Alanna Gillis

Opinions Editor

Amg7393@psu.edu

The version of Spiderman that the Marvel Cinematic Universe popularized joined the cinematic universe in 2016 in “Captain America: Civil War”. He quickly became a fan favorite, and got his origin story in “Spiderman: Homecoming” just a year later. With “Spiderman: No Way Home” being the sixth-highest-grossing movie of all time, it is worth revisiting this new, iconic Spiderman’s story. 

“Spiderman: Homecoming” introduced viewers to this new version of Peter Parker. Played by Tom Holland, who looks the part of a teenager, Parker must navigate through the highs and lows of high school while also juggling his alter-ego. He faces two big evils in “Homecoming”: an underground criminal organization headed by The Vulture who is selling weapons modified with alien technology, and finding a date to the homecoming dance. 

He spends the beginning of this movie waiting for Happy Hogan to give him another mission from Tony Stark, who recruited him to fight on Team Iron Man in “Captain America: Civil War”. Tony does not want to involve the kid in any new missions, and is only brought into the fold of Peter vs. The Vulture when Tony uses a remotely-piloted Iron Man suit to rescue Peter. 

The rest of this movie sees Peter attempting to balance his secret identity and his superhero duties, which seem to consistently get the people he cares about in danger. The final battle of this movie is fought on a flaming beach after Peter prevented The Vulture, who he has discovered is his homecoming date’s dad, from hijacking it. In the end, Peter leaves The Vulture tied up with a note reading, “sorry about your plane”. He must then face the consequences of his actions: the girl he likes is moving as a result of her father’s crimes. 

The second Spiderman movie of the MCU is “Spiderman: Far From Home”. In between this movie and the first one, Spiderman has fought Thanos and lost yet another father figure in the form of Tony Stark. Peter gets to travel to Europe as part of a school trip, but just because he’s left his neighborhood doesn’t mean he won’t face villains. This movie has two waves of villains, the first being elemental monsters from another dimension, and the second being Mysterio. Parker also faces a new development in his love life, with a growing crush on Zendaya’s MJ. 

Parker doesn’t realize Mysterio’s true evil intentions at first, as he is introduced to Quentin Beck by Nick Fury as someone who could help him fight the elementals. Throughout the process of fighting the elementals, Parker bonds with Beck, and eventually ends up giving him a piece of Stark technology called E.D.I.T.H.

However, it gets revealed that Mysterio was causing the elemental attacks and had given himself “powers” using drone technology. He is an ex-employee of Stark’s and harbors anger toward him and his creation. His goal was to overshadow Tony Stark as Iron Man and become the world’s best hero. He and Peter battle it out in the Tower Bridge observation area. Beck panics and calls for all of his drones to fire on Parker, but he is able to us a drone as a shield and cause another misfire, which results in Beck being shot in the abdomen. Parker reclaims E.D.I.T.H. and calls off the drones that are threatening the people of London. Beck is assumed to have died of his injuries and Parker is able to reunite with his classmates. He even gets kissed by MJ, who figured out his alter-ego earlier in the movie. 

Once everyone returns safely stateside, the movie ends on an incredible cliffhanger. MJ and Parker are on a swing-around-the-city, when J. Jonah Jameson reveals Spiderman’s secret identity. 

The next section will contain spoilers for “Spiderman: No Way Home” 

The next movie, which was released in December 2021, picks up right where “Far From Home” left off. “Spiderman: No Way Home” is the first time that Spiderman’s identity has ever been revealed to the public on the silver screen. Things escalate quickly, with people blaming Parker for Beck’s death, among other things. Parker and his friends and family get interrogated by the United States Department of Damage Control. 

Eventually, with the help of Matt Murdock, played by Charlie Cox of the Netflix series “Daredevil”, Parker’s charges get dropped. He, MJ, and Ned return to Midtown High amidst the controversy and paparazzi. However, things go even further south for Parker and his friends when, because of their association, they are rejected from every college they applied to, including their dream one. 

Seeking a solution to this problem, Parker visits Doctor Strange at the Sanctum Sanctorum. He requests that Strange use magic to make his superhero identity a secret again, and despite Wong’s warnings, Strange agrees to do the spell. During his attempt of the spell, Peter keeps adding addendums as he tries to include all of the people he wants to remember that he is Spiderman. This causes the spell to become unstable and forces Strange to contain within a magical containment system. 

