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Is Spider-Man: Freshman Year Canon?

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Is Spider-Man: Freshman Year canon to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe? Well, it seems… complicated.

the logo for Freshman year: the word "Spider-Man" is in all caps in a bold red font outlined by a thin blue line, underneath the words "Freshman Year" also in all caps in a thinner, black font. The words appear to be written on a torn-off piece of notebook paper
The logo for Spider-Man: Freshman Year, via Disney+

When Spider-Man: Freshman Year was originally announced, Disney and Marvel seemed to indicate that this series would directly tie in to MCU/Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man story. Even the press release that came out after the Marvel Animation panel concluded at SDCC says that the show will follow “…Peter Parker on his way to becoming Spider-Man in the MCU…”. However, concept art and stills posted by fans in attendance at the panel on Twitter has a lot of people (including me!) scratching their head and wondering how all of this fits into what we know of MCU/Peter 1’s story so far.

Let’s take a look at what was revealed at the Marvel Animation SDCC panel and how it may or may not tie into the larger canon story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Osborns?

One of the images that’s made the biggest splash and caused the most confusion is an image that directly parallels Peter’s first MCU appearance in Captain America: Civil War.

Instead of Peter coming home to find Tony Stark talking to his Aunt May, this scene depicts Norman Osborn paying Peter a visit. And another shot shows Spider-Man seemingly inside Oscorp with Norman. But what is the context?

Many on Twitter have theorized that this could be a break from the MCU- that instead of Tony Stark mentoring Peter, it’s Norman Osborn. However, it’s also possible that this is simply a parallel and/or homage to that scene in Civil War. Let’s break down what we do know about Norman Osborn in the MCU.

In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Norman Osborn from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies crosses into the main Marvel Cinematic Universe. He explains his first few hours in this new-to-him world:

“I didn’t know where else to go. Someone’s living in my house. Oscorp doesn’t exist. My son…”

Norman tried, and failed, to find both his company and possibly his son in the MCU. If Freshman Year is MCU canon, how could that work? Well, Oscorp could simply not exist by the time No Way Home takes place. It may have gone out of business being unable to compete with Stark Industries, Norman may have fallen to his Green Goblin fate some years earlier, or perhaps it got dissolved in the aftermath of Thanos’ snap. There’s a few ways that that could be explained. In addition, Peter is still seen wearing his glasses in the Civil War parallel shot so he may still be pre-spider-bite here.

Another piece of art shown at the panel also confirmed that Harry Osborn will be in Freshman Year– alongside a few other new/slightly-familiar faces. Rami-verse Norman never says that his son doesn’t exist or that he wasn’t able to find him. It’s left pretty open-ended as to what happened to Harry Osborn in the MCU, though many may have thought that it was to leave the door open to Peter meeting Harry in a possible future MCU movie.

In addition, though Peter does not confirm or deny knowing any Osborns in his MCU appearances so far, he does refer to Rami-verse Norman as ‘Mr. Osborn’ at first before being corrected. Perhaps the Osborn of Freshman Year is indeed a ‘Mr’ and not a “something of a scientist myself” doctor.

a screenshot of Norman in No Way Home, trapped in one of Dr. Strange's cells, leaning on the wall and wearing a green coat and purple shirt
“You know, I’m something of a scientist myself.” (screenshot from Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Doctor Strange?

Another surprise character to the show is Doctor Strange. Images have been posted to Twitter showing both concept art and stills from the show featuring Strange.

This could break MCU continuity in a few ways. Spider-Man: Freshman Year is meant to take place before Captain America: Civil War. According to the MCU Timeline on Disney+, the first Doctor Strange movie takes place after Civil War– after Black Panther even. So how does that work?

a screenshot of the MCU timeline order on Disney+. In order the movies are Civil War, Black Widow, Black Panther, and then Doctor Strange
The MCU timeline order according to Disney+

Well, it’s possible that Dr. Strange has perhaps time traveled- maybe using the Time Stone before the events of Avengers: Infinity War when Peter first met Strange. The still that seems to be from one of the Freshman Year episodes does show Strange way in the background of the shot- possibly never being seen or directly interacted with by Peter.

I will admit that this break in continuity is a little more difficult to explain, so we’ll have to wait for more context or news on how Dr. Strange features in this show.

Daredevil?!

Also announced at the Marvel Animation panel was the return of Charlie Cox and Daredevil… again! Though Peter Parker and Matt Murdock first appeared on screen together in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it could be that that was not the first time the two met. And is the less timeline-breaking of all the teases and announcements! Maybe.

There is some possibility that the Netflix/Marvel show The Defenders took place some time before the events of Captain America: Civil War. The (unofficial) MCU Wiki Timeline places both in the year 2016. This would mean that the timeline between when Matt went missing at the end of Defenders could possibly conflict with the timeline of Spider-Man: Freshman Year. In Civil War, Peter tells Tony that he’s had his powers for six months so there may have been time between those events for Peter and Matt to have met as their superhero alter-egos.

Honestly though, the idea that Daredevil is looking out for a young, new-to-the-gig Spider-Man is very sweet though. And actually could make more sense of the scene in No Way Home. If Daredevil got used to looking out for a young Spidey in his early days, it could easily translate to Matt catching that brick without thinking. Regardless of if this show is canon to the MCU Peter Parker, I am very much looking forward to this teamup.

Matt Murdock catches a brick that was thrown through the window of Peter and May Parker's apartment
“I’m a really good lawyer.” (screencap from Spider-Man: No Way Home)

The Baddies?

