What? You thought I hated everything?
Fuck, no.
PLOT BREAKDOWN
PROLOGUE (Public Enemy Number One)
We pick up immediately from the ending of Far From Home. Mysterio has delivered one last message to the media and J Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle (played by JK Simmons!) has played it for the world to hear: Spider-Man is a criminal who’s murdered a hero, and his real identity is Peter Parker.
Oh shit!
The crowd immediately closes in on Peter and MJ, who they’ve sussed out as Spider-Man’s girlfriend. The crowd starts getting harass-y, so Peter picks MJ up and makes a beeline for his house (MJ being none too thrilled, since she never wanted to swing again). They land on top of a bridge to recuperate and Peter picks up a call from Ned. The two exchange “Duuuuuuude!” ’s and some news helicopters begin following Peter and MJ. It’s time to skedaddle, so Peter sneaks MJ in through the window to his apartment, where Happy and Aunt May are discussing their very recent break-up. The two go to check on Peter’s room, where he’s shirtless with MJ. The two (reasonably) assume the two are about to have sex and nope right out of there.
Peter, wanting to keep the subject of discussion off himself, tries to start a conversation about Happy and May’s relationship, but the news broadcast on TV exposes the elephant in the room. In fact, the helicopters are broadcasting live footage of Peter’s apartment!
This is not good.
We cut to some legal-tisms. Peter, his friends, May, and Happy are all detained by the Department of Damage Control. Stark Industries, being the manufacturer of the drones and the EDITH glasses, is currently under investigation. This effectively removes the glasses from this story, which is smart as a writing move, since they would make the conflict in this movie (and future movies) waaaay too easy to deal with.
Everyone is interrogated individually and the way they’re approached and their reactions show that Jon Watts has a good understanding of who these characters are.
Peter tries to tell the interrogators that he isn’t responsible and has to be reminded not to say anything without a lawyer (He also finds out Nick Fury’s been off-world for the past year).
MJ isn’t making it easy for the interrogator. She’s onto all the tactics and knows her rights.
Ned accidentally says too much out of pride for being the first to know Peter’s secret (“I was his guy in the chair!”).
May is tough as nails with the interrogator until he reminds her she could be implicated for child endangerment, since she not only knew about Peter’s double life, but also encouraged it.
The group are at home when they get a visit from Peter’s lawyer: Matt Murdock aka Daredevil!
Holy shit!
He has good news and bad news. Most of Peter’s charges aren’t going to stick, but Happy is still under investigation and Peter still has to deal with negative publicity. Makes sense, since to the public Mysterio is a hero, but Spider-Man has done some verifiably good deeds of his own, like saving half the universe. The overall opinion of him would naturally be split down the middle.
As if to illustrate his point, someone throws a brick right through Peter’s window and Daredevil catches it! Peter asks this blind, but otherwise normal guy how he just caught the brick before he did. Murdock’s response:
“I’m a really good lawyer.”
The dialogue in this movie fucks.
I’ll note that these things all happen at a pretty rapid pace. I’ve seen people say it creates a pacing issue within the movie, but considering everything that happens in it, I think they’ve done the best they could. It’s frantic but I was still able to follow what was happening.
May, understandably not wanting to look over her shoulder for bricks in her own home, decide they need a safer place to live. Happy moves them into his condo. It’s heavily secured and loaded with Stark tech. That night Peter and MJ have a conversation and I find myself engaged with their relationship every time these two are on-screen. Far From Home set it up, but this movie really sells them as a couple.
MJ asks Peter if part of him feels relieved now that his secret is out. Peter responds by saying that ever since he got bitten by the spider, the only time in his life that’s felt closest to normal was the week MJ found out. At that point, everyone he wanted to know, knew. But now everybody knows.
Their tender moment is interrupted by Happy, who tells the two to shut the fuck up and go to sleep.
The next day, it’s time to go back to school and Midtown High is buzzing with both Spider-Man supporters and protestors. Peter, MJ, and Ned have to be escorted through the building by police and searched for weapons. Peter is welcomed by three of his teachers. Notably, the two who were on the school trip believe Peter is a hero, even having set up a shrine in Spider-Man’s honor. The one who wasn’t is decidedly not happy to see him. Peter is noticeably uncomfortable from all the attention. Who wouldn’t be? Imagine trying to walk through the halls with every student pointing their phones at you.
It gets so bad that the three friends have to have lunch on the roof. They talk about how cool it’ll be to get into MIT together, but Zendaya has a more subdued reaction. She says “if you expect disappointment, then you can never really be disappointed.”
What follows is a string of rejections from all the colleges Peter’s applied to. But there’s one left. The application to MIT. Peter hightails it to the cafe Zendaya works at, finding her and Ned, who’ve gotten their letters in two. The two open them in anticipation. This is their last chance. They read…and the lack of reaction says it all. None of them got in. Peter for obvious reasons, and Ned and MJ for being associated with Spider-Man. The mood is dour, but Ned and MJ both express that they wouldn’t change a single thing they did.
