disney Plus show shattered expectations by creating a memorable tale filled with no shortage of iconic characters while perfectly portraying who Spider-Man is supposed to be.
However, all good things must come to an end, and that's what we're here to discuss today. The big season 1 finale is finally here for everyone to watch, and it's packed with big action sequences, mind-blowing plot twists, and a lot of moments that remind us why Spidey is one of the most beloved superheroes ever created.
*** This article contains SPOILERS from Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 10. ***
The symbiotes are here
The last episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's first season kicks things off as any normal Spider-Man story would: With Peter being extremely late. See, the superpowered teenager was supposed to be at school to present a project along with her classmate, Pearl Pangan, but instead, he's stopping a car robbery in a different part of town. The wall-crawler's best friend, Nico Minoru, does her best to stall the professor and even offers to present her project first in the hopes of buying a bit more time. Fortunately, Peter finally catches the bad guys and arrives at school just in the nick of time to do his presentation. There's just one big problem: The diorama he was supposed to bring to class was completely destroyed due to the superhero mayhem. But just when everything seems lost, Peter and Pearl's team partner gives an amazing presentation that secures the three of them an A-.
Back at Oscorp Industries, Norman finally decides to show up at the Internship program and reveals that all of the intern's projects were building towards the same goal. He then escorts the whole team to a testing lab where Project Monolith is finally unveiled — a gateway to any point in outer space. Peter's magnetic generator powers a "mechanical frame capable of suspending an Einstein-Rosen bridge" built by Amadeus Cho. Furthermore, Jeanne's quantum tunneling algorithms make the device work while Asha's star maps are able to pinpoint a location in space in which the portal will be opened. In conjunction, all four interns achieved history in space exploration (assuming the Fantastic Four don't exist in this universe, that is). However, not everyone thinks this is a safe idea.
Just when Norman is about to power the device up, a familiar face shows up to stop the whole thing. Doctor Strange appears through a portal and asks Norman to give up on the experiment altogether in order to spare Earth from the "unimaginable horrors" that lie in the vastness of the cosmos. Peter immediately recognizes the Sorcerer Supreme from the Midtown High incident that gave him his powers back in episode 1. Strangely enough (pun intended), Strange doesn't have a recollection of that event ever taking place. Before the group is able to make sense of the situation, Norman orders security to attack the sorcerer and opens the portal to a seemingly "empty" area in space.
For a brief moment, everything works as intended and the device opens up a portal to an "inoffensive" part of the cosmos. However, just as Norman is celebrating this big milestone, an intruder makes itself known. Remember the symbiote we saw wreak havoc back in episode 1? Well, it comes through the portal and into the Oscorp Lab, scaring everyone along the way. Guards and scientists quickly flee the scene, while Peter takes advantage of all the chaos and suits up as Spider-Man to swing into action. As Doctor Strange battles the symbiote, the two accidentally damage and shut down the portal which was the alien's only way back home. Furthermore, the wall-crawler is thrown against the wall and into the lab next door, which contains the radioactive spider that Oscorp created back in episode 9. The specimen engineered to replicate Spider-Man's powers escapes from its containment and proceeds to roam through the lab.
Peter Parker and Doctor Strange quickly come up with a plan to stop the threat from outer space. The former attempts to repair the damaged portal and open a gate to space once again to send the intruder home while the latter distracts him. Doctor Strange attempts to use the Eye of Agamotto to his advantage and make his opponent go back in time. However, he mistakenly opens a portal to the past through which he and the symbiote go through. And when did that portal lead them? Well, back to the day of the Midtown High incident where Spidey gained his powers.
As the portal is wide open, the spider specifically designed to replicate the wall-crawler's powers also goes back to the past and bites Peter — an event that would put him on the path to becoming a hero in the future. This is some Christopher Nolan-level narrative right here. A perfect time loop in which the events of the future shape what happened in the past, and vice versa.
Eventually, Spidey is able to repair the device while Strange and the symbiote return to their own timeline. However, once the gateway to outer space is opened again, the two heroes are treated to a horrible sight. If you've ever played Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, chances are you remember the final boss against a giant Venom symbiote with multiple heads coming out of him. Well, a very similar creature is seen here (except with many more heads), attempting to go through the portal and into Earth.
Spidey webs up the smaller symbiote offspring that was at the lab and throws him into the portal to join the other horrible creature. Strange then casts a shield around the portal to prevent any more aliens from coming to Earth while the wall-crawler webs up the whole device and pulls it down — destroying it in the process. At long last, peace is restored and the heroes emerge victorious... or so it would seem. What they didn't know was that a small piece of the symbiote was able to make it through the portal before its destruction, only for Norman Osborn to find it after the dust settled.
The job is not done
Peter and Stephen Strange meet at Midtown High — the place where it all started — and share a few words. The latter regrets time-traveling while fighting with the symbiote, as his actions could've affected the lives of hundreds of students who were eager to start school. However, Spidey comforts him by saying that no one got hurt and that he himself gained his powers that day. Thanks to the time-travel portal, the wall-crawler was able to become a hero in time, and it was all due to Doctor Strange.
Back at Peter's place, Harry says the whole symbiote situation could've been prevented if Norman hadn't manipulated the interns into creating a portal to space. Instead, the group of geniuses should've simply been given free rein to come up with whatever breaking invention they wanted. At that point, Nico says Harry should be the one to create a new company where that dream can become a reality, and that's exactly what he does. As simple as that, W.E.B (Worldwide Engineering Brigade) is born, and the list of potential candidates includes Peter's ex-partners: Amadeus Cho, Asha, and Jeanne. The latter views the email invitation to join the new company and accepts to join only to keep an eye on Harry. At that point, it's revealed that she was working with Daredevil to spy on the Osborns.
While we're on the note of big plot twists, audiences also learn that Lonnie Lincoln is keen on restoring the Tenth Street Gang, Nico Minoru is able to talk to her deceased mother through a ritual, and Otto Octavius is planning on building his iconic mechanical arms on his jail cell. But if all of that wasn't enough, we also see Aunt May going to prison to talk to a shadowy figure who turns out to be Peter's dad: Richard Parker. That's right: He's alive, and that can only mean trouble for the wall-crawler.
Unfortunately, all of these cliffhangers won't be resolved until season 2. On the bright side, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is coming back for two more seasons, which means it's just a matter of time before figuring out how Spidey deals with every new menace in town.
All episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are streaming on Disney Plus.