Recap: Spidey Searches for his Identity in Fourth Episode of “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”

Things are looking up for Peter Parker in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+. In the third episode, he decided that working with Norman Osborn would not only be financially helpful for Peter Parker, but a level up for Spider-Man as well. Unfortunately, things are not quite going as well for Lonnie Lincoln.

At Oscorp, Peter struggles through a presentation of his work, earning him the wrath of Dr. Wittman. That is interrupted though when Peter is called to another meeting with Norman. The rest of the interns begin to take note of how odd it is how often Peter is summoned by their boss.

Peter is hit with the door to Norman’s office when Harry opens it. The two introduce themselves and, in the background, we can see a picture of Norman with King T’Chaka of Wakanda. Harry leaves as Peter enters the office and Norman turns on “do not disturb mode." He shows Peter the news reports of the Sokovia Accords and a recent fight between the Avengers at an airport in Germany, It appears, in this universe, the events of Captain America: Civil War are still occurring, without Spider-Man.

Norman tells Peter he’ll handle the Sokovia Accords for Spider-Man and they move on to looking at designs for Spider-Man’s new suit. Peter shows Norman a design he came up with - the classic blue and red Spider-Man suit. Norman shrugs off this idea though and instead shows him a gold costume that looks a lot like the one worn by a comics hero known as Prodigy.

A woman is mugged by familiar thugs on the street and they run off into an alley with her purse. Spider-Man arrives in his new outfit, but when he tries to jump into action, his cape gets caught on a pole. The thugs take advantage and hit him like a pinata while someone posts a picture, much to Norman’s dismay.

At school, Lonnie surprises Pearl with a flower and apologizes for not getting in touch with her after she drove him home. He tries to play things off without letting her know too much about what’s going on, but it’s clear she’s a bit suspicious. When she leaves, Lonnie receives a call from Big Donovan, telling him to get to the 110 hideout.

On the streets, citizens notice a new hero flying around in a purple costume with wings on his back. It turns out this is another costume Norman designed for Spider-Man. Peter objects, saying he prefers swinging, but Norman insists he give the suit a chance. Peter gets the hang of flying before eventually being hit by a bus.

At the 110, a thug tells Donovan the Scorpions are moving in on their turf. Donovan calls out Lonnie for trying to study while he’s “on the clock." He gives Lonnie an assignment, sending him to a restaurant called La Fresca’s. He calls in an order and Lonnie heads out.

Spider-Man attempts to return a lost balloon to a little girl in yet another new costume, this one somewhat reminiscent of Black Panther. The costume scares the little girl and Spider-Man swings off as the begins to surround him. Peter and Norman start brainstorming their next attempt.

Lonnie arrives at La Fresca’s as a woman with a scorpion tattoo watches him enter. Lonnie tells the cashier he is picking up an order for Big Donovan and everyone in the room takes notice. The woman from outside momentarily blocks the exit and tells Lonnie to let Donovan know they’ll “be seeing him soon." As he leaves, Lonnie notices he’s being followed by some thugs and he runs, barely making it onto a train safely.

Lonnie returns to the 110 and blames Donovan for sending him out to get jumped. Donovan knows this mystery woman and refers to her as Camila Black. This is a version of the classic Spider-Man villain known as the Scorpion. However, Camila is not the only Scorpion in this universe, because Donovan explains that she works for Mac Gargan. Gargan is the first Scorpion in the comics and eventually goes on to wear the Venom symbiote. Donovan explains that the Scorpions are a problem for his neighborhood and the 110th Street Gang are protecting him and his family. Eventually, Lonnie agrees to the protection.

Peter returns to Oscorp to work on another suit. Norman tells him the city needs heroes for when the Avengers aren’t there. We see news reports of the fight between Captain America and Iron Man, as well as the explosion in Lagos and the attack on the UN that killed King T’Chaka. Norman shows Peter one more suit and he agrees to try it out.

Spider-Man swings around the city in his new Oscorp suit, the closest we’ve seen to a traditional Spider-Man suit yet. Peter clearly likes this one much more than the previous options as he swings about the city looking for crime to stop.

A group of thieves rush out of a building into an escape car where their driver waits. It becomes clear the thieves are all Russian, and they are all connected to Marvel Comics. The group includes Dmitri Smerdyakov (The Chameleon), Mikhail Systevich (the father of the Rhino), Roxanna Volkov (possibly the descendant of a Russian soldier who has crossed paths with Captain America?) and Mila Masaryk (perhaps a relative of a Russian intelligence agent operating under the name Unicorn).

Police and Spider-Man chase the thieves as they attempt to escape, but Spidey stops to help civilians trapped in a fire caused by the chase. The thieves seem to be cornered by the police before Mila jumps out of their speeding van and runs off on her own. The thieves are caught by police soon after.

Spider-Man learns his new suit is fireproof as he saves someone from a burning car. The man calls him amazing before he swings off. Spidey returns to Oscorp where he professes his love for the suit to Norman and removes his mask. Norman tries to get him to stop because they are joined by Harry, who now knows that Peter is Spider-Man.

Elsewhere, Mila watches a news report of her comrades being taken into custody. The report also names her, saying she is still at large. Mila grabs the bag they stole and knocks on a door in a dark alley. The door opens to reveal none other than Otto Octavius, better known as Doctor Octopus. His labcoat bears the same logo Spider-Man has been seeing on all the troublesome tech to this point. It appears we have our big bad.

This series just keeps throwing out surprises episode after episode. In this installment alone, we were introduced to Doctor Octopus, the Scorpion (kind of), a possible twist on the Rhino and the Chameleon. The story just keeps getting more and more interesting as things develop for Peter Parker.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is now streaming on Disney+.