But Peter isn’t happy. His friends didn’t do anything wrong. They shouldn’t have their futures compromised just because they know him. He sees some wizard-themed halloween decorations…and gets an idea.
On an unrelated note, Peter makes his way to the Sanctum Sancotorum, to enlist the help of one Doctor Stephen Strange.
The sanctum doors open themselves for Peter and he sees the Sanctum is covered entirely in snow (an incident involving a blizzard making its way through interdimensional gates is mentioned). Wong appears and it’s established that he’s Sorcerer Supreme now. He received the title on a technicality since Strange was dust for five years, and now he has “higher duties.”
I wonder if those “higher duties” include fighting Abomination in an underground fight club and singing drunk karaoke with Shang-Chi?
But I have to amend a criticism I made of Multiverse of Madness here. For that movie, I called bullshit on Strange not getting the title back after returning to life, but it sort of makes sense that he wouldn’t. Wong’s been doing the job longer than Strange at this point. He’s been holding down the fort for five long, confusing years. He’d know all the ins and outs of the position, so it wouldn’t make much sense to give it back to someone who’s a novice by comparison. And Strange did technically breach the sworn oath by giving up the Time Stone.
So, sorry Multiverse of Madness. You didn’t quite fuck everything up, I guess.
So Peter meets up with the good doctor and asks him if he could possibly reverse time so Mysterio never revealed his identity to the world. Strange is genial with the boy, until he reminds him that they already fucked with space and time to constitute the reverse Snap, so doing it again because Peter’s life has gotten difficult is irresponsible on his part.
Peter is quick to tell Strange that he wouldn’t have jumped to these sorts of measures if only his life was affected. His best friend and his girlfriend have lost their chances at college because they know him, and he can’t abide that.
Strange says he can’t reverse time even if he wanted to because he no longer has the Time Stone, but he gets a different idea that could work.
It pains me to say bad things about this movie. The character work in this movie is amazing. Almost perfect. But at this point I need to bring up the unfortunate exception.
Doctor Strange was sacrificed on the altar for this movie. He’s not as bad here as he is in Multiverse of Madness, but he is still very much out of character. Outside of some good moments, almost everything he says and does is a mark against the film. And the upcoming scene is probably where the bulk of the problems are.
Strange proposes that they perform a memory spell that would make everyone forget his secret identity.
What.
Wong is against the idea, as is his character, but leaves the two to it, telling Strange to “just leave him out of it.”
Strange takes Peter to a dungeon downstairs to perform the spell, and immediately starts casting it. He says, mid-casting, that the entire world is going to forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man, including him.
What. The. Fuck.
How is this a thing you can do? Do you know what would have to go into a spell like that for it to work? Strange would not just be removing the memory from people’s consciousness (the ethics of that are fucked on their own by the way); he’d have to remove the information from photos, videos, texts, newspapers, etc. What if people bonded and became friends at protest rallies? What happens to them? There’s a whole ripple effect to this that I don’t think the movie is aware of. Otherwise, Doctor Strange is a fucking god.
And uh, Strange? Why the hell have you included yourself in the “forget” category? Why would you want to forget Peter’s identity? What if something goes wrong, you dodo?
So Peter gets in a panic because this isn’t what he asked for. He didn’t want everyone to forget! So he starts naming people that should still remember: MJ, Ned, May, Happy, etc. and Strange starts getting pissed because tampering with the spell mid-casting is apparently really risky.
Then stop casting it, you fool!
To clarify, Peter asks for these exceptions one-by-one, and every single time Strange tweaks the spell to accommodate for the new parameter with an exasperated sigh and starts again. What he should’ve done is stop casting and tell Peter something along the lines of, “Alright we’re not going through with this until you tell me everyone you don’t want to forget,” and then proceed from there. It doesn’t seem too difficult to change the spell, either. He starts drawing a magic circle, and just adds a new one every time Peter asks for something. I have to ask again why Strange wouldn’t include himself as someone who would still remember if modifying the spell is so easy.
There are many people who say Peter is just as guilty of dumbassery in this scene because he didn’t clarify what he wanted to Strange beforehand, but I’m not having that. Peter was very clear about what he wanted: undo the damage Mysterio caused. He wanted time shenanigans first, and barring that, went ahead with the forget spell. He has no idea how the spell works, and he didn’t sign up for erasing the memory from the entire world. Peter is not the wizard here, Strange is. Strange should have sat Peter down and went through all the details before performing a spell like this.
