Summary
Tom Holland’sSpider-Manhas forged a distinct path in hisMCUcareer, but it has given rise to many moments that make little sense.The MCU’s Spider-Man timelinebegan inCaptain America: Civil Warafter he was recruited by Team Tony. His youthful energy struck a chord immediately, leading to one of the most successful solo debut movies of any MCU character inSpider-Man: Homecoming. This career would thrive even more over time, as the hero’s third and most recent solo outing inSpider-Man: No Way Homeremains the MCU’s third-highest-grossing movie.
It is safe to say, therefore, that Spider-Man is one of the MCU’s most valuable and beloved characters. Nevertheless, his career is still littered with head-scratching moments that beg elaboration. While there is still plenty of room for Marvel to provide overt answers to these down the line inSpider-Man’s next MCU trilogy, for now, the questions over these ten aspects of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man remain.
All 12 Spider-Man Movies Ranked
Spider-Man has starred in twelve films over four decades. Here’s every Spider-Man movie ranked, including both live-action adventures and animation.
10Peter Never Mentions Uncle Ben
Spider-Man Has Appeared In 5 MCU Movies
As Marvel Comics aficionados are aware, Uncle Ben is central to Peter Parker’s story. Uncle Ben’s death, and the conversation that precedes it, is typically what spurs Peter Parker to become a superhero in the first place. The sequence of events is so ingrained in Spider-Man lore that Sony’s Spider-Verse franchise went so far as to dub it a “canon event” - something that happens in every universe containing a Spider-Man variant.
No Way Home Finally Confirmed Uncle Ben Never Mattered In The MCU
Spider-Man: No Way Home finally confirms that its version of Uncle Ben never mattered, as his role is almost entirely taken over by Aunt May.
So far, the MCU might be the sole exception to that rule.Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is the first Peter Parker on-screen not to express his deep ties to Uncle Ben, or any relationship to speak of. That is despite Uncle Ben appearing to be MCU canon, as Peter Parker’s suitcase inSpider-Man: Far From Homeis embossed with the initials “BFP.” By replacing his father figure with Tony Stark and giving the iconic “With great power” line to Aunt May, Uncle Ben’s absence from Marvel’s main continuity is confusingly conspicuous.
9Peter Gives EDITH To A Stranger Almost Instantly
In Spider-Man: Far From Home
Spider-Man: Far From Homesaw Spider-Man dealing with the aftermath of Tony Stark’s death inAvengers: Endgame. This entailed coming to terms with the loss of his mentor and navigating the notion that he may have to pick up the slack - particularly after he was bequeathed Stark’s technological estate in the form of EDITH. Unfortunately, both challenges were swiftly exploited by the movie’s arch-villain, Quentin Beck/Mysterio, who usurped Tony as a figure for Peter to look up to, before surreptitiously convincing him that EDITH would be better placed in his hands.
EDITH stands for “Even Dead, I’m The Hero.”
The fact that Peter Parker would so swiftly gift access to all of Tony Stark’s satellites and arsenal to a relative stranger is difficult to comprehend. Grief may have played a factor, butPeter Parker is a genius and his severe lapse in judgment when handing over such a dangerous tool to someone he’s known for days is difficult to overlook. Considering there were plenty of other Avengers who were friends with Tony Stark for Peter to turn to in his crisis of confidence compounds the senselessness of the situation.
8Spider-Man’s Realization That New York Needs Him Went Nowhere
In Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man: Homecomingintroduced Peter Parker to the MCU in earnest after his minor appearance inCaptain America: Civil War. Marvel made a smart decision in circumventing his origin story in this manner, instead honing in on his growth into becoming a true, blue (and red) superhero. This culminated in Peter recognizing that he wanted to embody the role of a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man,” thus keeping to the origin story motif as he resolved to turn down the Avengers in favor of focusing on his hometown.
Spider-Man 4may be the second time that Peter Parker finally focuses on street-level, New York-based problems.
