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Tom Holland is the weakest Spider-Man. Everything compelling about the character and ESPECIALLY his supporting cast has been neutered and watered down. Nothing about Tom’s version stands out besides him being in the MCU, and Tom deserves better bc he really is a good actor. https://twitter.com/spideyupdated/status/1380107207912652800
The reason Tobey and Andrew are better Spideys (to me) is that Tobey’s movies capture the lighthearted Ditko era Spidey very well but also heavily center on the consequences being Spidey had for Peter. Andrew’s films do this too, but he is a more modern (Ultimate) type Spidey.
Tobey’s Peter is admittedly more introverted than he should be, but Parker Luck has never been shown with as many stakes as in those movies. You feel the toll it takes on him constantly and when he makes selfish decisions, he pays for them. But the sense of duty is always there.
Andrew’s Spidey contextualizes Parker Luck through his relationship with Gwen. Being with her is what he wants, but he can’t bc of her father’s dying wish and his own guilt/fear for her safety. Again, though, he makes the selfish decision, which results in the ultimate tragedy.
Now, the point isn’t that he makes bad decisions, but rather, he is constantly paying the price for being Spider-Man. And it’s a heavy one. It’s not glamorous, nor is it very rewarding and no matter what Peter does, life will always be trying to kick him down a peg. But...
...what makes him a hero is that he perseveres through it all anyway, placing others’ well being before his own.
So how does Tom Holland’s Spidey tackle this topic?
Veeeeery shallowly.
So how does Tom Holland’s Spidey tackle this topic?
Veeeeery shallowly.
First and foremost, Tom’s Peter faces very little consequences for his actions. He (indirectly, but still) causes a ferry to be destroyed, calls in a drone strike on a bus full of his classmates and gives an AI with access to hella high tech weaponry to someone he hardly knows.
And what are the consequences of these actions?
- he gets his AI suit taken away.
That’s pretty much it. None of these grave mistakes hold any real significant bearing on him as a character, and all he learns from Beck is essentially “stranger danger.”
- he gets his AI suit taken away.
That’s pretty much it. None of these grave mistakes hold any real significant bearing on him as a character, and all he learns from Beck is essentially “stranger danger.”
Not to mention that basically all of his supporting cast find out that Peter is Spider-Man with little to no effort, and this does not change their relationship with him in any way whatsoever. Two of the most important moments you can have in a Spidey story are end credit gags
And it’s especially gonna blow if they just reverse everything using Strange in No Way Home, further driving home the point that this Peter does not face any real consequences for being Spider-Man.
That’s not even getting into the Tony stuff.
That’s not even getting into the Tony stuff.
I think the most prevalent issue with Tom’s Spidey is his lack of a driving principle - namely, Uncle Ben. Now, we don’t need to see him die again, but Ben Parker is Peter’s primary moral center and to take that away is robbing the character of his central thematic statement:
I know that the real reason for this is because this was the second reboot of the character coming in only 4 years after the last one, and they wanted to avoid repetition, but if you’re going to tell a Spidey story, that’s the price you have to pay. It can’t just be left out.
You can’t just omit perhaps the single most important part of the Spidey mythos (actually they ditched everything but May, but regardless) and expect the story to still be true to the character and impactful. At a point it ceases to be Spidey and becomes something else entirely.