But instead, the spell goes awry, and all sorts of crazy dimensional-tisms start happening, forcing Strange to close the spell and contain it in a little box. Strange yells at Peter for fucking with his spell, and Peter meekly apologizes, even though Strange is at fault here. Strange tells Peter that Mysterio isn’t the problem; the problem is that he’s trying to live the best of two worlds. It’s another poignant reminder that Spider-Man is one of the only heroes in the MCU with a secret identity. That can get hard. Strange says he’s sorry his friends can’t get into college, but there’s nothing more to do if he already tried to appeal his case.
Peter’s like “wait what?” because he didn’t know that this was something he could do. Strange’s response is indignation that he didn’t think to try that “before asking him to brainwash the entire world.”
He didn’t ask for that! That was your suggestion, remember?
So Strange slams the door to the Sanctum in Peter’s face, and Peter calls Flash to ask him who he can make a case for MJ and Ned to, and where he can find them. Flash directs him to the MIT Vice Chancellor, but unfortunately she’s already on her way to the airport now.
Oh shit!
So Peter swings on over to the highway in his Iron Spider suit. Luckily, traffic is congested, but Stark networks are offline, removing the ability to find the lady through facial recognition. He’s gonna have to find her car the hard way.
He manages to find MIT lady’s car and starts making a quick, unrehearsed speech for his friends to get into the university, even if he can’t.
But he’s interrupted by his spider-sense (or Peter Tingle) suddenly going off. Something’s wrong. Some armored, metal appendages start upending the highway, forcing everyone to flee from their cars and off the bridge. MIT lady accidentally gets locked in her car, and Peter suits up to deal with the threat, who turns out to be…
Doctor Otto Octavius!? Played by Alfred Molina?!
He starts demanding to know what Peter’s done with “his machine,” calling it “the power of the sun in the palm of his hands.” Peter has no idea what he’s talking about, but has to start defending people from the weird metal tentacle man.
Doctor Octopus gives Peter a hard time, but then quips that he “should’ve killed his little girlfriend when he had the chance.”
Peter immediately gets back into action, bringing out his Iron Spider’s own extra legs, and asks darkly, “What did you just say?” Now it’s personal.
The two go tendril-to-tendril, but Peter can only just keep up with the level of skill Octavius has with his tentacles. MIT lady’s car falls off the bridge, and Peter just barely saves her before Octavius has him at his mercy. He takes a hunk off the Iron Spider suit, recognizing it as nanotechnology, and begins assimilating it into his tentacles. He goes in for the killing blow, and Peter has to quickly allocate the remaining nanotech from his face to cover up his exposed chest. Doc Ock gets a good look at Peter and says perplexed, “…you’re not Peter Parker.” Peter, having his life turned upside down because everyone knows his name, and is now being attacked by the first person who doesn’t recognize him, is humorously exasperated. But it isn’t over. Peter is able to uno-reverse Otto assimilating his nanotech and pairs his own suit with the nanopieces on Doc Ock’s tendrils, allowing him to control them against his will!
Fuck yes!
Peter goes to check on MIT lady who tells him he’s a hero, and that she’s going to tell admissions to reconsider not only his friends…but himself as well.
With Otto subdued and his friends having earned another shot, Peter has little time to celebrate. A familiar looking bomb goes off elsewhere on the highway. Out from the smoke is the fucking Green Goblin with Willem Dafoe making his signature cackle. Otto recognizes the voice as “Osborne’s.”
What the hell is going on?
ACT II (Attempting to Alter Fate)
Peter is suddenly transported to a new location before he can engage with the flying green man, however. He’s in a dark spooky dungeon where Doc Ock has been put in a magic cell, as well as a giant lizard. Doctor Strange appears and tells him that the spell he botched (the spell you botched) brought in otherworldly beings who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man. I say otherworldly because they are from other universes entirely. And indeed, Doc Ock confirms he knows a Peter Parker, but not this one.
It pretty much confirms what you all most likely knew before even watching this movie: Doc Ock and Green Goblin have been transported from the Raimi-verse into the MCU. And the Lizard is from the Webb-verse.
Things just got complicated.
(A neat detail I like is that Octavius scoffs at the idea of magic, since it doesn’t exist in his universe.)
So Strange gives Peter’s web-shooter a magical upgrade that lets him shoot a “transport into a cell” spell at whoever, and tells him to find as many multiversal visitors as he can. Peter enlists the help of Ned and MJ. Strange begins telling them that they’re in this mess thanks to Peter, and luckily MJ reminds Strange that it was his spell in the first place, so this is really his mess.
Yes, Zendaya!
The two understand that Peter was just trying to fix things, but suggest he run the idea by them next time.
Ned (“You can take the guy out of the chair but you can’t take the chair out of the guy!”) is able to track down a disturbance involving a “monster flying through the air.” Peter assumes it’s gotta be the Green Goblin, but Doc Ock interjects saying it can’t be Osborne because he died years ago.
