WARNING: THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS! STOP READING IF YET TO WATCH NWH!
*Disclaimer*: Yes, I still like Tom Holland's Spider-Man
On December 16, Spider-Man: No Way Home opened in theaters around the world. The box office movie has been anticipated for over a year, and its safe to say it exceeded expectations with the third highest global box office debut ever at over $600M. The movie stands behind only Avengers: Infinity War (over $640M) and the highest grossing movie of all time: Avengers: Endgame (over $1.2B).
NWH is a certified hit for one obvious reason: the return of legendary past Spidermen and their counterpart villains. With that being said, NWH is amazing because Tom Holland’s Spidey actually becomes Spider-Man and rescinds his title as Iron Boy Jr.
LACK OF AUTHENTICITY
In anticipation for NWH's release, I (like many others) rewatched the older Spider-Man films. The worst kept secret in Hollywood was that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were returning in NWH, so I wanted to have a fresh mind when it came to their characters and how each may have evolved. Upon rewatching all of the films in their entirety, I got off of my high school high horse (I was a freshman when Spider-Man: Homecoming was released) and felt a newfound disappointment with Tom Holland’s Spidey. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's takes on the legendary hero felt real, authentic and having experienced true hardship in their lives. Tom’s character felt too childish, safe, and not having not gone through anything grueling, especially when it came to what the Spider-Man legacy really is. I still loved Tom's Spidey, but he felt like an obvious outlier in comparison to the others.
THE SUIT SITUATION
Let me just start off with his suit. Is it insanely cool…yes. Are the abilities within the suit insanely fire…yes. Is it the Spider-Man brand to have a multiBILLION-dollar suit that can do everything for you…NO! In a scene from Homecoming, there was a moment where Tom's suit told him how to gain access into the Washington Monument to save his friends. Um...what? Why isn’t Spider-Man finding a way to access the monument through his own intelligence. Part of the Spider-Man brand to me is using intelligence as a resource out of rough situations.
Imagine if in Spider-Man 2, when Goblin forces Tobey's Spider-Man to choose between MJ and the group of children, that his suit had talked to him throughout and calculated what exactly he must do to be able to save both.
To me, that would completely take away from the chaos of the moment and it diminishes the brilliance that is supposed to be Spider-Man finding a way to get out of it. Like Spider-Man is a known nerd, he should be using his head to figure something out not asking a built-in Siri on the fly.
In addition, in Spider-Man: Far From Home when Tom's Spidey is constructing his suit while listening to AC/DC, I honestly couldn't stop laughing. It’s literally as if you’re watching an Iron Man prodigy at work. It's completely on par with something Tony Stark would do. Spider-Man shouldn’t be choosing what different kinds of million dollar web shooters he wants nor should he be waiting for his suit to finish downloading…..I mean cmon! It’s just not on par with the Spider-Man brand, and it’s partially why he didn’t feel like Spider-Man to me.
The suit aspect is annoying, but the main reason why Tom's portrayal had felt like an outsider was the fact that he never had gone through anything tough. Tobey and Andrew experienced losses and both had to navigate their journey as Spider-Man through them. After seeing Homecoming and FFH again, this was never felt with Tom.
TOBEY'S HARDSHIP
When it comes to Tobey's Spidey, he lost his Uncle Ben and had to deal with the fact that he felt like he held some responsibility. He had a super complicated relationship with his MJ, always dealing with the mental gymnastics of being with the woman he’s always loved or to let her go. He always had to worry about the safety of his Aunt May, who by his third film had already been attacked by both Green Goblin and Doc Ock.
Along with this, he lost his relationship with his best friend Harry because of the fact Harry felt Spider-Man and ultimately Peter killed his father, even though it wasn’t the case. Even though they mended their relationship, Harry ultimately died in his arms. By the end of his journey, Tobey’s Spidey had to come to terms with the decision that he forgave his uncle’s killer for what he did, even though he could’ve continued to fight him or never forgave him at all.
ANDREW'S HARDSHIP
With Andrew's Spidey, never truly getting raised by his parents and them leaving at a young age stuck with him forever. His Uncle Ben died as well, with him feeling some sort of responsibility. He always held the burden of Gwen’s father dying and telling him to not get Gwen involved in his work, but then disregarding his wishes which eventually led to Gwen's death as well. It's clear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and in NWH how deeply Gwen's death has effected him.
It all ties into the Spider-Man theme and the coming of age aspect where you experience loss and hardship in your life, you feel in some way responsible, and you have to navigate it while also having this supreme power. The question is asked: What are you going to do with this power and responsibility of yours? The problem with Tom’s Spider-Man is up until NWH, this hardship aspect isn’t present.
WHERE'S THE REAL DANGER IN HOMECOMING AND FFH?
In Homecoming, Tom's Spidey is firmly under the wing of Tony Stark , granted a super high-tech suit, with great friends and support system by his side. The worst Tom’s Spider-Man has to experience in Homecoming is the fact that Stark took back his multibillion-dollar suit and his love interest's father was the bad guy he was after. Even with Vulture as a villain (Michael Keaton is great!), you never actually feel like Spider-Man is in real danger. Why? Because he’s not.
If anything goes wrong or he makes the wrong decision, Tony Stark is right there to save the day. Tom’s Spidey went looking for trouble and who actually saved the people on the ferry? Iron Man. If Vulture did end up beating Tom in their battle (and it never felt like he was going to), all Happy Hogan has to do is call Stark and Vulture is toast.
If Tobey's Spidey lost to Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman and Venom, then all hope was surely lost. If Andrew's Spidey lost to Dr. Connors Lizard or Electro, humanity and the city were going to be drastically effected. With Tom, there was no feeling of hardship or urgency to win the battle because at the end of the day, Tom’s Spidey had the greatest support system and Avenger behind him and him losing wasn't very impactful.
I felt this again while watching FFH. Tom’s Spidey isn’t going through anything truly rough. Mysterio is threatening, sure, but does it ever truly feel like anybody is in danger and he could truly harm anybody? Not really. And once again, Tom’s Spidey has a piggy back support system with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. As soon as Nick Fury and Maria Hill learn about Mysterio’s lies, the battle already feels like it’s been won. His friends are always safe, Aunt May is always safe, everything is always SAFE. He’s not being put through the ringer, he’s not having to make choices that are very impactful, he’s not SPIDERMAN….until he became him in NWH.
FINALLY, HE'S THE MAN...
In NWH, Tom's Spidey finally becomes Spider-Man. He finally gets put through hell, and has to make choices and decisions that can impact a lot of people’s lives. With Aunt May dying and his girlfriend, best friend and ultimately the world forgetting who he is, he nor longer has a piggy back support system anymore: he's on his own. Now living in a little apartment with a crime tracker seeking to help others, he finally becomes that hero who is just focused on doing what’s right. He’s not wearing a multibillion-dollar suit that can do things for him anymore, and by the end of the film we see he’s crafted his own suit from scratch and is swinging through NYC (how many times has he done this again?)
He’s not the little kid anymore who hasn’t been through anything. Ultimately, he is a man now. He is finally Spider-MAN, not Iron Boy Jr or some kind of prodigy. He has finally had that hardship story arc that is such a staple to who Spider-Man is as a superhero. He is finally behaving like a classic Spider-Man. All the weak points of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man were finally put to rest in NWH, and it makes the movie as a whole that much sweeter.