Spider-Man: Freshman Year Showcased Stylish Nostalgia at Comic-Con

Spider-Man: Freshman Year Showcased Stylish Nostalgia at Comic-Con

Maybe it’s because there’s another Spider-Man out there with just an immense amount of style (it’s Miles Morales, obviously), but Peter Parker has been playing catch-up in the visuals department for a while. In the Marvel Animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios revealed a first look at Spider-Man Freshman Year, and literally everything about it is exceptionally cool-looking.

The animation takes inspiration from old Saturday morning cartoons and comic strips from the early years of Marvel. It’s got that half-tone screen look to it that makes everything feel just a little bit vintage. Although no footage was showcased at Comic-Con today, a litany of new designs for characters from the series revealed to attendees looked like they could be taken out of a ‘70s comic book. A press release provided after the panel by Disney re-iterated that Freshman Year “follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man in the MCU,” as the show was first described as at Disney+ Day last year Which is very confusing, as what was shown felt very counter to what we know of the MCU Spider-Man.

The panel showed concept art of Peter Parker in a homemade suit with a backpack and goggle-style lenses, as well as 5 separate other Spider-Suits — what is pretty much the Spider-Man: Homecoming suit, and then one looking close to the Future Foundation of the comics, another all black with underwing elements, another looking like a golden riff on Thor’s costume as a suit of armour, and one that is essentially just the uniform of comics villain The Beetle. More art showed some of Peter’s classmates at school, including comics characters Nico Minoru (the magical member of the Runaways) and the super-smart Amadeus Cho.

On the villainous side, art was show revealing classic takes on Doc Ock — with his comics green-and-yellow suit under a labcoat — as well as more contemporary, tech-y riffs on Unicorn, Chameleon, Scorpion, Speed Demon, Tarantula, Rhino, and Butane. But in a surprise twist, it was also revealed in further art that Norman Osborne would appear in the series: not as the Green Goblin, but Peter Parker’s mentor figure. Or hell, he could still be both, who can say?

But Spider-Man wouldn’t be Spider-Man without a few allies, and another slide showed Daredevil in his black suit and a very classically (i.e. goofy-looking) outfitted Doctor Strange. Mustache included. Daredevil at the very least would have a familiar voice, with the confirmation that Charlie Cox would voice the character in the series.

Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: Freshman Year, will stream on Disney+ in 2024. A second season, Spider-Man: Sophomore Year, was also confirmed at the panel.

Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.


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