Hmm…
So Peter goes to investigate, with his friends acting as mission control. The “flying monster” turns out to be a flying blue man, who’s sucking the electricity from the nearby power lines. Peter tries shooting him with his upgraded sling webs, but they go right through him. He gives Peter the old zappy-zap, but he’s protected by a shifting mass of sand. It’s Raimi-verse Sandman! Peter tells him he’ll explain everything but for now he needs his help restraining the electric man. The two are able to bring him down, and it’s revealed that he’s Jamie Foxx Electro from Amazing Spider-Man 2. He says he could tell he was in another universe because the energy feels “different.” Peter sends the two to Strange’s dungeon, where Electro and Lizard (who can talk) immediately recognize each other.
Their conversation is hilarious, because it sounds like a conversation between a TASM defender and a regular person. A lot of the dialogue just feels real and organic. I’ll paraphrase.
[Octavius]: You know this creature?
[Electro]: Not a creature. A man. Brilliant scientist, until he turned himself into a lizard. Then he tried to turn the whole city into lizards! It was crazy!
[Lizard]: It wasn’t crazy. It was the next stage in human evolution. But what happened to you? Last time I saw you, you had bad teeth and comb-over. Did you get a makeover? I can give you a real makeover.
[Electro]: Let me guess, by turning me into a lizard?
[Lizard]: Exactly!
In general, the movie treats the Webb-verse characters like victims of their own franchise, and I love it. It happily pokes fun at how ridiculous the less-popular Spider-Man films were without being too mean-spirited towards these characters, who could have been great in better films.
We cut to Norman Osborne in an alleyway in the city. He’s taken control back of his mind and body from the Goblin persona, destroying the mask. He takes refuge at the homeless organization May works at, called FEAST. She calls Peter to give him the updates, and Peter rushes on over to FEAST thinking his aunt is in trouble. He’s surprised to see the unmasked Osborne, lost and confused. He doesn’t remember anything from when he was the Green Goblin, and now he’s in a New York he doesn’t recognize where Oscorp doesn’t exist, his home is occupied by someone else, and his own son is unaccounted for. May tells Peter that if all the villains are like this, then they need serious help. Peter combats this by saying what’s best for the villains lies in their home universes, not this one.
At the Daily Bugle (which sells vitamin supplements…it really is the InfoWars of this world), JK Simmons receives word from one of his guys that he has eyes on the Spider-Man, and JK Simmons tells him to stay on his trail.
So Peter takes Osborne to the Sanctum, where he’s surprised to see Octavius. (He’s also intrigued that MJ is not Mary-Jane in this universe. This movie is full of neat little details like that. Ned: “Do you think there are other Ned Leeds-es?”) Octavius is even more surprised, considering Norman died years ago as far as he’s concerned. Flint Marko then cuts in that Octavius died a couple of years after Norman. Pretty soon, all the villains piece together the one thing they have in common: all of them were transported to this universe right before they died fighting Spider-Man.
(Except Sandman, I guess. And Lizard but he doesn’t know that.)
Doctor Strange then appears with a magic box. It contains the corrupted spell, and it will apparently send the villains back to their universe when the button on top is pushed. The villains are none too happy about this, of course, now that they know what their fates will be when they return.
Peter tells Strange that they can’t send them back yet. Peter values helping people and saving lives. He was able to dismiss the villains as “not his problem” before, but the context has changed. His conscience won’t allow him to be complicit in the deaths of these people. Now that he knows their fates, he’s responsible for their lives.
Strange counters by saying “in the grand calculus of the multiverse, they’re sacrifice means infinitely more than their lives.” Strange isn’t happy about it either, but he values the safety of this universe above everything else. He can’t risk the destruction of his reality because these interlopers will meet a grisly end in theirs. As far as he’s concerned, it’s their fate…and they’ve tampered far enough with the cosmos already.
These two characters are at an impasse. Their values have collided into each other, and they represent two irreconcilable viewpoints.
Something has to give.
And so, just as Strange finishes preparing the spell, Peter makes his decision.
He webs the box.
Strange, knowing what Peter is thinking, only says, “Don’t.” But he does. He yanks the box and runs off with it, after zapping Strange into one of the cells.
Strange meets Peter outside and gives him some trouble with the Sling Ring. He actually uses it to good effect here. He changes the trajectory of Peter’s webs, even getting him to web himself, and he traps Peter in an infinite fall loop, Portal style. He then forces Peter’s astral form out of his body, and then tries to grab the box. But he can’t because Peter’s physical body…acts on its own and reflexively moves out of Strange’s grasp? A year later, and I’m still not clear on what was going on here. The explanation I’ve heard is that Peter’s spider-sense makes his body act completely instinctively even when his soul(?) isn’t in it. But if that’s what was happening, the movie didn’t communicate that well at all. So Peter re-enters his body but then Strange sends him into the Mirror Dimension.
