MCU Spider-Man Questions His Prequel Show Can Answer

Tom Holland's Peter Parker is getting an animated prequel show, and here are all the Marvel Cinematic Universe questions Spider-Man: Freshman Year can answer. One of the many exciting MCU updates to come from Disney+ Day 2021 was the upcoming Spider-Man animated prequel. Marvel Studios and Disney confirmed that Spider-Man: Freshman Year will follow the MCU's Peter Parker during his freshman year of high school. This setting will allow the series to expand Spider-Man's MCU story and provide some answers to important questions.

Spider-Man's time in the MCU began in Captain America: Civil War. It was in the 2016 team-up movie that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) recruited Holland's Peter Parker to be part of Team Iron Man. This appearance directly led into Spider-Man: Homecoming and showed Peter taking on more responsibility as Spider-Man. All of this was set during Peter's sophomore year of high school. Despite Avengers: Infinity War taking place two years later, the film coincides with Peter's junior year, as his vanishing as part of Thanos' snap meant repeating this portion of high school between Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. It is only after Parker's ill-fated summer trip abroad that the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home take place, and the multiversal plot means it could provide plenty of changes to Spider-Man's MCU future.

Although Sony and Marvel Studios have yet to confirm what Spider-Man's live-action future looks like after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the announcement of Spider-Man: Freshman Year means more of Peter's backstory will be explored soon. The show is meant to be an origin story for Peter that shows him become the MCU's Spider-Man. It's also been described as a "journey unlike we've ever seen," so the prequel series is likely to surprise in terms of what it reveals and focuses on. With that in mind, here are the MCU Spider-Man questions Spider-Man: Freshman Year can answer.

What Happened to MCU's Uncle Ben?

Tom Holland as Peter Parker Ben case in Spider Man No Way Home

Arguably the biggest question that Spider-Man: Freshman Year is positioned to answer is what happened to the MCU's Uncle Ben. Since Marvel Studios and Sony bypassed much of Peter's MCU origin due to Spider-Man's well-known story, that meant not showing a defining moment in his life. Uncle Ben's death is a key part of Peter's decision to become a superhero in the comics and has been depicted as being that important in past iterations of Spider-Man. The decision to not show Uncle Ben's death again in the MCU is understandable to a degree, but there is no information currently available about what happened to him. Spider-Man's prequel show can finally be a place for Marvel Studios to explain what happened to Uncle Ben.

The MCU has so far been hesitant to even acknowledge Uncle Ben's existence. The best reference to his existence in the MCU is the suitcase Peter takes with him in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Many fans have become irritated by the lack of respect given to Uncle Ben's importance to Peter Parker in the MCU. That is why Spider-Man: Freshman Year explaining what happened to him could be such a big deal. The animated show could do this by showing Uncle Ben if he was still alive during Peter's freshman year. Flashbacks could handle this storyline as well depending on how the MCU addresses Uncle Ben's role in Spider-Man's life. Even if Uncle Ben doesn't appear in Spider-Man: Freshman Year, the prequel is still another opportunity for the MCU to address how Peter and Aunt May's lives changed after his death. Something as simple as a conversation about Ben Parker would even go a long way and clear up a lingering mystery about Spider-Man's MCU story.

When Did Peter Become Spider-Man?

Peter Parker looking confused in Captain America: Civil War

Spider-Man: Freshman Year can also give the MCU a chance to truly explain when Peter Parker became Spider-Man. His small role in Captain America: Civil War provided a tease of when this happened. Peter told Tony Stark that he got his powers six months before this encounter. Since Captain America: Civil War takes place in the first half of 2016, that means that Peter got his powers in late 2015. However, it is unlikely that he immediately became Spider-Man. Peter had to figure out his abilities, which surely took some time, and invent Spider-Man's iconic webs and web-shooters. This didn't happen overnight, though, as Peter might not even have felt the need to use his powers to be a superhero yet. So while the MCU has established a loose timeline for Peter getting his powers, it still is unclear how long he was wearing his homemade Spider-Man suit before Tony Stark came to recruit him.

How Did Peter Become Spider-Man?

The MCU has only scratched the surface of how Peter Parker became Spider-Man in the MCU, and Spider-Man: Freshman Year is the perfect place to finally show exactly what happened. Peter confirmed in Spider-Man: Homecoming that his origin is tied to a spider bite and that the spider died. However, it isn't known how or where he came into contact with this presumably radioactive spider. The comics have presented a few different explanations for Peter's spider origin that the MCU could draw upon. These range from a randomly created radioactive spider biting him to one created by Norman Osborn. The former was depicted in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, while The Amazing Spider-Man went the route of connecting the spider to Oscorp. Spider-Man: Freshman Year can reveal either as part of Peter's MCU origin. Then again, Marvel Studios could put its own spin on it, such as having the radioactive spider be tied to other prominent Marvel scientists like Reed Richards, Alistair Smythe, or Doctor Doom.

Was Vulture Spider-Man's First MCU Villain?

Spider-Man's MCU prequel show also has the chance the reveal if Peter Parker encountered any other villains before Adrian Toomes aka Vulture. Spider-Man: Homecoming indicates that Vulture is the biggest threat that Spider-Man has faced to this point in his superhero journey. However, that doesn't mean that he didn't battle other villains before. Spider-Man: Freshman Year could reveal that Peter played a part in making life difficult on The Tinkerer or New York-based criminals like Tombstone, Hammerhead, or Mister Negative. Depending on how other MCU content plays out, the Spider-man prequel could even be a chance to establish a loose connection between Peter and Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. Spider-Man: Freshman Year will need some sort of threat for Peter to face, and villains like these could become Spider-Man's first enemies who can then return in future films.

What Happened to Peter's Parents?

Another part of Spider-Man's MCU past that Spider-Man: Freshman Year can explore is what happened to his parents, Richard and Mary Parker. The comics have long stood by the explanation that Peter's parents died when he was quite young, which is why Uncle Ben and Aunt May raised him. However, their backstories have changed a few different times over the years. They were members of the CIA recruited by Nick Fury in one comic universe, while another made Richard a biologist with ties to the creation of Venom. The MCU hasn't provided any details about what happened to Peter's parents, so Spider-Man's prequel show would be a great place to do just that. Spider-Man: Freshman Year could even be a place to confirm the popular theory that Peter's parents were SHIELD agents in the MCU.

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