OK, dear readers, today we’re doing something a little different for Cobwebs. Instead of diving deep into some obscure area of Spider-History, I’m going to give the other side of the MCU Spidey debate. Many of our podcasters are not big fans of the MCU hero, but I’m a fan and my task today is to give you a few reasons to like this guy! If that doesn’t work, then maybe I can make it where you hate the movie a little less before it comes out.
In case you haven’t gotten a chance to watch the trailer, here it is:
Of those who hate the MCU Spidey, I’m perfectly fine with that. I do ask that you give my position a fair eye before you start trashing it in the comments section (which you are invited to do, of course).
Alternate Universe – On thing to remember is the MCU is an alternate universe, despite Mysterio claiming that it is the 616 universe. Just because a villain known for his deception said something doesn’t mean it is canon. Now bear with me, I am not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence, but the next paragraph of two is essential to my set up.
One of the most interesting aspects of the What If? series was seeing your favorite character reacting to different scenarios. Take for instance, What If? #19 where Spidey stops the burglar.
So this story takes the concept that when it really comes down to it, Peter Parker wants acceptance. He is supremely loyal to Aunt May and Uncle Ben for many reasons, but one of these is that they accept him for who he is. That’s a reason that Peter has a decent relationship with his academic teachers. To those who do not accept hi, he has nothing but contempt for. Peter is an angry young man looking for a reason not to be. He lets the burglar go free because of this. There is a character changing moment there, but even after that, we see Peter’s irritation to all those who do not accept him as is. He constantly laments not be liked by people like the other heroes and has a particular dislike for Human Torch in the early issues because everyone liked Torch. In this story, Peter stops the burglar to get publicity. His Uncle Ben survives and he doesn’t learn his lesson. He goes on to a very lucrative celebrity career and is an absolute jerk to anyone who goes against him. It’s a good read and one of my favorite What If?s.
MCU Peter is an alternate version with some differences and I am going to argue two things. The differences are not to his core character and differences are OK.
We love the Michael Keeton Vulture. Even some of the biggest detractors to the MCU Spidey raved about Keeton’s Vulture. However, Keeton’s Vulture is not much like the 616 Vulture at all. He is sympathetic. We know that, while ruthless, he was wronged first and is reacting. At his core, he wants a better life for his wife and family. This is nothing like the 616 version, which is mostly just a bitter old man who hates the world and wants to see it burn, but only after he gets his share of riches first.
So right there, many of us have already accepted the need for some changes to the Spider-Man mythos to adapt it to the silver screen. Now I know, changing the villain is one thing. Changing the protagonist is something else.
Peter’s core characteristics is the sense of responsibility, the need to be accepted, the anger at not being accepted, a loner attitude, and the joking while fighting crime. Peter loves his Aunt and will do what he can to save anyone in need. I’m going to say that MCU Spidey meets these core characteristics. So let’s take a look at the arguments against that, starting and ending with the most offensive issues:
Iron Man Jr
Let’s address the first and by far the biggest issue with the MCU Spider-Man universe: Iron Man. Iron Man dominates the MCU Spider-Man story. On the meta side, we understand this. The MCU is founded on the success of Iron Man. Without Robert Downey Jr doing so well in that part, it is doubtful that we would even be having discussions of an MCU Spider-Man. So it is obvious why we see this pairing, especially with a character that is coming over from another studio. Marvel is “marking their territory”. This is not to say that it eases the problems of, “Mr. Stark!” every five minutes. I get that. Is it in Spider-Man’s core character to be this way? I going to say yes. Here’s why. Peter wants to be accepted. His loner status and his anger issues in the 616 universe often stems from being rejected by his peers. In ASM #1, he tries to join the Fantastic Four. He comes off overly cocky and ends up fighting them to prove his worth. This only makes them mad at him and Torch and Thing both reject the very notion of Spider-Man being a part of their group. When Reed Richards tells him that there is no place for him there, he immediately takes off and from that point on, he chooses to remain a loner. Later he tries to gain acceptance again by joining the Avengers, but because of his immaturity and impetuous nature, that doesn’t work out either.
Now, take that same character and have Reed Richards find a place for him. Now we have young science star Peter being taking in and accepted by scientist-hero Reed Richards. Don’t you think he would latch on to Reed as a new father-figure? “Mr. Richards!” Iron Man does that in this universe. He can still see evidence of the anger issues inherent in Peter when Tony Stark cuts him off and Peter goes off to do his own thing. However, in the end, Stark continues to play with Peter’s need for approval and strings him along. Do you have to like it? Of course not. But is it in Peter’s core character to act this way given the circumstances in his MCU universe? Absolutely!