Now left with the only option of intercepting an MIT admissions officer, Peter catches up with her on the highway. However, in the midst of his attempt to appeal Jones’ and Leeds’ applications, he is ambushed by Doctor Octopus. Doc Oc’s arrival elicited quite the response from theatre-goers, as he is portrayed by Alfred Molina, who played him in Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman movies. However, Parker is able to use the nanites in his suit to take control of Doc Oc’s tentacles. 

However, Doc Oc isn’t the only cross-dimensional bad guy that attacks Peter on this bridge. The Green Goblin also appears, played by Willem Dafoe, who was the same character in Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman movies. 

Doctor Strange comes to the rescue by transporting the two villains from the bridge and into the basement of the Sanctum, where he already has Lizard in a magical cell. Strange explains that these villains are not from Parker’s dimension, but that they were drawn to it by the failed spell because they know Spiderman’s identity is Peter Parker. 

Spiderman is then recruited to hunt down any other “visitors” who may have switched dimensions due to the spell, and is given a magical suit upgrade to help with the task. With Jones’ and Leeds’ help, he located Electro along a wooded powerline. When it seems that Electro has the upper hand and will best Parker, Sandman arrives and helps Parker. Parker is able to use the magic in his suit to send Electro into the mystical cages back at the Sanctum. Sandman is then also transported into a cell of his own.

Strange reveals to Parker that these men are doomed to die fighting Spiderman, and that he intends to send them back into their own dimensions for the benefit of the greater multiverse. Parker, ever the do-gooder, disagrees with this plan. He gets into a fight with Strange, and is able to trap him in a spell loop without his Sling Ring. 

Spiderman then takes the villains to Happy Hogan’s condo, where he attempts to reverse their powers. He is successful up until the Green Goblin persona takes over Norman Osborne and he attacks Spiderman. The other villains escape, leaving Spiderman and Aunt May to deal with the Green Goblin. After beating up Spiderman, May is able to use the antidote Parker worked up on the Green Goblin; however, it doesn’t work and May is struck by the Goblin Glider. The Green Goblin releases two Pumpkin Bombs, which explode around the pair. Parker attempts to find May in the rubble. He is able to, and thinks they will be okay. However, just as DODC authorities arrive, May passes away from her injuries, right in front of Peter. 

Parker is grief-stricken, his hurt made worse by the lies being spread by J. Jonah Jameson that Spiderman should have done more to save May. Jones, worried about Parker, prepares to complete the steps that Strange set in place that would undo the spell and send the villains home. However, before she is able to, Leeds opens a portal using Strange’s Sling Ring. He asked the portal for Peter Parker, and the portal opens into an alley where a suited-up Spiderman walks through the portal. 

This is the part of the movie where viewers really lost their minds and the theater exploded in cheers: this version of Peter Parker takes off his mask and is revealed to be Andrew Garfield’s character. When Leeds tries the spell again, the Spiderman that walks through the portal is played by Tobey Maguire. 

The group eventually find Holland’s Parker on top of Midtown High contemplating everything that he just went through. Eventually, they convince him to continue on with the original plan of healing the villains. The group returns to the laboratory at Midtown to creating the healing objects for the remaining villains. This sequence included some of the funniest quips, or should I say “thwips”, of the movie. 

Once that part of their plan is complete, the group place a call with the Daily Bugle to lure the villains to the Statue of Liberty, where the battle will take place and the three Spidermen will heal the villains of their various ailments. As they prepare for the battle, the Spidermen undergo some brotherly bonding and give each other code names: Peter One, Holland’s Spiderman, Peter Two, Maguire’s Spiderman, and Peter Three, Garfield’s Spiderman. 

Eventually the group is able to subdue most of the villains, but the Green Goblin slipped a Pumpkin Bomb into the spell containment unit. It explodes and releases the unstable spell. Strange struggles to hold the rifts in the multiverse together as Peter One faces the Green Goblin. Blinded by rage, he begins to lay into the villain, assailing him with blow after blow, even after the villain is sufficiently downed. Peters Two and Three stop Parker before he does something he can’t come back from. 

All the while, Strange is struggling to keep the multiverse from being torn to shreds. Holland’s Peter Parker comes up with a heart-wrenching solution: Strange has to make a spell that will cause everyone forget Peter Parker exists. Parker and MJ share one last kiss before the spell takes effect. 

The very end of the movie shows Parker, now alone in his new, small apartment, preparing to retake the mantle of Spiderman.