Marvel's shows how the MCU can explore an overlooked part of Tom Holland's Spider-Man stories, but Marvel Studios and Sony would have to overcome a hefty challenge in order to achieve it. Tom Holland's Spider-Man has had the most extensive on-screen development of any live-action Spider-Man, having starred in a full movie trilogy and appeared in three MCU crossovers so far. Now, Marvel Studios and Sony are working on the MCU's upcoming Spider-Man 4, which will represent a new beginning for the MCU's Peter Parker.

Tom Holland's Spider-Man participated briefly in Captain America: Civil War's main conflict, and his first superhero battle as an independent hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming had relatively low stakes compared to the usual battles of heroes like Iron Man and Captain America. Afterward, however, Spider-Man only faced Avengers-level threats in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. .

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man introduces characters like Doctor Strange and a symbiote right from the start. In fact, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man episode 10 reveals a time loop that causes Spider-Man's origin story thanks to Norman Osborn's coveted technology, Doctor Strange's magic, and the symbiote. Norman Osborn designs Spider-Man's first official costume, the Avengers' Civil War takes place in the background, and The Watcher makes a cameo appearance in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's final episode. Yet,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man shows Spider-Man taking on street-level duties like stopping carjackers and nonthreatening thieves, fighting armed and armored villains, and defending his fellow citizens from all perils while fulfilling his academic responsibilities. Hudson Thames' Spider-Man never leaves his hometown, and his adventures don't affect the multiverse, the universe, or the world. The reason why Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man can balance its larger-than-life elements with Spidey's street-level essence is simple: it has enough runtime to explore both aspects of the character.

Spider-Man's first-ever live-action adaptation was a 1977 movie starring Nicholas Hammond, and it served as a pilot for a subsequent live-action series that ran for thirteen episodes from 1978 to 1979. Since then, Spider-Man has never appeared in a live-action series again, as Marvel's crown jewel became too expensive and high-profile for anything less profitable than a blockbuster movie. Sony found success in two live-action Spider-Man movie franchises, and Sony's alliance with Marvel Studios made the Spider-Man movie franchise the fourth highest grossing of all time, just behind Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the MCU itself. As a result, .

Tom Holland's Spider-Man has focused on huge threats that have removed him from his street-level roots. To fix this problem, Marvel and Sony could release a live-action MCU Spider-Man show that covers Spider-Man's "friendly neighborhood" adventures in between movies. Marvel and Sony have already achieved the formerly unlikely feat of adding Spider-Man to the MCU, and Sony is collaborating with Amazon on a live-action Spider-Noir series starring Nicolas Cage. At least in theory, it has never been easier for a live-action Spider-Man show to exist, let alone in the same continuity as an expansive movie franchise.

Marvel Studios and Sony have to cooperate for every single one of Spider-Man's MCU movie appearances, solo or otherwise. Both studios profit from these appearances, as Marvel Studios adds more high-grossing installments to the MCU and Sony retains the rights to its most successful Marvel IP. But . The basis of streaming revenues is subscriptions, which go directly to Disney in the case of MCU shows.

Theatrical releases also gather more profits up front, making them easier to split. Besides, IPs as big as Spider-Man, Batman, and the Avengers are much more profitable when all audiences have equal access to their theatrical movies — by buying a ticket to watch each film individually — rather than committing to a monthly or yearly subscription to watch not only the desired streaming release but also all other titles available on the platform. At this point, a live-action Spider-Man show that resembles is very unlikely, though it's important to remember that Spider-Man joining the MCU seemed just as far-fetched only a year before it happened.