No Spider-Sense
In Raimi movies, there was a basic spider-sense and in the Amazing Spider-Man movies, there was a super hyper spider-sense. Now it appears we do no have one at all, with the exception of that one scene in Infinity War where his arm hair raises and the fan theory that Peter’s whiny death scene is due to that fact that his spider-sense allows him to feel the death much longer and with intensity before it happens. I think that the lack of spider-sense that we can see does not indicate that it doesn’t exist. I feel like that it is not as extreme as what we are used to, which allows him to be not all powerful. The spider-sense has always been a tricky thing because you need Spider-Man to be hit from time to time, but whenever that happens there is always someone who cries out that could not happen due to his spider-sense!
Mary Jane/MJ/Michelle Jones
OK, we all know that Chi-Town’s anti-MCU ranting deal less with his repetition of “Iron Man Jr” and more with the MJ character. I have no real defense here. I believe it to be a misstep by the writers or directors in an attempt to throw a wink toward comic fans. If we had not had ten years of MJ hate from Marvel prior to this, it probably wouldn’t be as big of an issue. If they had called this character Mary Jane, then we have a big problem, but they at least call her Michelle Jones. Would it be nice to have a Mary Jane in here? Sure. Do I understand that Marvel probably thought Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy have already been used, so let’s go somewhere different? Yep. Although going with Lisa Skye would have been my choice…
Ned/Ganke
I’ll be honest – I have no idea why they chose to take Ganke from Miles Morales and make him Ned in a Peter Parker story, but the guy who plays him is so good, I am choosing to overlook this continuity faux pas.
No Uncle Ben
By far, this is the worst offense in the series. I am glad that they chose not to give us another burglar scene. I would like a mention from time to time of Uncle Ben. I would have liked Peter to think of Uncle Ben when he was in his most desperate pinch underneath all that rubble. This was a sacrifice that was made to tie Spider-Man into the greater MCU, one that I don’t feel was needed, but then again, I’m not paid big bucks by Disney to make decisions like that. It hurts my love of the movie, but does not completely ruin it.
London
New York is a character in the Spider-Man mythos. I now many are throwing in that he is going away as a detriment to the series. I’m going to take out the whole five years End Game crap out of the discussion because it was a move that completely screws up so much for future stories. Six months, one year? Not a problem, but a five-year gap really fetters all the other stories out there. So, I will not worry with the issue that all these parents are letting their kids go away after that five year disappearance that evidently took out all of Peter’s class. We have had six Spider-Man movies in New York. Marvel wants to move him out to London. Why? Probably to address the Iron Man thing. In New York, there are a lot reminders. I think the writers wanted to get Peter away from that so that he is able to make his own mind of who he is going to be. London is a good call for that because it has ties in the 616 universe, namely ASM #95.
Is it dumb to have a hero with a secret identity to be that same hero while traveling in another country? Of course. But this is not new tot he movie. In fact, for a while, Web of Spider-Man specifically focused on Spider-Man away from New York. So, it fits in line with the comics.
The Next Iron Man
The new trailers really emphasize “The Next Iron Man”. I know that none of us want the next Iron Man, we want a Spider-Man. There are two things to consider here. 1. Iron Man was the heart of the MCU. They built everything around him. It is a compliment to the character of Spider-Man to start implying that he should be the next heart of the MCU. 2. There is too much build up here. We have a movie with Mysterio pretending to be a good guy. There is little you can trust about where this movie is going. I will be very surprised is Mysterio is not pulling a Syndrome.
So with that in mind, I am suspicious of the next Iron Man thing. I think that we are going to see Peter toy with this concept the whole time, especially with Nick Fury in the picture, and finally come to terms with the fact that he is his own man. If this is the case, then the whole “next Iron Man” deal is nothing but a nod to who the true center of the Marvel-verse is – Spidey. Maybe I’ll be wrong (but I won’t). If I am, then we still have a nod from Disney to the power of the character of Spider-Man as he will be the one to carry the MCU into the future.
So there you have it. The MCU Spider-Man is a viable alternate reality Spider-Man. He holds true to his core character and the faults that we rankle at are not out of the questions deviations. Hate it if you want, I sure hated the Amazing Spider-Man movies, but for me, I’ll be heading into the theaters this July excited and ready (though not in my PJs while eating cereal with strangers – sorry BD).
