Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man went from being a series no one appeared overly excited about to a show it seems everyone is now raving about.
During a recent interview with The Breakroom (via ComicBookMovie.com), showrunner Jeff Trammell looked back at season 1 and named some of the characters he wasn't able to use. Among them was the relatively obscure Spider-Man villain, Big Wheel.
To bring you up to speed, the comic book version of the character was Jackson Weele, a New York businessman who had embezzled from his company. Fearing that he might be caught, he hired Rocket Racer to steal the incriminating evidence, only for the criminal to blackmail him.
In response, Weele turned to the Tinkerer to create a large metal single-wheeled vehicle - outfitted with all manner of weapons - and became the supervillain known as Big Wheel.
"We thought Big Wheel would be a fun addition, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us," Trammell confirmed. So, this must surely mean Big Wheel is Spider-Man 4's big bad, right? The writer was quick to respond to a fan on X to point out that they shouldn't read too much into this:
Later in the conversation, Trammell admitted that he also pushed for the Fantastic Four to play a role in the series.
"I couldn’t use the Fantastic Four. That was a bummer for sure. I had ideas for them, but I had to pivot," he explained. "Sometimes, when you can’t use a character, it pushes you to explore new options. You can’t just play it safe, you have to get creative and bring in fresh ideas."
Chances are Marvel Studios kept its First Family off-limits because it would run the risk of distracting from what we'll see in this summer's The Fantastic Four: First Steps. We'd also bet on Spidey's first on-screen meeting with the team taking place in Avengers: Doomsday.
You can check out the full interview with Trammell in the player below.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming a hero, with a journey unlike we've ever seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots.
The talented voice cast includes Hudson Thames, Colman Domingo, Eugene Byrd, Grace Song, Zeno Robinson, Hugh Dancy and Charlie Cox.
The head writer is Jeff Trammell and Mel Zwyer is the supervising director. Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt and Trammell serve as executive producers.
In our review of the series, we concluded by saying, "Amazing, spectacular, and downright astonishing - Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man exceeds every expectation and is a true love letter to the world's greatest superhero...the end result is the ultimate Spider-Man TV series."
All episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are now streaming on Disney+.