That was, at least, until his very next big-screen appearance.Avengers: Infinity Warsaw Spider-Man forego his rediscovered loyalty to New York and all things terrestrial as he sticks himself to the side of a launching spaceshipand undertakes his first-ever Avengers mission with extreme gusto. Any excuse suggesting that he was at least initially protecting New York from the alien invasion flies out the window when considering that he expressly flouts Tony Stark’s instructions to return to Earth and ensures he jets off into space with the Avengers leader anyway.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Cast
Spider-Man: Homecoming follows Peter Parker after the events of Captain America: Civil War as he navigates high school challenges and battles the emergence of a new villain, the Vulture. With mentorship from Tony Stark, Peter strives to prove himself while balancing his responsibilities as Spider-Man and a student.
7Why Didn’t Peter Make Everyone Forget Mysterio’s Fake News?
In Spider-Man: No Way Home
Mysterio’s duplicitous dying message to the world falsely incriminated Peter Parker inSpider-Man: No Way Homewhile revealing him to be Spider-Man. The aftermath drives Peter to beseech Doctor Strange for a spell that will make everyone forget who he is, thus protecting his friends from their association with him. After making too many last-minute alterations to the spell to ensure his loved ones are excluded from the effects,Spider-Man: No Way Homeculminates in Peter having to accept the full weight of the spell, removing him from the memories of everyone he holds dear.
Strange did, after all, use the same spell to cause the sorcerers at Kamar-Taj to forget one event: a full moon party.
All of this could have been avoided if Peter - or Strange, for that matter - had simply changed the target of the spell. By Strange’s own admission,the Runes of Kof-Kol comprise a memory spell that could have removed Mysterio’s message from the minds of the entire planetjust as easily as it removed Peter Parker. Strange did, after all, use the same spell to cause the sorcerers at Kamar-Taj to forget one event: a full moon party.
Every Type Of Magic In The MCU & Which Is Most Powerful
Several different types of magic exist in the world of the MCU. Here’s what they all are, and which one of them is considered the most powerful.
6The MCU’s Peter 1 Mentored Peters 2 And 3
Spider-Man: No Way Homedelivered the reunion that everybody needed by capitalizing on the multiverse and bringing theSpider-Men from every live-action cinematic franchisetogether in Earth-616. They were joined by several legacy villains and banded together to subdue and return the iconic Spider-Man rogues' gallery to their own universes. Towards the climax, the MCU’s Peter Parker was designated “Peter One,” ostensibly leading and rallying the other two in the epic brawl against the villains.
Mysterio was the first to vocalize that the MCU universe is Earth-616, which remains the accurate designation.
While the battle may take place in Earth-616, having Tom Holland’s Peter Parker lead the charge makes little sense (beyond him being the main character, that is).Peter One may be on a team himself, but he is also plainly much younger than the other two Peters, and grossly inexperienced against the villains from their universes. Peter One’s plans may have ultimately been solid, but why the other two Peter Parkers were unable or unwilling to take the lead in the fight against their longtime rivals is baffling.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the trials and tribulations of being a superhero. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) asks for help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) when his identity becomes a problem for the ones he loves. Unfortunately, when the spell goes wrong, Spider-Man will now have to face off with villains such as Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) as Peter finally comes to terms that he can’t run from being Spider-Man. Supported by his close friends and help from an unexpected place (or multiverse), Spider-Man will go toe-to-toe with some of the most legendary foes in his storied history.
5Peter’s Peter Tingle Isn’t Very Good
Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense Took Some Time To Develop
Throughout his MCU career, there have been several instances when Peter Parker has been surprised when he probably shouldn’t have been.Spider-Man: Homecomingsaw him discovered by both Ned and Aunt May despite his attempts to keep his identity under wraps, while his tussle inCaptain America: Civil Warsaw him blindsided by both Cap and Falcon in a one-on-one. Later in his career, Spider-Man is hit by a train and outmaneuvered by Green Goblin’s fateful bombs.
The MCU has yet to refer to Peter’s “Peter tingle” as “spider-sense.”
It goes without saying that his spider-sense doesn’t make Spider-Man untouchable, but theMCU’s Peter is particularly prone to being surprised - which contradicts the point of the power. To his credit, the webslinger has improved as time has progressed - with his ability to keep hold of the Macchina di Kadavus and detect Goblin’s change of personality inSpider-Man: No Way Homebeing standout examples. Still, this is the first franchise in which Spider-Man has had to develop his spider-sense - and if he continues on this trajectory, he may be untouchable after all inSpider-Man 4.
