Marvel Animation Preview
January 12, 20252024 was a banner year for Marvel Animation, with X-Men 97 (Season Two is currently in production) redefining the upper limits of genre animation and, for once and for all, answering the question What If…? with the much vaunted series finale of that show closing out the year. So 2025 has it’s work cut out for it…of course, Marvel isn’t resting on its laurels. Instead, it’s bringing three new shows to Disney+ that have the potential to be incredible.
First up, on January 29, is Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman. The show is led by Jeff Trammell, who fell in love with Spider-Man (1994-1998) the animated series. He’s excited by the opportunity to tell a story outside of the MCU. It will follow Peter Parker’s journey toward becoming a hero.
Trammell said in a press release, “[w]e have the privilege of following the movies and shows, so we pay homage to them as well as the comics. We build on things we’ve seen before but present them in new ways. We use those expectations to our advantage and turn things away from where you might expect. I’m excited for people to see new twists on classic characters, and I’m also excited to introduce characters that aren’t normally featured in Spider-Man stories.”
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman is described as an “ensemble” show, that focuses on the neighbourhood Peter lives in. Hence the name. They teased appearances by classic foes like Scorpion, as well as newish seeming foes like Butane and Speed Demon. They also promised that the show casts Norman Osborne as a complicated mentor figure for Peter, which is always rich ground to tread. The emotionality of learning and growing under someone who becomes your greatest enemy. How does such an act of violence change a young person like Peter Parker? Only time will tell!
Hudson Thames (Peter Parker/Spider-Man in What If…? episode 5) reprises the role. In another exciting tidbit, Marvel also revealed that Charlie Cox will appear as Daredevil. So, like, awesome.
Hopefully this trailer tides you over for the two weeks you’re gonna have to wait for this one to drop!
Eyes of Wakanda
This four-episode series will tell the stories of Wakandan warriors from throughout the nation’s storied past, tracking the actions of the Hatut Zeraze – kinda like the Wakanda CIA – as they track stolen vibranium artifacts across the world.
“This has been a long time coming,” showrunner Todd Harris said in a press release. “The story has been stewing for a long time in my head. I’m a big believer in what Wakanda represents to mankind as a place that’s untethered by expansion. It has drawn a line — a line it won’t cross and it won’t let anybody else cross.”
The show features an incredible ensemble cast and is produced by Academy Award nominated Director (and the visionary behind Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) Ryan Coogler, as well as Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and others.
It’s a globe-trotting chase through history. August 6 seems so, so very far away.
Marvel Zombies
What If…? didn’t just ponder the question…it spawned a sequel series from one of Marvel Comics most famous modern alternate storylines. Marvel Zombies is a four-episode sequel series to What If…? episode five zombies?! Showrunner Bryan Andrews confirmed that the show is TV-MA, so they don’t “have to pull punches…[w]e can go for the throat — no pun intended.”
The voice cast is stellar and includes a lot of familiar names including Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, Iman Villani, and Elizabeth Olsen.
Andrews also teased the return of a fan favourite (?!): zombie cap.
Of course, he’s probably a bit shorter now. But, don’t say anything.
He’s a kind of sensitive about it.
Marvel Zombies streams on Disney+ starting October 3.
All images owned and copyright Marvel