It’s over now. Peter was already out of his depth fighting Doctor Strange, but now he’s in his domain. This is the place he’d be infinitely more familiar with, and he even tells Peter “this is where I’m in control.” Doctor Strange is going to utterly—
Nope. Peter defeats Doctor Strange. In the Mirror Dimension. Seriously.
Peter figures out that the Mirror Dimension has an inherently geometric structure and, being good at geometry, traps Doctor Strange in a complex web of…webs.
Criticizing this fight scene is so hard because besides this, everyone is acting completely in-character, and mechanically it’s great. It’s one of my favorite fight scenes in the MCU since Strange vs. Thanos in Infinity War. I’m not even saying it’s impossible for Spider-Man to beat Doctor Strange. But not like this. A string of webs should not be trouble for Doctor Strange while he has his sling ring. Peter’s body acting on its own shouldn’t be trouble for Doctor Strange.
It’s yet another blow to the character. But we gotta move on.
Peter snags Strange’s sling ring and leaves him in the Mirror Dimension. He doesn’t know if he can change anyone’s fate, but he has to try. Octavius is bewildered that Peter didn’t stand by and leave the villains to their fate, and MJ remarks that that just isn’t who Peter is.
Peter tells the villains that with the technology of this universe, he might be able to fix what’s wrong with them, and afford them a second chance once they go back to their home universes. The villains agree to go along, really because their only other option is wait to die at the hands of Strange. As insurance, Peter has MJ hold the box, telling her that she must press it at his word (or if she doesn’t hear from him after a certain time).
So Peter takes the Sinister Five to Happy’s apartment (well, except Lizard, who wanted to stay in the truck). First on the fix-list is Doc Ock. He introduces the group to the Stark Fabricator, which can “analyze, design, and construct anything.”
Liiiittle convenient that a device this useful is only coming up now, but carry on, movie.
Peter deduces that Octavius’s mind chip is broken, and if they create a working one, they can restore his higher brain function. Osborne helps out, growing fond of Peter. He half-jokingly offers him a job at Oscorp when this is all over.
Electro has a chat with Sandman while they’re working on the chip. Sandman is unique in the fact that he’s the only one that wants to go home now. He doesn’t have a need for fixing or redemption and just wants to see his daughter. On the other hand, Electro likes the energy of this universe and I think he wouldn’t mind staying. The two have a moment commiserating over being the “accident” villains of the group, having fallen into a supercollider and a vat of electric eels, respectively (Electro: “Damn. Gotta be careful where you fall.”)
So the chip is complete, and the moment of truth arrives. Peter implants the new chip into Octavius’s neck and…it works! Octavius is cured and back to his normal self.
While the scientists get to work on curing Norman and Electro next, The Daily Bugle shows up outside the apartment, with JK Simmons saying Damage Control is on the way. The group prepare a serum for Norman, an anti-collider for Sandman, and an electricity drainer for Electro, who’s still uncomfortable.
Octavius asks Norman how it feels, knowing he’s going to be “whole again.” There will be no more “darker half” after this, just him. Norman responds, with his back turned to Octavius, “just me.”
Just then, Peter’s spider-senses tingle like they’ve never tingled before, going on high alert. A high-pitched sound and a vertigo effect communicate to the audience that something is very, very wrong. Peter begins walking around the apartment trying to find the source of his sixth sense going haywire. Everyone’s asking what the problem is, their voices sounding warped and distant. He can’t make it out. There’s too much going on. Peter closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and focuses…
He opens his eyes with a new clarity, and fires a web at Norman.
His response?
“That’s a neat trick. That sense of yours.”
Oh shit.
The Green Goblin is back. As Willem Dafoe puts it, “Norman’s on sabbatical, honey!”
I’ll say here that Willem Dafoe is phenomenal in this movie. It’s been twenty years since he’s played the Green Goblin, yet he slips back into the role like a glove and steals the show every time he’s on the screen. This scene in particular is a banger.
He goes on a monologue that I won’t bother trying to do justice by paraphrasing (elsewhere May is stashing the rest of the cures in a bag).
[Goblin]: “No more darker half?” Did you really think that I’d let that happen? That I’d let you take away my power, just because you’re blind to what true power can bring you? I saw how [May] trapped you, fighting her… holy moral mission. We don’t need you to save us. We don’t need to be fixed! These are not curses. They’re gifts. I watched you from deep behind Norman’s cowardly eyes. Struggling to have everything you want, while the world tries to make you choose. Gods don’t have to choose. We take.
This is all it takes for pandemonium to break loose. Electro is finally tipped over the edge. He yanks the drainer out of his chest and makes a move on the Arc Reactor he was eyeing the whole night. Then he knocks Octavius out of the building. Goblin engages in a brutal fight with Peter. Sandman slips away, and Lizard breaks out of the truck. (JK Simmons: Did you see that?)