4Mysterio’s Fake News Still Incriminates Spider-Man
In Spider-Man: Far From Home And Spider-Man: No Way Home
Mysterio’s final last-ditch plan was to accuse Spider-Man of killing him and several civilians before exposing Peter Parker at the end ofSpider-Man: Far From Home. Despite Peter’s subsequent legal exoneration, he would struggle to clear his name in the general zeitgeist before Doctor Strange caused everyone to forget Peter. Everyone is still aware of Spider-Man, however, who was last seen donning a new homemade suit to fight crime with his true identity under wraps.
Unfortunately, it was Spider-Man that was accused of killing Mysterio and instructing EDITH to “execute them all,” after a recording was taken out of context. Presumably, this means Spider-Man is still seen as a villain by a large swathe of the global population. If that is the case,he isn’t exactly in a much better situation than when people knew that he was also Peter Parker, as Spider-Man will have many of the exact same associates who might suffer from his bad reputation.
3Spider-Man Was Able To Defeat Doctor Strange (To Almost Disastrous Results)
Spider-Man: No Way Homewas replete with many mind-bending moments, especially that featuring Doctor Strange as he pulls Peter through the mirror dimension. This scene saw the two fighting over the Macchina di Kadavus as Strange supposedly pulled out all the stops to keep it from falling into Peter’s possession. The fight ends with Peter using his knowledge of geometry in the mirror dimension to ensnare Strange before leaving him trapped there without a sling ring.
The fact that it fell to another inexperienced teenager, Ned, to free him adds insult to injury.
Though he is no longer Sorcerer Supreme (on a technicality),Doctor Strange is still one of the MCU’s most powerful characters. Consequently, his knowledge of the mirror dimension is tantamount to Peter’s genius-level knowledge of geometry. Although Peter arguably has a physical edge over his elder,it is bewildering how Doctor Strange allowed a young stranger to the realm he is deeply familiar with to completely outwit him and potentially leave him trapped foreverin another dimension. The fact that it fell to another inexperienced teenager, Ned, to free him adds insult to injury.
2Being Tony Stark’s Protégé
Spider-Man Is Positioned As Iron Man’s Heir
Ever since his introduction inCaptain America: Civil War, Peter Parker has been inexorably tied to Iron Man. His debut solo movie was essentially a team-up, with Tony Stark featuring heavily in the marketing and throughout the film as Peter’s mentor and father figure. It is only now, withSpider-Man 4on the horizon, that Peter Parker looks poised to step out of Iron Man’s shadow, indicated by his homemade suit at the end ofSpider-Man: No Way Home.
A convincing fan theory suggests Peter Parker can make his super-suit because his powers extend to the ability to weave thread like a spider.
These deep ties with Tony Stark are not only unprecedented but somewhat insulting to Peter Parker’s own cinematic legacy - especially with regard to Uncle Ben’s role.The move to make Peter Tony Stark’s protégé is especially baffling considering the fact that both Rhodey and Ironheart exist. While Riri Williams isn’t exactly Iron Man’s sidekick, it would have made much more sense for the MCU to wield its creative license in her direction than Peter’s, who will only now start forging his path independently of Tony.
1The Implications Of Strange’s Spell
Spider-Man: No Way Homeonly spent a few minutes exploring the implications ofDoctor Strange’s successful attempt at using the Runes of Kof-Kol. After sending all those who knew Peter Parker in their respective universes back to their homes, a small time-jump then preceded Peter preparing to remind MJ and Ned of his identity. Upon approaching and seeing that they do not recognize him, but are happy nonetheless, Peter resolves that he should continue being entirely anonymous.
The implications of having complete anonymity in modern society are pretty extreme. The scene leaves countless questions unanswered, not least of which beinghow people will remember interactions directly involving Peter. While some, such as MJ and Ned’s contributions to sending multiversal Spider-Man villains home, can be explained away as interactions with Spider-Man, the same rationalization is harder to justify when it comes to explaining whySpider-Man, not Peter, was on a school trip to Europe, or even at a relative’s birthday party.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is the name given to several individuals who have employed a spider-moniker throughout Marvel Comics. Typically gaining their powers through a bite from a radioactive spider, the different Spider-Man heroes employ super-strength, agility, and intellect while utilizing webbing to swing and tangle up their foes. The most notable of these Spider-Men is Peter Parker, who remains one of the most popular superheroes throughout the world.
