Summary
- Peter Parker learns responsibility through mistakes, often causing more harm than good.
- MCU Spider-Man is more focused on fixing his errors than stopping crime, creating chaos.
- Peter's naive actions lead to major consequences, showcasing his growth and lessons learned.
There’s no question about Tom Holland's Spider-Man being a good guy, but he might be more trouble than he’s worth. His character always develops by learning through mistakes, but it seems to have come at the cost of causing more damage than he’s prevented. Whether fans like or dislike the MCU's Peter Parker is a matter of personal preference, but as J. Jonah Jameson would say, Spider-Man might just be a "public menace."
All heroes make mistakes and become better by overcoming them, especially Spider-Man in all his film and comic book storylines. However, the MCU’s "Home" trilogy shows a version of the web-slinging superhero who seems more busy fixing the problems he creates than stopping neighborhood crime. That said, every coin has two sides, and it’s important to understand why this perception of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man exists to give him a distinct identity.
Spider-Man 4's Multiversal Story Can Still Find A Way To Feel Fresh
Spider-Man 4 should take cues from the Spider-Verse movies to blend street-level action with multiversal elements to satisfy all fans.
Traditionally, it’s canon for Peter Parker to come across as a nerd or geek, but Tom Holland adds extra charm with his bumbling, clumsy demeanor. However, this clumsiness often seeps into his superhero duties to unintentionally create chaos. In all his standalone films, MCU Peter has to learn responsibility the hard way by fixing the mess he’s caused. A superhero is all about saving lives in danger, but this one often finds himself as the root cause of the very situations that put people at risk. There are plenty of such problematic examples across Jon Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy, but they usually come with reasonable explanations or good payoffs to justify his behavior.
With great power comes great responsibility.
The Staten Island Ferry Incident in Homecoming
In his first solo MCU adventure as Spider-Man, Peter Parker is as naive and eager as they come. He is desperate to prove himself to Tony Stark, and his actions reflect his need for validation. For instance, Peter tries to stop Adrian Toomes (Vulture) and his illegal weapons trade on his own, but it backfires spectacularly. The result? The Staten Island Ferry gets torn in half. Thankfully, Stark intervenes to save lives and prevents Peter from making things worse.
Ironically, this isn’t the first time Tony had to bail Peter out in the same movie. He had already sent his Iron Man suit to rescue him after his parachute malfunctioned. Frustrated, Stark grounds Peter by taking away his suit, but this sets up a crucial challenge: Peter must now take down the Vulture in his old, homemade Spider-Man suit, with some help from the “guy in the chair”, Ned. In the end, all is forgiven and young Spidey has learned his lesson, but at the cost of a massive ferry accident.
Blindly Trusting Mysterio in Far From Home
Before blaming Peter for his actions in Spider-Man: Far From Home, it's essential to consider that he was reeling from Tony Stark’s death. The shoes of his mentor were clearly too big for him to fill, and it's only fair that he tried to escape his responsibilities. That being said, Peter outdoes his previous naïveté by literally handing over Stark’s eyeglasses to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck (Mysterio) as a gift. With this act, Mysterio gains complete control of the AI E.D.I.T.H., as well as all of Stark Industries’ databases and orbital weapons inventory.
Mysterio is entirely responsible for the collateral damage caused by his holographic illusion attacks to present himself as a hero. But it’s still Peter’s fault for handing over the reins to someone he had just met. His actions place his friends directly in Beck's line of fire and puts the rest of the world in imminent danger as well. Peter doesn’t let the situation escalate further, but it was still a close call, especially knowing how his identity is later exposed, causing multiversal repercussions. However, this aligns with his character development, as explained by Jon Watts in a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Peter's ready for a vacation at the beginning of this movie, to say the least. This film is about the world telling him, 'It's time for you to step up and grow up, kid,' and he's saying, 'But I still want to be a kid and go on vacation.'
Opening the Multiverse in No Way Home
This one makes it all the more difficult to defend Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, but in hindsight, it was a practical writing step to allow the now-iconic Spider-Man crossover event. Asking Doctor Strange to cast a spell to reverse people’s memories and keep his identity secret again doesn’t sound that bad at first. However, the fact that Peter does this because he and his friends were denied admission to MIT borders on selfishness and incompetence. In fact, it's his clumsy alterations to the spell in the middle of the incantation that corrupt it and ultimately opened the multiverse.
Where does one even begin with the damage caused here? Peter’s actions bring back not one but five Spider-Man villains into his dimension, and he also ends up losing his closest family member, Aunt May. This is arguably the harshest consequence he has faced in all of his MCU appearances, but the lesson he learns here also hits the hardest. In the end, Peter Parker’s identity is erased from everyone’s memory, including that of his loved ones, like Ned and MJ. He ultimately overcomes his personal needs for the greater good, and learns what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Clearly, each MCU Spider-Man movie aims for a new take on the hero’s “great power, great responsibility” trope. Compared to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s roles, Tom Holland’s version seems more tied up with damage control than saving lives or figuring out his love life. However, the upcoming Spider-Man 4 movie may introduce a new version of Peter Parker – one who is calmer and more seasoned in his approach to saving the day, and, of course, more accountable for his actions.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
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- Release Date
- December 17, 2021
Spider-Man fans pay attention because No Way Home is out in Limited Edition SteelBook. With beautiful packaging, this is a collector's dream, combining the thrilling narrative of Peter Parker's multiverse adventures with a visually striking and exclusive SteelBook design. In the movie, Tom Holland reprises his role as Spider-Man, navigating a web of realities alongside his iconic counterparts. This limited edition promises fans an immersive experience, blending top-tier superhero action with a visually stunning and unique Steelbook presentation, making it a must-have for avid Spider-Man enthusiasts.
- Cast
- Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire
- Runtime
- 148 Minutes
- Director
- Jon Watts
- Writers
- Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
- Main Genre
- Superhero
- Box Office
- 1.9 Billion
- Budget
- $200 Million
