The Next Spider-Man Trilogy Needs To Ditch Love Interests

The MCU altered the original Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy for their reboot of Spider-Man, but does the web-slinger need his love interests at all? Canonically, many superheroes’ love interests eventually become iconic as the hero themselves, with Superman’s revered Lois Lane a prime example here. Sometimes, though, that love interest can either be one-dimensional or hinder the titular hero – as evidenced in multiple Spider-Man universes.

In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maguire) central love interest is Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), who is undoubtedly pigeon-holed as a damsel in distress waiting for Spider-Man to save her. This was rectified in future reboots, however, with The Amazing Spider-Man‘s new love interest arriving in the form of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) – a smart and capable character who readily aids Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) in defeating the villain in both Sony-Verse movies. The same is true of MJ (Zendaya) in the MCU’s Spider-Man entries, whose intelligence helps Tom Holland’s Spider-Man defeat several foes.

However, what is similar in all three Spider-Man iterations is that Gwen Stacy/MJ’s love is central to Peter’s narrative and, in some cases, arrives as a detriment to his character. In the Raimi trilogy, Spider-Man mostly works alone, and, even though MJ is an important part of his character, she often appears on a tertiary level, which leaves a lot of room for his development as a hero. As a result, the Raimi movies sufficiently dive into Peter’s conflict between living a normal life or being a hero, and this internal struggle pays off when he’s then witnessed single-handedly saving the city, really elevating him as a superhero. By comparison, Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man is intrinsically linked to Gwen, and their relationship plays a huge part in the narrative. As a result, his films seem more like a love story with Spidey being a superhero on the side, and Gwen helping him defeat the villain makes him appear a lot less capable. In this way, the MCU’s Spider-Man entries play out in the same fashion, with Tom Holland’s Spidey consistently aided by MJ even in the midst of battle.

As a result, with all three franchises placing such huge importance on Peter’s love interests, these romantic stories have become slightly tired. Spider-Man as a hero becomes secondary to his romantic relationship, which erases a huge part of how intelligent and proficient he’s meant to be fighting New York City’s villains. Although each iteration of Peter Parker is undoubtedly empowered by the love of Gwen/MJ, Andrew Garfield’s take on a Spidey that has “stopped pulling his punches” following The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s Gwen Stacy death appears highly compelling and deserves to be explored further.

Doctor Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) spell at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home means Tom Holland’s Spidey may, at last, get the chance to show off what he can do without assistance. After three separate franchises, Spider-Man audiences are all too familiar with MJ and Gwen, and it could be beneficial to hold them back for the next Spider-Man trilogy. In this way, No Way Home having MJ forget who Peter is could finally see him forge a new character narrative in Spider-Man‘s next MCU appearance.