Now’s your chance to marvel at how spot on I am or to try and convince me how wrong I am in the comments section.
‘Nuff Said!
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher
@ Hornacek: ASM 1&2 were not good movies for the same reason, too far from the source material. I know it is fashionable to bash the Raimi Spider-Man movies because of SM3, but it was the closest to the source material we have had to date. We had Uncle Ben, Aunt May better than comic May, a GREAT JJJ, Harry, MJ, Betty and Robbie. Sure it had a weak Flash and a confusing Gwen wedged in at the end, but it added some nice comedy relief with Mr. Ditkovich/Ursula, Hoffman and the fun cameo’s with Bruce Campbell. Sure, Holland’s Spider-Man may have more characters than ASM, but they are not characters that make any sense from the comics and don’t hold a candle to the Tobey McGuire Spidey flicks.
@Spider-Dad:
At least there is a supporting cast in this version. In the ASM movies there was Aunt May and Gwen and … that was it. They added Harry in ASM2 but it really felt like a retcon – like they were saying that Peter and Harry were always friends, even though Harry wasn’t in ASM1. And then with Gwen dying … during the ASM2 episode review, my submitted question was “Both ASM1 and 2 end with Peter listening to a recording of someone from his supporting cast that died in the movie, so who do you think will die in ASM3 to leave him another recording?” The panel said there wasn’t anyone else in his supporting cast at that point but Aunt May.
I am fine with Peter having a supporting cast in the movies, but I am completely out on Ned. I had no idea why they felt (a) Peter needed to have a best friend, when in the comics he doesn’t in high school and for awhile in college, (b) why it needed to be this character i.e. Ned Leeds but not Ned Leeds (Gunky, as JR called him in the review episode), and (c) why Ned needs to know Peter’s secret identity – it’s like they watched The Flash series and thought “That’s what Spidey needs – his own Cisco! With Aunt May finding out at the end of HC, and the FFH trailers showing Spidey sans mask talking with Michelle, I’m afraid that by the end of FFH or the next movie, *all* of Peter’s supporting cast will know his identity. It seems to be what the MCU wants to happen.
Strong article, but I think the whole point of many Spider-Man fans disliking MCU Spidey is the fact this AU is unrecognizable in too many areas. As noted in many articles and prior posts, as these “changes” for many fans do not improve the story or character. They feel like change for the sake of change. Disney/Marvel would be better served if they stayed CLOSER to the source material.
As Jack Brooks puts it, it does not have to be verbatim (e.g. King James), but the changes so far, (“Hot” Aunt May?, Ned=Ganke, Tony more important than Uncle Ben?, Michele Jones=MJ, plus no JJJ, Robbie, Harry, Gwen, etc.) feels like non-Spider-Man.
If they renamed it to Spider-Boy, I would be OK with it. At least it would closer to what they are presenting.
NOTE: I do ENJOY Tom Holland. I think he does a great job, but the supporting cast is junk…
I feel like they made too many pointless changes, that must have felt clever to them, but to me just detract and distract. Naming Ganke “Ned Leeds” was and is weird. Zendaya’s character is super grating, and it means there’s no MJ Watson. Making everybody high-schoolers together, and all attending the same school (Betty Brant, Gwen Stacy, Flash) is like a Nickelodeon sitcom. No J. Jonah Jameson (at least, not yet), no Uncle Ben (not even flashbacks), no Robbie Robertson. This Aunt May is a babe even in middle-age, with no illness issues, and no fear of Spider-Man. I’m not a King James Only purist when it comes to the MCU, but this Spider-Man series has Sony’s big stupid fingerprints all over it.
Sorry, but I just have NO love for this version.#NotmySpidey
One of my biggest complaints about Spidey in the MCU is that they had May find out Peter was Spider-Man at the end of Homecoming, and now we’re never going to see the conversation that immediately followed that. At that point they knew that Spidey was going to appear in Avengers 3 & 4 before another stand-alone Spider-Man movie (plus his death and the time-skip). So by the time we finally get to see a Peter and May scene where she knows he’s Spider-Man, it’s been 2 years for us and 5+ years for both of them. I highly doubt we’ll get a flashback to show what that conversation entailed.