The fight between Peter and Goblin is intense. Goblin basically has super-soldier serum, meaning he can take a lot of Peter’s hits. Peter on the other hand isn’t pulling punches. The two trade blows that crash them through floors and walls of the building. You can feel the impact of every hit. At one point Peter violently punches Goblin in the head and the villain cackles hysterically. This is exactly what he wants. To bring the darkness out of Peter.
He eventually pummels Peter all the way to the ground floor of the apartment, where he tells Peter that “morality is his weakness.” May comes in and stabs Goblin with the serum…but it doesn’t work. All May can do is grab a pipe and get ready to do whatever she’ll have to to protect her nephew, who weakly begs her to run.
But Goblin plays dirty.
He discreetly brings down his glider, and rams it right into May’s back. She tumbles to the floor. Goblin gets ready to fly away, but not before throwing bomb May’s way, telling Peter that he’ll “thank him later.” Peter grabs the bomb before it can make impact with May. Severely weakened, the two struggle to make their way towards each other. May reassures Peter that she’s fine. Peter says this is all his fault, and he should’ve let Strange send the villains back. May tells Peter not to let Norman’s words get to him, and that he absolutely did the right thing.
And she says the line.
“Peter. You have a gift. You have power. And with great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
What follows is a heartbreaking sequence. May suddenly collapses. She insists she just needs a little break. Peter cradles her, telling her he’s not going anywhere…but there’s blood on his hand when he pulls it back.
The glider didn’t just stagger May.
She continues telling Peter she just needs to catch her breath, but her voice is getting hollow and ragged. The light is fading from her eyes. Peter asks May to look at him, to talk to him, to make some kind of response, but she becomes unresponsive. It’s over.
May is dead.
This scene is controversial because a lot of people feel like the “great responsibility” line should’ve been delivered by Uncle Ben and May “stole” it from him. People have said the usage here is “forced” or even “cringe.”
They’re wrong.
But more on that when we get to Themes.
ACT III Part 1 (Three is the Magic Number)
What follows is Peter watching a news broadcast by JK Simmons. It’s too good to paraphrase.
[J. Jonah Jameson]: Tragedy. What else can I call it? What more need be said? The damage, the destruction, you saw it with your own eyes. When will people wake up, and realize that everywhere Spider-Man goes, chaos and calamity ensue? Everything Spider-Man touches comes to ruin. And we, the innocents, are left to pick up the pieces. J. Jonah Jameson, reporting. Good night. And God help us all.
It’s a reasonable conclusion for the man to come to, given everything he’s witnessed. But it’s a sad reflection of Peter’s current view of himself.
We move to Ned’s house where he and MJ deliberate over what to do since they haven’t heard from Peter. MJ is heavily considering pressing the magic button, and Ned wishes out loud to see his friend. Because he’s wearing the sling ring Peter stole from Strange earlier, some sparks form just after he says this.
Oh shit.
MJ encourages Ned to do it again, and Ned manages to get a portal open, after expressing a desire to see “Peter Parker.”
Just to bring it up since I’ve seen contentions against this scene, this is in line with how the sling rings work. Doctor Strange establishes that all you have to do is think of the place you want to go. There’s no innate magical ability required. Yes, this is OP as fuck. Yes, this should be a skill only high-level wizards should be able to perform. But it is consistent.
So Ned opens a portal to Spider-Man in an alleway. Ned and MJ call out to him, and as he enters the portal they realize he’s taller than the Spider-Man they’re familiar with. He unmasks, and it’s revealed to be The Amazing Spider-Man played by Andrew Garfield!
Holy shit!
Garfield quickly pieces together that he’s been transported to another universe. It’s clear he’s thought about multidimensional-tisms for a while. Makes sense, given that he’s a gifted scientist himself.
Andrew Garfield is commonly cited as a show-stealer for this movie, and I do not blame people who say this one bit. He is fantastic in this movie. A lot of the actors are! But he stood out for me and a lot of people. There was an Amazing Spider-Man 3 movement after this film released, just so we could see more of Garfield! He is so natural at conversational dialogue. MJ asks for proof that Garfield is Peter, and she throws a piece of bread at him to see if he has the tingle. His response is a simple “…why’d you do that?”
He sticks to the ceiling with one hand, which MJ is unsatisfied with. Garfield perfectly portrays someone who’s trying to be friendly but getting more and more exasperated as he says, “I’m not gonna crawl around, this is plenty.” and “Can you please not throw the bread again?”
He’s awesome.
So Ned tries another portal, hoping to find the “real” Peter (Garfield: “Ouch.”), and one eventually opens behind the group. This time, the guy who steps in looks like a regular middle-aged guy with no costume (Ned: “Great, it’s just some random guy”).
But to the viewer, this is no regular middle-aged guy. It’s the regular middle-aged guy.
