Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man showrunner reveals the characters Marvel wouldn't let him use, including one of comics' most bizarre villains

Spider-Man in the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man finale
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Marvel's list of characters that couldn't be used in animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been revealed – and it includes one of Spidey's weirdest villains.

As Jeff Trammell revealed on The Breakroom, two sets of off-limits characters were mentioned for the Disney Plus series.

"I'm going to say two… One makes sense and the other is like, 'oh'," Trammell began. "We couldn't use the Fantastic Four, which makes total sense. The movie is not out yet and I started this four years ago. We [also] weren't able to use Big Wheel and I don't know why. I was like, 'Can we use Big Wheel?' and they were like, 'Maybe don't.'"

Big Wheel, who first debuted in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man in the late 1970s, stands out as one of the webhead's most bizarre rogues' gallery members. Real name Jackson Wheele (get it?), he utilized an invention of the Tinkerer known as The Big Wheel – but frequently came up short in his quest for supervillainy and was often used as a laughing stock.

Fantastic Four, meanwhile, are far more recognizable. Given they have their own live-action movie hitting cinemas in July, it's far more understandable that Marvel's First Family would be left out of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season 2 is on the way, however, so there's always a chance for the weird and wonderful from Marvel's roster to land on the Disney Plus series.

Fantastic Four, starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, is set to hit cinemas on July 25, 2025.

For more, check out our guides to upcoming Marvel movies and the Marvel timeline. For a spoiler-filled breakdown of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's finale, you'll need the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man ending explained.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.