Is Marvel's Spider-Man Show On Disney+ In MCU Canon?

Screen Rant

Marvel Studios' Spider-Man: Freshman Year animated series is coming to Disney+ in the near future, but is it considered MCU canon?

Is Marvel Studios and Disney+'s new animated series Spider-Man: Freshman Year part of MCU canon? Years ago, Disney and Marvel struck a groundbreaking deal with Sony Pictures to bring Spider-Man into the MCU, and while there were some bumps in the road, particularly when the deal fell apart around the time Spider-Man: Far From Home was in production, things quickly got back on track. Now Spider-Man: No Way Home is releasing soon along with a Spider-Man animated series coming in the future.

Announced as part of the inaugural Disney+ Day, celebrating the two-year anniversary of Disney+'s launch, Spider-Man: Freshman Year is an upcoming animated series that will follow Peter Parker in his freshman year of high school that depicts him becoming Spider-Man. Given this is from Marvel Studios and airs on Disney+, there was some confusion as to whether Spider-Man: Freshman Year takes place in the MCU or not, especially since the aforementioned Marvel/Sony deal will soon end.

According to a press release, Spider-Man: Freshman Year is confirmed to be part of the MCU and is, therefore, a Spider-Man: Homecoming prequel. However, it's currently unclear if Tom Holland will reprise his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man by voicing the character in the series; after all, Spider-Man was recast for What If...? season 1 earlier this year and Spider-Man: Freshman Year may need a younger actor to provide the voice for an early teenaged Peter.

When it was first announced that Marvel Studios would be developing a new Spider-Man trilogy for Sony Pictures, the idea was to show Peter Parker in high school, in ways that Sam Raimi and Marc Webb's Spider-Man movies didn't. Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man quickly went into college and moved on with his life, while Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man focused on things outside of school. Tom Holland's Spider-Man had a good mix in Homecoming, but that changed with Far From Home and will likely be the same with Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now, Marvel has a chance to fulfill that promise.

Spider-Man: Freshman Year will presumably be a short-lived series as there's only so much that can be told in one year of high school, but that also means other familiar faces, like Liz, could return, while MJ may have a smaller role considering she and Peter weren't as close back then. There's certainly a lot of potential, especially finally showing Peter Parker's origin story as Spider-Man in the MCU - and that's the beauty of it; Spider-Man: Freshman Year will be MCU canon.

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