YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN: Episodes 1.1 and 1.2: “Amazing Fantasy” and “The Parker Luck”

Here is the call. These first two episodes are fun, creative, and — refreshingly — genuinely moral. This Peter Parker is an earnest, awkward American teenager who tries to do right, catches thieves, rescues civilians, and lives by a "no kill" rule. He even shows mercy to a struggling thief and offers villains redemption if they repent. That's a hero worth watching grow up.

But the show earns its cautions. There's light foul language across both episodes, strong fantasy violence throughout, a brief bit of spell-casting from Doctor Strange, and a friend written with politically correct notes — bisexual, snarky about a businessman and an oil company. The animation, sadly, is stiff.

So don't dismiss it, but don't hand it over unwatched either. Preview an episode, weigh the content against your own children, and decide from there — that's why this one is a wait-and-see.

Peter Parker is a nervous high school freshman with a passion for robotics — and a brand-new, secret career as a masked vigilante. Set in an alternate corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this animated series drops him into the impossible job of juggling homework, crushes, and crime-fighting all at once.

Then his grades catch the eye of industrialist Norman Osborn, who dangles a once-in-a-lifetime science internship at Oscorp. Now Peter is torn three ways — the city, the internship, and the friends he keeps letting down. Can the web-slinger survive his own schedule?

Three stars, and here's what they buy you. The writing and voice work are the draw: Hudson Thames plays Peter as an authentic, good-hearted kid prone to real mistakes, and it's easily the best part of the show. The action scenes are creatively staged, the pacing is solid, and the characters land — including a "popular quarterback" who, in a welcome twist, actually values intelligence and becomes Peter's friend. Episode two adds funny beats at Oscorp and with the villains.

The catch is the animation. The show goes for a 3D cel-shaded look that nods to 1960s Spider-Man comics, and the character models and environments are strong — but the movement has the fluidity of dry concrete. It's stilted and limited, and it never lives up to the inventive camera angles in the fights. If you're expecting SPIDER-VERSE, look elsewhere.

For a modern superhero cartoon, this one's moral compass is unusually clear. Peter puts his hero duties above his own selfish wants. He stops criminals, saves citizens, and refuses to kill. He shows mercy to a petty thief who can't pay her bills, lets her go after she apologizes to her victim, and checks that a beaten enemy is still breathing. He has a strong maternal figure in his aunt, misses his father-figure Uncle Ben, and carries a real sense of justice and responsibility. The show never mentions God or faith, but it plainly honors doing the right thing even when it costs you.

The series is consciously trying to recapture the original 1960s comics — a teenage hero with teenage problems — with modern updates. Some of those updates deserve a parent's attention. Doctor Strange appears in the first episode with some brief spell-casting. And Peter's friend is written with light politically correct notes: she expresses interest in both boys and girls and carries a snarky disdain for a wealthy businessman and an oil company. We name these as choices in the work; weigh them as you see fit.

Underneath the fun runs Spider-Man's oldest idea — that power carries responsibility, and that a good person spends himself for others. Scripture says it plainly: "From everyone to whom much was given, much will be required" (Luke 12:48).

There's a lot to like here: an earnest, moral young hero, sharp writing, and real heart, wrapped in animation that never quite catches up. But the profanity, the spell-casting, and the politically correct notes mean it isn't an automatic yes for every household. So preview it, then decide for your own kids — that's why we say wait and see. Want something you can start without a preview? Try our latest family-friendly picks.