Spider-Man’s Biggest MCU Missed Opportunity Was Captain America’s Fault

While Iron Man had a significant presence in the MCU’s Spider-Man movies, even posthumously, the absence of Captain America in those films was one of the trilogy’s biggest missed opportunities. Iron Man was an influence over Peter and the Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy to such a point that his shadow looming over them has become a point of criticism. Yet despite Spider-Man making his MCU debut in a Captain America movie, the Star-Spangled Avenger made seemingly no impact on the Web-Slinger.

Throughout the comics, Spider-Man has been shown to have a favorable relationship with both Iron Man and Captain America. In Iron Man, Peter sees a kindred spirit. They’re both men of science whose minds are their greatest weapons. However, as is the case with many heroes in the Marvel Universe, Captain America is something of a hero and role model for Spider-Man, based on his moral fortitude.

Captain America should have had more of a presence as a mentor to Spider-Man of equal standing to Iron Man as a way to improve the storytelling. The two Avengers were shown to be equally significant to the Avengers, if not the MCU itself. Yet Captain America never really has the opportunity to mentor anyone in the same way. This was despite him actually being the perfect candidate to expand on Spider-Man’s core moral dilemmas. It would have made for a better exploration of how the two heroes were effectively trying to coach Peter into becoming a proper hero in his own right.

It didn’t make a great deal of sense that a connection to Spider-Man was the one noteworthy area that Iron Man and Captain America were simply not equal. Throughout the entire Infinity Saga, Captain America and Iron Man were played up as direct foils to one another while being important members of the Avengers. It showed up as early as their clash during The Avengers and was later epitomized during Captain America: Civil War, where each of them took over the leadership of one faction of the Avengers on either side of the dispute. Yet Iron Man was the only one who had any impact on Spider-Man at all.

While Captain America had Bucky and Sam, the two of them didn’t really represent the same kind of relationship. Steve’s relationship with Bucky was built on a decades-old friendship. While Sam Wilson is the one taking over the role of Captain America after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the relationship between him and Steve wasn’t explored as much as between Spider-Man and Iron Man. Even if it were, however, it was fairly clear that there isn’t a sense of mentorship there. Tony essentially believed Peter could be the “new Iron Man.” Then that entire angle was undermined as Peter went his own way, especially after Spider-Man: No Way Home. So instead of trying to make Peter into the next Iron Man, even metaphorically, the relationship should have been more about trying to coach him into becoming a proper hero in his own right, which Captain America easily could have contributed to and gotten his own mentor role out of.

With the Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy playing around with interpretations of the “Great Responsibility” line, it’s clear that Captain America could have played into Peter’s hero training. The first movie made a much clearer case for the line’s less popular interpretation, which was the responsible application of one’s abilities. Having Iron Man there to reinforce this aspect of the line, especially given his own origin story, made perfect sense. However, the second film more heavily played into the more common interpretation, which was about the moral obligation to act, something that Captain America’s origin story would reinforce perfectly. Spider-Man: No Way Home exhibited examples of both, which could have been the chance to show how both heroes molded him for that moment. If given the chance to interact with Peter more, Captain America could easily have improved the MCU’s Spider-Man movies as another mentor to teach Peter what being a hero is all about.