Spider-Man 2 Told A Better Peter Parker Story Than The MCU Has

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 told a better Peter Parker story than the MCU. Back in early 2015, Marvel and Sony struck an unprecedented deal that brought Spider-Man into the MCU. Tom Holland was cast as the rebooted Spider-Man, and by any measure, it’s been a remarkable success. Regardless, the MCU version of the iconic web-slinger has yet to live up to Raimi’s take on the character.

The MCU’s Peter Parker is very different to any previous big-screen incarnation of the wall-crawler. This version is a socially inept teenager who was born into a world of superheroes, an Iron Man fanboy who was saved by Tony Stark when he was just a child and ultimately became his super-powered protege. The MCU’s Spider-Man has already swung higher than any prior Spider-Man, battling Thanos on the surface of Titan in Avengers: Infinity War and joining with an army of superheroes in Avengers: Endgame.

And yet, as spectacular as the MCU’s Spider-Man may be, he’s never quite lived up to the legacy of Peter Parker. In fact, looking back, Spider-Man 2 — the best of the Sam Raimi movies — told a better Peter Parker story than any seen in the MCU to date.

Peter Parker Is His Own Worst Enemy

Marvel Studios has modeled their Spider-Man on Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s earliest comics, in which he was just a teenager in high school. This period is continually referred to in the movies and TV shows, but curiously enough in the comics it lasted for just three years. With the benefit of hindsight, Lee felt that that was a mistake; it was born of the fact he never expected Spider-Man stories to still be told decades after his creation. But, crucially, Marvel hasn’t quite honored the original design.

In the comics, Spider-Man is essentially a curse to Peter Parker. He didn’t acquire super-powers of choice, and he didn’t initially use his powers wisely; Spider-Man only learned the lesson of power and responsibility the hard way, when he failed to catch a criminal who later killed his beloved Uncle Ben. This origin story immediately set the tone for Spider-Man’s adventures; Peter’s personal life and his superhero career would collide time and again. Peter’s love life was a mess because he was always running out on dates, he struggled to make ends meet financially, and he earned a reputation for being undependable and falling asleep in class due to his exhaustion. Whatever happiness Peter Parker found proved fleeting; Gwen Stacy was killed, his marriage to Mary Jane Watson was written out of continuity when he struck a literal deal with the Devil, and his brief stint as a billionaire fell apart when he was forced to destroy his own company.

Peter Parker has always been a problem for Spider-Man too, because the wall-crawler has struggled to deal with enemies who have a personal connection to him: the first Green Goblin was the father of his best friend Harry, who became the second Goblin; Hydro-Man is obsessed with Mary Jane Watson; the Lizard is his college professor. The emotional tie between Spider-Man and his enemies is the crucial reason the wall-crawler’s rogues’ gallery is considered one of the strongest in comics. Meanwhile, Peter may be smart, but he lacks common sense and wears his heart on his sleeve, meaning he’s often proved easy to manipulate.

Spider-Man 2 Demonstrates The Spider-Man/Peter Parker Dichotomy Perfectly

Spider-Man 2 may have come out in 2004, but it’s still considered by many to be the best live-action Spider-Man film to date. It hasn’t aged perfectly, of course; the first act is a little slow when compared to modern superhero blockbusters, and there are far too many screaming girls. Still, though, this is the movie that has best captured the conflict between Peter Parker and Spider-Man. When the film begins, Peter has moved out of Aunt May’s house, and he’s attempting to rent an apartment on his own. Unfortunately he’s struggling to hold down a job as a pizza delivery guy and photographer, because he’s always running late, and he has a rep for being lazy at college and even falling asleep in class. Peter’s romance with Mary Jane is a mess, because however much he cares for her, Peter feels he can’t bring her into Spider-Man’s world.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Peter Parker may try to live by that code, but in truth it could be reworded: “With great power comes great guilt.” Viewed through this lens, Peter’s refusal to tell Mary Jane in Raimi’s film feels almost like an act of penance; in part it’s driven by fear, because he’s terrified Mary Jane will be discovered by his enemies and she’ll wind up in harm’s way. Little by little, though, Peter’s two worlds — his civilian identity and his superhero life — come crashing together. Aunt May delivers a speech in which she celebrates Spider-Man’s heroism, and drops heavy hints she may well have figured out his secret identity to boot. Then, in a shocking twist, Peter’s worst fears come to pass: Mary Jane is kidnapped, used as a hostage to draw Spider-Man out.

The third act is a terrific one, because — as good the action may be — it’s really all about the character. With the entire city in danger, Spider-Man is forced to unmask in order to reach Doctor Octopus’ humanity. He does so in spite of the fact Mary Jane is nearby, and she sees his face, finally learning the truth. In thematic terms, this serves as the resolution of Spider-Man’s entire character arc, because it is only by accepting his dual identity that Spider-Man can save the day. There is no going back.

The MCU’s Spider-Man Hasn’t Fully Embraced The Responsibility Theme

The MCU has only paid lip-service to this theme. Tom Holland made his debut as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, and it carefully avoided both the famous “power and responsibility” line and any overt references to Uncle Ben. “When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t,” Peter told Tony Stark, “and then the bad things happen… they happen because of you.” The pattern held with the MCU to date, to the extent Uncle Ben has yet to even be mentioned, and Spider-Man has seemed driven more by excitement and enthusiasm than any sense of responsibility.

It’s true Peter’s decision to be Spider-Man has cost him — but the price has never been particularly high. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, he left his friends in the lurch tracking down stolen tech rather than being on-hand for the science competition, but they forgot all about it in the excitement of an accident averted by Spider-Man. Later, Peter ditched Liz at the homecoming dance — but they ended on positive terms regardless. Aunt May discovered the truth about Peter’s secret identity, but she was fine for it; when he disappeared to space to battle Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, his vanishing act was forgotten in the chaos of the snap shortly after; and even in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the awkwardness with Mary Jane was brought to a swift end because she’d deduced Peter’s secret.

Marvel Studios, of course, has always been reluctant to repeat a story that’s already been told; that’s the reason they’ve reinvented Spider-Man in the first place. But the point isn’t just that Marvel has avoided telling the same story; they’ve pretty much dropped the theme. Until now, there has been no real focus on the personal cost Peter Parker faces because he suits up as Spider-Man, and this double-life has seemed to be something of a cinch. It’s quite a remarkable departure from the standard Spider-Man tropes, and it effectively means Tom Holland isn’t quite playing the Peter Parker of the comics at all. That may well change; ironically, Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s post-credits scene, which saw Spider-Man’s secret identity revealed to the world, coinciding with his being framed as an international terrorist, may switch things up. Hopefully it won’t be long before the MCU’s Spider-Man becomes a little more like the Peter Parker of the comics.