Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Marvel Studios refused to officially confirm the involvement of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but there had been enough leaked set photos that fans went in expecting a live-action Spider-Verse. Now that the movie has hit theaters and become the cultural sensation it promised to be, the months of rumors and speculation have finally been validated.
While No Way Home remains focused on Holland’s Spidey and the culmination of his MCU arc, the movie takes plenty of time to honor all three generations of Spider-Men with callbacks and emotional closure.
Tobey Maguire
The Ultimate Underdog
Maguire’s Peter Parker was always an underdog in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. It’s one of the biggest reasons that the audience always rooted for him: he was a hero constantly striving to do the right thing despite everything in the world being against him. He was never rewarded for doing the right thing and was actually often punished for it, but it never deterred his belief in doing the right thing.
No Way Home honors this tradition with the powerful moment in which Maguire’s Spidey saves Holland’s Spidey from making the worst mistake of his life: killing the Green Goblin out of vengeful rage. And the reward that Maguire gets for this triumphant moment of heroism is a stab wound in the abdomen – courtesy of the man whose life he just saved.
Plenty Of Callbacks (And A Couple Of Memes)
With the return of Maguire’s Spidey and most of his villains, the MCU team took as many opportunities as possible to call back to the Raimi trilogy with Easter eggs and repeated lines. There’s a fun reference to Peter’s notoriously bad back (complete with Garfield’s Spidey cracking it for him) and the heartwarming revelation that he and Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane managed to make their relationship work.
The No Way Home writers even included a couple of quotes that have since become popular memes, like Willem Dafoe’s “I’m something of a scientist myself” and Alfred Molina’s “The power of the sun… in the palm of my hand.”
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Uncle Ben’s dying words to Peter Parker were first immortalized on the big screen when Cliff Robertson uttered the shortened version, “With great power comes great responsibility,” to Maguire in Raimi’s original Spider-Man movie.
Since Peter lives his life by this wisdom in the comics, Spidey fans have always been a little miffed that the MCU has barely acknowledged Ben’s existence. No Way Home makes up for this misstep by giving the full version of the line – “With great power, there must also come great responsibility” – to Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May as she dies in Holland’s arms.
Andrew Garfield
Glimpses Of A Third Movie
Sadly, Garfield’s tenure as Spider-Man was cut short after the underwhelming box office returns from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and an offer that Sony couldn’t refuse from Marvel Studios. As a result, Garfield’s character arc as Peter Parker was left hanging.
In No Way Home, the writers included a few hints at where The Amazing Spider-Man 3 might’ve gone. It sounds like the unproduced threequel could’ve been surprisingly dark as it explored the aftermath of Gwen’s death.
“You’re Amazing!”
Some of the most fun moments in No Way Home are when the three Spider-Men are waiting for the villains to show up at the Statue of Liberty, trading stories of their crimefighting endeavors.
When Garfield’s Spidey feels inadequate because the other Spider-Men have fought aliens and he only ever fought “a Russian armed in a mechanical rhino suit,” Maguire’s Spidey lifts him up and assures him, “You’re amazing!”
Saving MJ
Of all the cliffhangers that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 left hanging before Garfield’s tenure as Peter Parker was cut short, his guilt over the death of Gwen Stacy was by far the most compelling. The conspiracy surrounding his parents’ experiments with spiders was unnecessary, but Gwen’s death set Garfield’s Spidey on a dark path that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 would’ve gotten to explore.
While The Amazing Spider-Man 3 never got made, this storyline was eventually picked up by No Way Home. Garfield’s Spidey tells Holland’s about the devastating effect of losing Gwen. In the finale, he’s finally redeemed when Zendaya’s MJ falls from the Statue of Liberty in an almost identical shot and he manages to save her. With a single look, Garfield conveys the profound effect this has on Peter, like a monumental weight has been lifted off his shoulders.
Tom Holland
Call Me Stephen
Throughout his MCU stint, Holland’s Spider-Man has always struggled to earn the respect of adult Avengers. Peter calling Doctor Strange by his given name, Stephen, is initially introduced as a running joke in the first act. Peter being on a first-name basis with Strange “feels weird.”
This gag gets a heartbreaking payoff when Strange is saying a final goodbye to Spidey, knowing he’s about to forget who he is, and tells him, “Call me Stephen.” Benedict Cumberbatch nails the delivery, like he’s on the brink of tears but with a hint of the sorcerer’s usual frustration.
Second Chances
Throughout Holland’s tenure as Spider-Man, his storylines have been defined by a young, inexperienced superhero making a grave mistake (like giving the EDITH glasses to Mysterio) and having to fix that mistake and save the day in the finale. His version of Peter Parker thrives when a mentor figure like Tony Stark or Stephen Strange gives him a second chance.
Not only does No Way Home revisit this idea; it’s the movie’s central theme. Inspired by Aunt May’s unwavering optimism (even in the face of death), Peter remains determined to give the multiversal villains their own second chance when they return to their respective worlds.
Back To His Roots
At the end of No Way Home, Peter makes the difficult decision to allow Doctor Strange to brainwash everybody he knows and make them forget he exists. Having lost both Aunt May and his ties to the Avengers, Peter now has to go out on his own. He’s renting his own apartment, he’s sewn together his own Spidey suit, and he’s back to being New York’s friendly neighborhood webslinger.
The threequel’s ending acts as a sort of soft reboot for Holland’s solo Spider-Man movies. Wherever Holland’s MCU Spidey arc goes next, it has the chance to take the character back to his roots and explore storylines that are more faithful to the comics.