Marvel also revealed the lineup of villains that would be showcased in Spider-Man: Freshman Year and there are… some possible issues.

Though there’s no clear moment of acknowledgement or denial of knowing a Norman Osborn, Peter is clearly much more confused about the appearance of Dr. Otto Octavius in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Throughout their first fight, Peter repeatedly says how confused he is. Later, he has to ask for Octavius’ name and even shares a laugh with MJ and Ned about the element of nominative determinism he has.

“Uh, I’m sorry, what was your name again?”
“Dr. Otto Octavius.”
“Wait, no, seriously, what’s your actual name?”

So how is Otto in Freshman Year? It is possible that Peter and Otto’s paths might not directly cross in the show. Unlike Norman Osborn, there were no stills released that showed Peter interacting with “Doc Ock”, only the lineup of him alongside other villains.

Spider-Man: Freshman Year will also include an appearance by the villain Scorpion… who has already shown up in the MCU! Though he is not referred to by that name, one of the buyers for Adrian Toomes/the Vulture’s weapons does appear to be that villain. Mac Gargan is the name of the Scorpion in the comics and the character sports a scorpion tattoo in his appearance in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Mac Gargan, one of Spider-Man's bad guys who in the MCU sports a scorpion tattoo
Mac Gargan aka The Scorpion in Spider-Man: Homecoming

The Freshman Year version of the character does appear to be sporting a more comics-inspired look in the art released at SDCC. Perhaps we’ll get a look at what caused Aaron Davis to decide to stop working with the character?

New Friends… But Where Are The Old?

Another snag in the debate of if Spider-Man Freshman Year is canon or not is the lineup of Peter Parker’s friends and schoolmates.

One of the standout new additions is Nico Minoru. Nico appeared in the 2017-2019 Marvel/Hulu show Runaways as one of the main characters. In fact, she is seen in the same still that also teased Strange’s appearance in the show. The necklace that she wears in the concept art also bears a resemblance to the Staff of One that she uses in Runaways.

However, it’s more who is missing from this lineup that sparks some debate over this show’s place in MCU canon. So far, there has been no mention of Ned Leeds, MJ (Michelle Jones), or Liz Toomes- all three of whom play a very major role just six months after Peter first becomes Spider-Man.

Ned seems to be a long-time friend of Peter’s. Peter seems to have had a crush on Liz for some time before the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming. True, MJ doesn’t play a huge role in Homecoming, but her character is very important to the MCU’s Peter Parker. So where are they? It is possible that they simply haven’t been revealed yet, but it is disappointing that Ned, at minimum, hasn’t been shown to be in Freshman Year yet. 

Ned and Peter talk after Ned finds out that Peter is Spider-Man
Ned and Peter are very good friends, and Ned is one of the first people in Peter’s life to find out that he is Spider-Man. Where is he in Freshman Year? (screencap from Spider-Man: Homecoming)

It’s also odd to not include these core characters as Freshman Year has been confirmed to return for a second season- Spider-Man: Sophomore Year. Season two would have to take place post-Civil War and, more than likely, post-Homecoming. Spider-Man: Homecoming would’ve taken place very early on in Peter’s sophomore year.

One touch that I do like is the addition of a football player friend, apparently. As well as at least one scene where Peter interacts with the football team. This is a nice callback (call-forward?) to Peter’s line to Tony in Civil War about how he would like to play football, but since he was unable to before, he shouldn’t now since it would reveal his new powers to the world.

New Suits?

In addition to a different look for Peter’s homemade suit as seen in both Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Marvel teased a few other variations of Peter’s Spider-Man suit that will feature in Freshman Year.

The most interesting break with what we know of MCU Spidey is the new design for Peter’s earliest suit. Of course, it could simply be an even earlier version than the one we see in his first two MCU movies. Instead of the sleeker, easily hidden webshooters, it appears that these early versions of the webshooters are fed from a bottle strapped to Peter’s back and are connected by a tube.

The other suits that were revealed have no context, though. They’re only seen in the one piece of art, not in any stills that Marvel shared. Perhaps these are suits that Peter designs early on and makes but don’t catch on. The center one is, of course, the iconic, classic Spider-Man suit. But within the MCU, Peter does not get a suit like that until he meets Tony Stark who gives him that suit (or at least one like it).

Peter opens a case to find a new, sleek and upgraded tech version of his Spider-Man suit
Peter’s upgraded suit courtesy of Tony Stark in Spider-Man: Homecoming,

So… Canon Or Not?

There’s a lot of unanswered questions about Spider-Man: Freshman Year– even more so after that panel! Will this show somehow be canon to the events we’ve seen in the MCU Spider-Man trilogy? Is this more of a multi-verse or What If? Scenario? Will other MCU cast members return to voice their roles in the show?

If this show is breaking from its original premise of showing the early days of Tom Holland’s MCU Peter Parker… I’m not going to lie: I’m going to personally be pretty disappointed. Yes, Spider-Man: No Way Home did seem to place some constraints on what characters they could use so early on in Peter’s story. However, I think it would’ve been a much more interesting show to explore how he got to be Spider-Man without the obvious influences that other versions of the character have had. There’s so many versions of Peter Parker who were bitten by a spider at Oscorp, developed powers, and early on faced the likes of Green Goblin and Doc Ock. Surely it would be worth exploring other, new options for his story- not repeating the same beats over again.

With the show not releasing on Disney+ until 2024, there’s surely much more to be revealed. Stay tuned as we find out more about Spider-Man: Freshman Year!

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