It’s the original movie Spider-Man played by Tobey fucking Maguire!!
Our guy humbly apologizes for stepping into the nice lady’s home before he notices the younger guy in the Spider suit. The two freeze, before engaging in a quick draw of webs that only Spider-Man’s reflexes could account for. They recognize each other as variants, but neither from this universe.
Tobey says he got a sense that whoever this universe’s Peter is, he needs their help. Everyone’s help. The group is all he has left. They set out to find him after MJ deduces where he might be.
The friends find him on top of a roof, and Ned and MJ go in for a big hug.
MJ tells Peter some people are here to see him…
Peter instinctively goes into combat mode, until he sees the two Spiders on the roof. They come in to comfort him, but Peter cuts them off, telling them not to tell him they know what he’s going through. May died for nothing in his view, and it’s all his fault. He goes in to press the button, as he feels he should’ve done in the first place. He tells the other Peters that he’s sending everyone home, and if they kill the villains…that’s on them.
He says, “It’s not my problem. I don’t care anymore. I’m done.”
Before he can press it, the other Peters tell him about their own greatest failures and how they dealt with them. It reminds me of the “For me, it was…” scene from Spider-Verse. Garfield tells Peter he lost Gwen, his MJ. He tried to keep fighting the good fight, as she would’ve wanted, but he eventually got rageful and bitter. He says he stopped pulling his punches. He doesn’t want Peter to end up like him.
Tobey tells Peter about the night Ben died. He says he wanted his killer dead. He simply says, “I got what I wanted. It didn’t make it better.” Notably, he doesn’t indicate whether he personally killed him. He doesn’t need to. The point is clear. He fell into that darkness, but he’s come out after a long and hard journey.
Peter hears them out, but he isn’t at their level of development yet. He says simply that he wants Goblin dead. He starts to tell the other Peters May’s last words…and they finish the line for him.
Peter couldn’t have been more wrong about them. These are the only two people who could understand what he’s going through.
[Tobey]: Maybe she didn’t die for nothing, Peter.
So our boys get to work at the science lab in Peter’s high school. Garfield takes point on curing Connors, since he’s already done so in his universe, and Tobey gets to work on a cure for Osborne, saying he’s been thinking about a cure formula for a long time.
Something I missed the first time is that Peter is hesitant to state an intention to cure all the villains, and can’t even bring himself to say Osborne’s name. He’s still on the fence; something that might come into play later…
The film uses this as an opportunity to explore character. I know I keep gushing about the dialogue but I’ll say here that the chemistry between the three Spider-Men is so natural and just…nice to see! They feel like they’ve always been part of this universe, and there’s so much respect to who they are from their own movies. In general there is so much camaraderie and respect between scientists, even among the villains.
Ned asks Tobey if he had a best friend, and Tobey regretfully tells him that his died in his arms after trying to kill him. Ned has to sit on this and has trouble talking to Peter for a bit.
Tobey catches Garfield staring wistfully at Peter and MJ having a sweet couple moment. You feel for him when you know that he failed to save his Gwen Stacey. Tobey asks him if he’s got someone waiting for him back in his universe. Garfield tells him he doesn’t really have time for Peter Parker stuff these days. Tobey says he has his own MJ but they’re relationship is complicated.
There’s a clear dynamic between the Spider-Men. Tobey is around 40 years old and he’s the old master of the group. He’s by far the most experienced Spider-Man and is the pillar of wisdom among the three. Garfield has a fair share of experience under his belt too, but he’s young and still has some ways to go. You could say he’s in his prime physically. Our Peter is the youngest and has the most to learn. Being Spider-Man is comparatively fresh and new to him compared to the others, but being from a world where he’s not the only superhero, he may have things to teach them.
So the cures are set, and the plan is simple: lure the bad guys to an uninhabited spot where no one can get hurt, cure them, and send them back to their worlds.
We get some jokes too. Ned calls for Peter and all three of them answer, and everyone is freaked out to learn that Tobey’s webs are organic. These seem like rather obvious jokes that are easy to predict in this scenario, but that doesn’t make them less funny or organic. This to say, it’s okay to do things the audience expects. It’s always in the execution.
Ned also tells Peter, “I promise I won’t turn into a supervillain and try to kill you.” Peter, who was not there for that conversation, is humorously confused.
So Peter tries to rally the gang, almost giving them MJ’s line about disappointment, but she cuts him off saying they’re gonna “kick some ass.” Tobey corrects her, “Cure some ass.”
God I love this movie.
ACT III Part 2 (Second Chances)
The stage is set for our climax. Courtesy of a portal from Ned, our heroes have chosen the Statue of Liberty for their spot to confront the villains. To lure them over, Peter calls into the Daily Bugle and says his piece. He says he is responsible for bringing the villains to his city, but he’s going to make things right. And then, addressing the villains directly should they be watching, he tells them he really did try to help them despite having the chance to kill them at any moment, because his aunt believed in second chances. So he’s chosen a place that represents that very idea (JK Simmons: “Good God, folks! He’s about to destroy another national landmark!”).