@Alexander Evangeli — I agree with you wholeheartedly. I had figured the only (or main) reason the MCU Spider-man is so different is because this is the third film incarnation of the character, and maybe Marvel thought the approach should be different. That’s all I can come up with. Like I said earlier, I still can’t wrap my brain around why Ganke is present, nor why his name is Ned. If I remember correctly, one of the student “news anchors” at Peter’s school was named Betty Brant, too. Maybe it’s those types of character inclusions (in name only) that lend the movie almost an alternate universe feel, even if it’s more strictly an adaptation, as you said. Incidentally, I picked up the comic book “prelude” to Spider-man: Far From Home, and was disappointed to find that it was nothing more than a retelling of Homecoming. I’m interested (though admittedly not exactly super excited) to see Far From Home, but it will be fun to visit the MCU once again. Also, since May knows that Peter is Spider-man now, it’ll be neat to see how their interactions unfold onscreen.
Yes Peter wants to be accepted. But we must not overmilk this idea. Peter wants to be accepted but he also highly values his independence.
He’s not a lapdog. He is and values being his own man. In college he didn’t hop on the first opportunity of being accepted put in front of him, he warmed up to it over time.
Basically yeah he wants to be accepted. But he ain’t desperate and prefers being his own boss.
More poignantly like I said below, an adaptation should respect the spirit of the character. If Lee and Ditko envisioned him being more of a loner and independent then he should not be the opposite of that or a what if version of that character wherein he was eased into the fold by a paternal hand.
P.S. His failure to join the Avengers is more complicated that you made it out to be Mark. First of all Peter AND members of the Avengers were all being immature. Second of all he personally chose to sabotage his success at membership by not bringing in the Hulk because he felt sorry for him and regarded the Avengers as in the wrong. If anything the Avengers were bullheaded, antagonistic and failed to give Spidey all the facts. In fact they outright insult him and have the audacity to demand he be tested before joining their ranks. Not only have they not thought up what the test would be, but these are the same guys who allowed a reforming criminal who was cozy with a commie spy and 2 former mutant terrorists into their ranks with little fuss. But Spidey need a test.
Whilst it is true that the MCU is an AU there are different types of AUs. You got your What Ifs wherein the point is to be exactly the same as the main version up to a specific point of deviation. You got your Elseworlds wherein you take the broad concepts of characters and over lay something on top of them (see Batman but if it was the 1800s or Superman but if he was a Communist). You got your ‘different for the sake of being different’ AUs (see the Ult Uni and I guess the Nu52). Then you got what the MCU is. An adaptation AU. The purpose behind adaptation AUs is to neither be a 1:1 translation of the original stories it’s based upon but nor be different for the sake of it, rather to present something as true to the spirit of the characters and stories as practicality allows. With MCU Spidey it is very much being different merely for the sake of it and doing so in such a way that it is egregiously kicking against important foundational ideas behind Spider-Man. A general AU where Spidey is Tony’s ‘son’ and successor is fine. But in an adaptation? The spirit of the original vision should be maintained to some degree. If nothing else it misleads general audiences into thinking this is in line with the canon version of the character. This is no small thing to consider because it was thanks to adaptations that Alfred became what we know him as today and the idea that symbiote make you evil became synonymous with them.
I’m not going to discuss everything in the article but I do want to hit up one or two more of your points later
We had to go through a whole movie where spidey had to learn the difference between being the man or the suit tutored by Mr Stark. That is so out of character for spider-man is indefensible. If you don’t follow the comics and don’t mind something diametrically opposite and like this version good for you. It’s entertaining, for some. This is not THE spider-man. It’s a kid dressed like him
The MCU Spidey feels like a movie company that had never read a Spider-Man comic decided to make a Spider-Man movie. They read a few issues to learn a bit about the character, and went from there. That would explain how these movies get so much wrong about who Peter Parker and Spider-Man is. HOWEVER, this company already knows who the character is. There should be no reason for them to get the character this wrong. They’re *Marvel* for crying out loud!
