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People love to talk about Spider-Man 3 and the bully
Maguire dance number as being the lowest
point in Spider-Man's cinematic journey.
But honestly, Peter Parker controlling an army of drones
might be the worst thing that happened to Spider-Man well,
ever.
And I've read Identity Crisis.
Peter, do you want me to cancel the drone strike on Brad Davis?
Did you just punch Flash?
No.
Firing.
And yet, somehow, the key creators behind this blunder
gave us No Way Home, quite possibly
the best Spider-Man film of all time.
And most importantly, the film that saved the MCU's
Spider-Man.
First created in the pages of Amazing Fantasy Number 15
by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, Peter,
Parker's eternal struggle between the weight
of heroic responsibilities, and the trials and tribulations
of real life, is a timeless tale that we've basically
been consuming nonstop for close to 80 years straight.
Spidey first appeared on the small screen in 1967,
and has been a semi constant in TV shows, video games,
and movies ever since.
This obviously climaxed in the early 2000s
with the Sam Raimi fronted Spider-Man
trilogy, which led into Marc Webb's two Amazing Spider
films.
The second of which underperformed
and led everyone's favorite wall crawler back
into the loving arms of Marvel.
You're the spider falling thing.
Crime fighting spider.
Spider-Man.
However, there's one problem with the Marvel Cinematic
universe's version of Spider-Man.
He's not really Spider-Man.
He looks like Spider-Man, and he talks like Spider-Man.
You ever see that really old movie, Empire Strikes Back?
But the stories he's in aren't really Spider-Man stories.
People who don't understand the structure of a Spidey story
always seem to think Spider-Man's origin is
that he gets bit by a spider, and gains
the powers of a spider.
That's a piece of it, but not actually the whole story.
The structural elements of what makes Spider-Man Spider-Man
are the eternal themes of service, dedication,
and responsibility in the face of uncompromising
personal loss.
It's crucial that the character needs to misuse that power,
and then learn from that mistake,
and choose to dedicate himself to acting selflessly.
In the original comics, it was using his powers
to make money and gain fame and attention.
And then not stopping a thief from robbing a wrestling
promotion that he had taken part in.
You could have taken that guy apart.
Now he's going to get away with my money.
I missed the part where that's my problem.
This criminal later is the man who's
responsible for killing Peter's Uncle Ben.
That's the origin of Spider-Man.
It's Peter being so consumed with guilt that he monastically
dedicates himself, attempting to make up
for that one moment of selfishness
that he wishes he could take back.
And the MCU Spider-Man went six appearances
without having an Uncle Ben moment.
Yes, we've seen the origins twice,
we didn't need to see it again.
But what we did need was a Spider-Man
who understood the cost of being Spider-Man.
And to make it even worse, the MCU
ostensibly just neutered the character.
He didn't make his own costume, he
didn't learn how to be a hero by himself.
He's not a socially awkward teenager by day,
and a wisecracking masked vigilante by night.
He's not a super scientist other than outlined by lip service.
Who manufactured that?
I did.
He's not poor.
He's not a photographer for the Daily Bugle
or any sort of media outlet.
Basically, everything that makes Peter Parker Peter Parker
is gone in the MCU.
Other than jokes, web slinging, and a costume
that's sometimes red and blue.
His adventures really do mimic the Jimmy Olsen Superman's pal
comics from the 1960s.
These comics are always the same.
Jimmy gets into a scrape or some weird adventure,
his inquisitive nature or bumbling acts
complicate matters, and then Superman comes and saves
him, which is exactly what happens in Homecoming.
But instead of Superman, it's Iron Man.
Previously, on Peter screws the pooch.
You sneak around behind my back doing the one
thing I told you not to do.
Spidey on the Avengers was never the main attraction
on the comics.
But, he was his own distinct person,
as opposed to in the MCU where he's basically Iron Man's ward.
But the weird thing about how they build out his placement,
is that Iron Man is his father figure,
without ever really exploring the fact
that they've both lost their dads.
It's less that Peter is lost and needs a father figure,
and more that Iron Man and Peter are put together
as a surrogate father and son, because they're Marvel's two
most popular characters.
Far From Home, as referenced before,
makes the increasingly bizarre plot decision
to give teenage Peter Parker an unstoppable drone army.
Isn't this the whole plot of Avengers Age of Ultron?
Literally, the moral of the movie
is that he's learned he was wrong,
and he's not going to do that anymore.
They decided to give Spidey the exact same story,
but play it for laughs.
Target is Brad Davis.
Initiating strike.
Initiating what now?
This is not a Spider-Man story at all.
Who had this idea?
Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.
They were two of the many writers credited on Homecoming.
And they received solo credit on Far From Home.
And yet, with great mischaracterization,
comes great opportunities for change.
Spider-Man No Way Home is the best live action Spider-Man
film since Spider-Man 2.
The film really celebrates the legacy
and the history of the live action Spider-Man franchises.
That's what everyone wants to talk about with No Way Home.
It's all the cameos, and interconnectedness,
and continuity, but really, the biggest strength of No Way Home
is how writers Chris McKenna and Eric
Sommers took the teenage misfit non Spider-Man
and evolved him into an actual living, breathing Spider-Man.
You know it's a brilliant piece of writing,
when it can juggle the needs of an event picture,
like Spider-Man, No Way Home, the continuity
needs of setting up a multiverse,
and the actual arcs of the cast.
And on top of all of that, giving the MCU Spider-Man
an actual freaking Spider-Man movie to star in.
At its core, No Way Home is a coming of age tale.
It's about the youthful naivete associated with
the I-can-save-everyone viewpoint.
It's about Peter Parker embracing
the idea of self-sacrifice for those people he loves.
Most importantly though, the film
gives MCU Peter his Uncle Ben moment.
During the initial brutal confrontation with the Green
Goblin, Aunt May is badly injured and delivers
the quintessential,
With great power, there must also come great responsibility.
Just prior to dying in Peter's arms.
This is the moment where Peter's character is actually
pushed into realizing that Spider-Man truly
is a heavyweight.
This is what the other MCU Spider-Man
films are so crucially missing.
This crescendos throughout the film to Peter
actually having to make a crushing choice.
He has to choose to sacrifice his relationships with Ned
and MJ in order to keep them safe and out of harm's way.
He chooses to allow them to move on with their lives, free
of his presence.
And it's not a one-time choice.
He has to continue making that sacrifice every day.
Just like he has to continue to be Spider-Man every day.
It's a soul crushingly sad idea.
A perfect Spider-Man status quo.
And then, of course, you have the last beat
of the movie where we see Peter Parker making
his own Spider-Man costume, which
looks like the classic John Romita, Sr. suit.
Utter perfection.
Spider-Man is an enduring icon for a reason.
His timeless struggle between selflessness and the realities
of existence, are universal in their emotional connectivity.
They span generations, walks of life, and cultural backgrounds.
It's this struggle between trying to do the right thing,
and the world working against you,
that provides the foundational conflict
that these stories exist on.
And very few examples of that have
been seen in the MCU's version of the character.
It's been purely coasting off the interconnected universe's
brand loyalty and Tom Holland's immense charisma.
But Chris McKenna and Eric Sommers finally got it right.
They understood the character, and that Spider-Man movies
should be fun, while Spider-Man stories should
What do you think?
Will the inevitable next Tom Holland Spider-Man film
be more in line with the classic status quo of the character?
Why didn't Nicholas Hammond have a cameo in No Way Home?
Let us know your thoughts down below.
And as always, please like and subscribe
for more videos like this from Nerdstalgic.
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