'Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man' Episodes 3-5 Recap: What Is Otto Planning?

The double episode premiere of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man revolved around the life of a high schooler, Peter Parker, growing into his role as New York’s favorite wisecracking webslinger superhero, and brought billionaire genius Norman Osborn into the mix. Peter stumbled across the opportunity of a lifetime after being selected by Norman Osborn for an internship program at Oscorp Industries. However, Osborn was able to learn Peter’s true identity and confronted him about it. The new set of three episodes reveals his true motivation behind choosing Peter as an intern, as a connection grows between the duo from a common altruistic ideology. On the other hand, Peter’s friend Lonnie Lincoln’s life came to focus, and as a subplot, it progresses almost in parallel with Peter’s journey. The third, fourth, and fifth episodes of the first season continue to expand on the world-building by introducing classic Spidey villains as well, while referencing established MCU connections at the same time.

Spoilers Ahead

Man In The Chair: Why Did Peter Accept Norman’s Assistance?

Ever since Norman confronted him about his secret identity, Peter has not been able to gather his thoughts properly—and while being invited to have dinner with him, Peter desperately tries to deny the truth about his alter ego. However, Norman isn’t that naïve enough to be convinced by Peter’s lies, and he reveals that the reason he had selected Peter and the others for the internship program is because he was trying to approach Spider-Man to begin with. A perceptive Norman was able to pinpoint the possible identity of the teenage superhero, and the reason why he was eager to meet him is because Spidey saved his son, Harry’s life. Norman wants to help Peter using his resources, but Peter politely declines as he doesn’t want Norman or anyone else to put themselves in danger by getting entangled in his superhero life. Norman assures him that he can take care of himself, but respecting Peter’s sentiment, he accepts his refusal to work at Oscorp and gives him a check for a thousand dollars in recognition for Peter’s effort during his time at Oscorp.

However, Peter knows the kind of efforts Aunt May puts in to make ends meet, and he eventually reconsiders his decision, just to support her financially. Norman helps Peter to capture the villainous duo of Maria Vasquez, aka Tarantula, and James Sanders, aka Speed Demon, who had acquired advanced high-tech weaponry from an unknown individual. It turns out Butane, the pyromaniac who rampaged in the previous episode, has received his gauntlets from the same person.

A Better Hero: Peter Gets The Future Foundation Suit

Having Peter agree to work with him, Norman gets too preoccupied making Peter the representative of the future generation of heroes—the kind who do not put people’s lives in danger due to their own hubris (criticizing Tony Stark). Case in point, the Sokovia Accords—which put a rift in the Avengers as it questioned the legitimacy of the free rein of superheroes and imposed governmental control—become a point of discussion, and Norman assures Peter that, with him by his side, he will not have to worry about getting encumbered by stipulations like them. Norman offers Peter a range of different high-tech suits to help him truly step up in the superhero game, and the majority of them fail to appeal to Peter or suit the kind of persona he wants Spider-Man to be. At last, the duo stumbles across a prototype costume that comic readers will be able to identify as the Future Foundation Spider-Man suit, and for the time being, this is Peter’s go-to superhero attire. 

Lonnie’s Life Hurtles Along A Downward Slope

Parallel to Peter’s story—who is greeted with new opportunities and the promise of a prosperous future, Lonnie’s life appears to be going through an almost antithetical journey all of a sudden. On one occasion, the star athlete is compelled to rush back to his home after learning that his brother Andre has been involved in the 110th St. gang, and in order to ensure his freedom from the group of delinquents, Lonnie has no other option other than to join the gang himself in exchange. The gang leader, Big Donovan, makes it difficult for him to pursue study and sports with as much sincerity as Lonnie was used to, and coerces him to dedicate his time to the gang. 

Things go awry when Lonnie gets himself noticed by Carmilla Black, one of the chief members of the rival Scorpions gang, and now that he has been labeled as a part of 110th, Lonnie can no longer hope to live a life of peace and back away from the reality he has been forced to be a part of. Eventually, during a brawl between the 110th and Scorpions, Lonnie can’t help but get involved as well and saves Big Donovan from the dreaded leader of the Scorpions, Mac Cargan (Supervillain Scorpion’s alias). Out of gratitude, Big Donovan shares his respect for Lonnie and gives him the nickname Tombstone, which is also the character’s supervillain moniker in the comics.

What Is Otto Planning?

Eventually, it is revealed that the tech whiz who has been supplying criminals with dangerous high-tech weaponry is none other than classic Spider-Man villain Dr. Otto Octavius. In this iteration of the character, Otto is a relatively unknown genius scientist whose merits match those of Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, or Osborn, but unfortunately he has not received his due recognition, contributing to his hurt ego and a certain hankering for attention. Creating deadly gadgets in his secluded hideout, Otto has been selling his inventions to criminals for a high price and is seemingly planning to make something revolutionary, which will draw the attention of the world. We haven’t seen Otto with the all-too-familiar four mechanical arms, but his inventions already hint that it won’t be long until we get to see Doc Ock in his iconic appearance.

A Different Kind of Rhino Encounter 

Harry Osborn accidentally learns about Peter’s true identity, and Norman decides to let his son join Team Spider-Man as well, letting him assist Peter through comms and surveillance when he isn’t available himself. Even though Peter doesn’t like the fact that all of a sudden his secret identity is getting revealed to every other person, he gradually forms a bond with Harry.

A group of Russian criminals, consisting of Dmitri Smerdyakov (supervillain Chameleon in comics), Mikhail Systevich (Rhino in comics), Mila Masaryk, and Roxanna Volkov, try to make a run after looting a big take, and except for Mila, the rest of the team gets caught. Taking the loot with her, Mila approaches Otto and buys a destructive laser-emitting helmet, which she uses to break her crew members free. While Dmitri and Roxanna flee from the scene, leaving Mila to her devices, with her getting busy getting a kick out of destroying public property using the new gadget at her disposal, Mikhail stays with Mila. Eventually, Peter swings by to stop Mila, who has taken the name Unicorn as her supervillain alias. After brawling through the streets, Mila uses Peter’s moral scruples to her advantage as she fires a laser at Mikhail, and in order to save his life, Peter jumps in front to tank the hit. Mikhail is as irritated at Mila for putting his life in mortal peril as he is moved by Peter’s self-sacrifice, which is why he decides to stop Mila by taking off her helmet. However, as the authorities hold the duo captive, Mikhail makes sure that Peter realizes that it was a one-time thing, and the next time Spidey squares off with him, he will not offer such pleasantries any longer. 

As the fifth episode comes to an end, Peter and Harry seem to be bonding, which might or might not create a rift between Peter and his best friend, Nico, later in the series. It should be mentioned, Nico, who in this iteration of the character is revealed to be an orphan, is living in the care of certain Mrs. O’Hara—which is clearly a reference to Spider-Man 2099 aka Miguel O’Hara’s future appearance in the series. Anyway, with Harry and Norman already in Peter’s good books, it will be an emotional journey when they inevitably clash with Spider-Man in the future owing to the difference in their worldview, as people closest to Peter inevitably end up being the cause of his worst miseries.

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