Summary

Hudson Thames embraces the fresh take on Spider-Man, focusing on high school angst and youthful energy.

The series introduces new characters like Nico, Pearl, and Lonnie, adding depth and realism to the storytelling.

Hudson Thames navigates, honoring past Spider-Man interpretations while making the character his own in this standalone animated series.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man delivers a fresh new take on a story we all know like the back of our hands. We’ve seen Peter Parker get bitten by a radioactive spider, but how does he become the legend we know and love? We sat down with Spider-Man voice actor Hudson Thames (Marvel’s What… If?) about what it means to step into such a beloved role and returning to street-level fare.
What It Means to Put on the Mask

MICHAEL THOMAS: First off, thanks so much for taking your time, Hudson. This series is phenomenal, and I loved your performance in this show. Obviously, Spider-Man’s big shoes to fill, a lot of great actors have come before you. What was it like taking on this role?
HUDSON THAMES: Well, hey, thank you! And it’s funny because I had there was like this immediate panic of, I need to go watch all the game tapes and do all the homework and all the research, and then I kind of quickly realized what makes Spider-Man so amazing is it can be anyone. And yeah, the most helpful resource for me was going back and really watching like old skate videos and remembering what it was like to be in high school and the stakes of everything being so high and that youthful spazziness that we know Peter has.
Yeah, that’s one thing I noticed initially because, again, the show is called Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It really feels like we’re going back to the character’s roots, with him being a multiversal figure in his last few on-screen appearances, what was it like kind of going back to basics with Peter? Like you said, with him being in high school and everything again.
THAMES: It was, it was really cool. It felt like a blank slate where, you know, it’s like we’re dealing with issues in 2025, and then there’s really cool easter eggs and stuff coming in from other series, but it’s also kind of a fresh start, which is as an actor, selfishly is really nice to be able to do.
Yeah, I was actually just talking to [showrunner] Jeff Trammell earlier about the approach to this series and how it’s almost MCU adjacent. Did you have any concerns about not feeling too much like Tom Holland’s performance, even though it kind of feels like it plays in that similar world?
THAMES: Totally, I kind of had to, there, there was a period in between What If…? and Spider-Man where, yeah, you know, we had conversations with Marvel, and I was just trying to kind of decide the “what if” character I was kind of walking this line of obviously trying to give honest performances, but also honor what Tom had done and give people what they were expecting and wanting out of that Spider-Man. And so for this, to be able [just be] Hudson felt really nice.
New Characters and Expanding Spider-Man’s World

This series has so many new characters that we don’t typically see in Spider-Man stories, with characters like Nico, Pearl, and Lonnie playing big roles in this show. What was it like having a new fresh spin on the Spider-Man mythos? We have Norman and Harry, but we also have this other set of characters coming in.
THAMES: I thought it was awesome. I mean, my biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke, and it wasn’t, and I was like, yes, this is great, it’s so well written, like it feels real. I’m the oldest of 5 boys, so you know, I feel like I kind of know what’s happening in their lives and in high school, and it felt like it was doing that justice.
Speaking of Norman and Harry, obviously, we have very different interpretations of those characters in this series. What was it like playing off of Colman Domingo and that version of Norman Osborn?
THAMES: So cool. I love Peter Norman’s relationship in this show so much, and I, and I love, I love the kind of reapproach to it in this kind of new way. Where we kind of don’t know if we love Norman the whole time, you know. Yeah, Norman, like so many other characters in the show, we see a lot of familiar like Marvel faces appear throughout this series.
Is there a dream Marvel character you want to see in a potential season two?
THAMES: Oh, any Marvel character?
Any Marvel character.
THAMES: Wow… Thanos! [Laughs]
You know, I can’t even argue with that. Thanos is great. Bring Josh Brolin back!
THAMES: But I guess, honestly, something with Venom would be cool too.
Oh yeah, Venom for sure. One more thing I have to ask you, with this series still not out yet, what’s the one thing you want to tell Spider-Man fans about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?
THAMES: Oh. I would say the one thing I want to remind you, and Peter [Parker] would like to remind you that life is good and it’s always all gonna work out.
Great words to live by.
Marvel’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man premieres on Disney+ on January 29, 2025.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Release Date

January 29, 2025

Network

Disney+

Writers

Jeff Trammell

Hudson Thames

Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voice)

Kari Wahlgren

May Parker (voice)

Eugene Byrd

Lonnie Lincoln (voice)

Watch on Disney+