@Mark — I enjoyed your article, especially because I am not without my own difficulties trying to reconcile what I love most about Spider-man with what I’ve seen in the MCU film. I don’t have a PS4 and am only now watching a walkthrough of the video game on YouTube, but I agree with Franz29, and I can that one of my initial concerns (the reliance on technology to such an extent) was only resistance to change, since the game seems to do it pretty well, and I would argue that it’s probably a necessary element, in order to get some of the game mechanics to work, though I guess the creators could just say his ability to map rooms and show the location of enemies and such is attributable to spider-sense. I think my discomfort with the over-reliance on technology came from seeing SpOck use it for so long and my longing for a return to “classic” Spider-man. At any rate, that leads to my main gripe with the Homecoming: After Tony takes away Peter’s suit and he’s thus forced to be Spider-man without it, I thought a wonderful character-building moment would happen (and would thus, if not justify, at least pay off, the fancy suit and Tony Stark idolization throughout the movie) — I thought when Tony gave Peter the suit at the end, Peter would refuse it and say “Nope. I don’t need that fancy suit in order to be Spider-man. I am Spider-man already.” I guess that’s what the writers were going for when they had Peter turn down the Iron Spider suit at Avengers HQ, but I was really expecting the movie to reveal at the end a different homemade suit (closer to the one he usually wears in the comics), which would these tease the sequel. Upon more viewings, I can appreciate the movie more and have even started to overlook the moment I just described. But the Ganke/Ned thing — I don’t know what to make of that. Just like Chi-Town, I don’t think of Michelle as “MJ” at all. I could just envision little kids watching the movie and not knowing any better and thinking “Ooooo, it’s Mary Jane!” when it’s not. It’s almost like, when the movie “reveals” that Michelle has the nickname MJ, the movie was saying, “See what we did there?” That kind of reminded me of the Garfield Spider-man movie in which the audience was shown over and over again a flashback of Uncle Ben’s killer’s tattoo (so that it could be understood why Peter was looking everyone’s arm). I remember thinking, “Okay, movie. I get it!” It’s a way of talking down to the audience. Oh, Homecoming’s eight-year time jump is a problem for me, too, in light of the in-universe years given in Avengers: Endgame. Lack of continuity irks me tremendously, and I wish there were a way someone could no-prize explain a way this could work (otherwise the events of Homecoming taking place in 2020, if I remember correctly). But this is just a side note.
I love that even you can’t defend Michelle Jones. LOL
I like parts of the films, him being a legacy hero to Iron Man is not one of them. It rubs me wrong. I enjoy Tom Holland though, I just wish he’d have a movie where he wasn’t second fiddle.
Great article as always.
“For several years after that encounter with the FF, Spider-Man whines about how much attention Torch gets compared to him. You think that is only because he applied for a job that doesn’t pay? Nope. He was rejected.” Wrong again. He actually wasn’t rejected by the FF. They shouted for him to come back. He wasn’t going to. No pay, No Work. You also have to realize that Peter is NOT an average teenager. He has a dozen of responsibilities as Spider-Man and to take care of his aunt. If he doesn’t, they are homeless. So he basically has no time to be like any other teenager that lives scott-free. Yet Daredevil and the rest of the MCU thinks otherwise because they all see (sense in DD case) a 16 year old kid. They don’t know his backstory so they assume he’s like all the rest of the teenagers and call him “kid”. Torch is publicly known and well protected by the rest of the FF and can afford to act cocky like any other teenager. Spidey is wears a mask, has a secret identity, doesn’t have a superpowered family to protect him or his Aunt May. Goes to school, works, and is Spider-Man at the same time. He can’t afford that luxury. So yeah, he’s upset when Torch gets the attention he would like because he can’t afford it, so he proves that the Torch is a show boat by picking a fight. Teaching your class going beyond plot level understanding is great, but don’t go so far out that you ignore what’s actually there.
@Fly Guy – I’m enjoying the ride too! There are some parts that bug me (I particularly hated the scene where Peter dies and takes so long doing so), but overall, I’m loving Holland’s approach and can’t wait to see Spidey swinging around on the big screen again. I loved the first movies (the third one not so much) and hated the Garfield movies (though not Garfield), which made me sad since I wanted to like it so much. So I understand people being upset at the new approach. BTW, I’m assuming your screen name is a reference to _I’m Going to Get You Sucka!_ – love that movie too!
@Chi-Town – One of the things I teach in my class is how to go beyond plot level understanding. For several years after that encounter with the FF, Spider-Man whines about how much attention Torch gets compared to him. You think that is only because he applied for a job that doesn’t pay? Nope. He was rejected. Add to that his insecurity from being young (seen especially in his first team up with Daredevil who calls him kid ), and you see why Torch is the target of his aggression – Torch is a teenager that gets the acceptance Peter craves. Sure, money was a factor, but it wasn’t the end all be all factor.
@Franz29 – I think you hit the nail on the head – that previous 10 years. After having been dumped on so long in the comics, it colors our feelings toward everything else Spider-Man that we see, which is sad because so many lifelong fans of Spider-Man aren’t able to enjoy these movies because of the 10 years of comics.
My biggest issue is that this doesn’t feel like Peter Parker. It feels like it’s Miles Morales dressed up as Peter Parker, even down to the supporting cast. If it was an actual Miles Spider-Man then the attitude would make more sense to me but it’s not and it just feels off.
