Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been kind of a sleeper show that fans weren’t expecting too much out of, but it turned out to be a huge hit. The show introduced a few new characters, and gave a fresh spin on some familiar ones, but as usual, the finished product was not exactly what was in the first drafts.
Series showrunner, writer and executive producer, Jeff Trammell recently sat down with The Breakroom, and he looked back at season 1 and revealed some of the characters he wasn’t able to use. Among them was The Fantastic Four, as well as the relatively obscure Spider-Man villain, Big Wheel.
The comic book version of the character “Big Wheel” 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.
“We thought Big Wheel would be a fun addition, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us,” Trammell confirmed. So of course this led some fans to believe they only said no because they had live-action plans for the character, but Trammell doubted that was the reason, which you can check out in a social media exchange below:
Lmao, guys this was in 2021, before No Way Home even came out. I wouldn’t bet on this. https://t.co/6QtF3TqJXz
— Jeff Trammell (@MrJeffTrammell) February 22, 2025
Whatever the reason, Big Wheel just wasn’t available, and the reason for The Fantastic Four not being greenlit for an animated appearance arc was even more understandable, as they’re about to make their MCU big screen debut.
Trammell said of the setback, “I couldn’t use the Fantastic Four. That was a bummer for sure. I had ideas for them, but I had to pivot. 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.”
You can check out the full interview below, and enjoy all episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 1 available on Disney+ now.
via: CBM