I know Iron man is a huge part of the MCU , in this reality he’s the OG not the FF and Spider-Man but other heroes in their standalone film get to be the hero of their story. In SM:HC Spider-Man was continually bailed out by Iron Man or learned a lesson because of Iron Man, never because of Peter and his sense of overwhelming responsibility. Yes it’s an alternate universe but no other main stream heroes so far have had such a dramatic change in personality, back story or motivations. (and maybe, just maybe, I could even accept this new Spider-Man if I hadn’t had to suffer 10 years of my favourite hero being a guest star/doofus in his own book in the real 616 which has certainly jaded me on the “Spider-Man is screw-up who needs a mentor” narrative).
They CAN do Peter Parker and Spider-Man well in other media. SM:ITSV and Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4 proved this.
Nice article!
I’m a fan from back in the 70’s and y’know what? At some point in your life after you’ve been through and read through enough REAL LIFE BS in your life you stop worrying so much about how much the comics are being portrayed as you remember them when you first read them and start enjoying the movies for what they are intended to be…a temporary escape from said REAL LIFE BS and a nice way to enjoy a character you’ve grown to love over several decades of reading. I’ve seen the Nicholas Hammond stuff, thought it was the bomb as a kid, and really like what they’re doing to position Spidey in the MCU currently. Loved the Toby Maguire Spidey and also the Andrew Garfield movies as they introduced Gwen and made her relevant once again. Of course as a fan I wish they’d reference Uncle Ben a little more than they have but come on….how many more times do we truly need to see this character get shot and make Peter go through that again?? Haven’t we seen that movie more than a few times? The fact is… business is business. If a few “dot connects “ gets me a movie where Spidey interacts with Iron Man and Cap isn’t that a great ride?
I saw this on our FB page and clicked the link and thought “Pete, give Mark a chance. Hear him out, he may have some points to make.” Then I read to myself and said “Damn it, just once I would like to be wrong.” So let’s start with your points and counter act them with REAL facts.
* Vulture is not changed that much. He’s still going to do what he needs to do because he felt CHEATED. Adrian Toomes in the comics was cheated by Gregory Bestman his business partner and became a supervillain. In the MCU Adrian was cheated out of his contracted job by Tony Stark. Despite the differences, same principle is there.
* Iron Man Jr: Okay if your ignoring the 4 films before FFH that tease Peter being “Iron Man Jr” AND the trailer and TV spots from FFH THAT BASICALLY SCREAM IT AT YOU. (seriously, Honest Trailers even makes fun of it) to defend it by siting the comics, then get your facts straight, buddy. In ASM #1 Spider-Man wanted to join the Fantastic Four for one reason and one reason only. MONEY! His Uncle just died, he made a promise to do good and earn money to help out his Aunt May since now they were in a bind. Once he showed the FF what he could do he said “Now let’s get down tot business, how much does this job pay? I know I worth your top salary.” When the FF said this isn’t a paying gig, he left! Unlike the MCU where Peter is just and eager Stark Fanboy who ignores all his responsibilities to be and Avenger. Even when he had a chance to PROVE to be his own man, he thought of Stark words about the suit. I’m sorry, the suit doesn’t make Spider-Man, THE MAN WITHIN makes Spider-Man. MCU Peter is driven to impress Tony Stark and live in his legacy.
*MJ/Michelle Jones: <--- Had to correct that for you. Yes, I am a fan of Mary Jane. I support her characterization (when written well), but my MCU rants namely stem from Spider-Man and how his characterization is butchered just for Marvel Studios to claim their territory. Michelle Jones is just Michelle Jones. I have nothing against that. I have nothing against Zendaya, the stunning actress that is talented. She's NOT Mary Jane. She's NOT the MCU version of Mary Jane. Kevin Feige states "Well, we never even looked at it as a big reveal necessarily but more of just a fun homage to his past adventures and his past love. She's not Mary Jane Watson. She never was Mary Jane Watson. She was always this new high school character, Michelle, who we know there's an "M" in Michelle and an "M" in Mary. [laughs] So we're so clever and we thought, "Wouldn't it be neat if her initials were MJ?" And then I think it leaked that she would be playing MJ and then it became a whole headache for Zendaya to have to navigate. It was never a big, "Oh my God, it's a big reveal!" There are big reveals in the movie. That's not one of them." So, to repeat, I don't have a problem with Michelle because she's NOT Mary Jane Watson in the film. She's a new character and the initials MJ were inserted to give Zendaya a headache.