We see that the Statue of Liberty is surrounded by scaffolding, as they seem to be in the process of attaching a replica of Cap’s shield to her.
Okay I’m gonna go over this real quick.
I don’t think Cap would’ve wanted a statue in his honor anywhere, and I certainly don’t think he’d want his shield plastered onto the Statue of Liberty. But credit to the film, there is a radio broadcast early on that says that most of New York is opposed to the addition, and it gets destroyed by the end of the film. Just something I thought was worth commenting on.
So the three Peters attach the cures in various locations throughout the scaffolding for easy access, and they have a chat. Garfield helps Tobey out with his back pain, and they ask Tobey more questions about his organic webbing. The three have a back and forth on the kind of villains they fought (Garfield: I wanna fight an alien…), and Tobey even tells Garfield, “You are amazing,” again giving the less-popular live-action Spider-Man the love he deserves.
But at this point, Electro arrives on the scene. He is positively radiating with energy thanks to the Arc Reactor on his chest. He demands the box so he can destroy it. Peter tosses it to Ned and MJ through a portal but Ned has trouble closing it. Why did Peter bring it at all if he was just gonna hand it back to Ned and MJ?
Lizard and Sandman show up too, and they start to give our guys some trouble, especially since the Spider-Men are not the best at coordinating as a group yet. They need cures at inconvenient times because the group is split up fighting different villains, and they even accidentally web each other at one point.
Sandman starts making a huge-ass sandstorm that makes it difficult to see, and Peter uses the opportunity for a quick time out. He tells the other Peters that the three of them really need to get their shit together. Although the other two don’t have experience fighting as a team, our Peter was part of the Avengers, and so he puts the group on to a more coordinated effort.
[Peter]: I don’t wanna brag, but I will. I was in the Avengers.
[Tobey]: The Avengers? That’s great!
[Peter]: Thank you.
[Tobey]: What is that??
So Spider-Man’s theme plays as the three heroes from three generations jump off the scaffolding and start swinging in tandem. It’s enough to make a grown man cry, and it looks fucking cool. They even use their webs to fling each other. The three land in order, and we get our money shot for the film. This is going down in history.
The plot of this movie isn’t perfect. It stumbles in a lot of areas and the characterization of Doctor Strange has gone downhill. But then I think about the legwork Jon Watts put in for the other characters. And to bring these three actors together in a movie that feels like a meaningful continuation of their franchises as well as this one. We have earned this shot.
Is it fanservice? Absolutely. Is it shallow? I won’t hear it.
So our boys take the villains one at a time, starting with Sandman. They pass around the anti-collider back and forth while avoiding the Lizard. It seems like Tobey is pinned down by Sandman, but Peter tosses the cure to him, and with a press of a button, Flint Marko is a normal man again.
Next is Electro, who quickly proves to be difficult for even three Spider-Men to handle. With the Arc Reactor, he’s at his most powerful and can pin down all three Peters at the same time. Meanwhile, Ned still can’t close his portal. Lizard notices the portal and chases him and MJ, forcing them out into the confrontation.
So far, every portal Ned has opened has closed on its own after some time, but now that we need some drama to unfold, suddenly this portal refuses to close at all. It’s a contrivance, but we’ll see what the film does now that Ned and MJ are out on the statue.
Ocatvius shows up, and he seems to be helping out the bad guys. He helps Electro pin down the other Spiders…but it turns out to be a double-cross! He manages to snag the Arc Reactor and stick the de-electrifier onto Electro’s chest instead, taking away his power.
Ned tries to open another portal to get to safety, but instead opens one to…Doctor Strange? Apparently he’s been dangling in the Grand Canyon for the last twelve hours but, so then…what is he doing here? How did he get down? Where is he coming from? The Mirror Dimension? The most the film shows us in a nondescript blue background. How did Ned open a portal for him without meaning to? Can you actually open a portal to the Mirror Dimension?
Getting into really weird territory for plot here.
But Strange comes just in time to witness Lizard being cured. Peter’s plan is working, and the wizard can’t help but be impressed. He’s also impressed at Ned being able to work a sling ring (though he takes it back at the first opportunity).
Garfield has a debriefing with Max, who dejectedly remarks that he’s back to being a nobody. He also tells Garfield he expected him to be black. Garfield is about to apologize but Max says “there’s gotta be a black Spider-Man somewhere out there.”
Hehehehehe.
Elsewhere, Tobey has a touching reunion with Otto, who’s happy to see the boy all grown up. He asks how he’s been, and Tobey just says “trying to do better.”
Strange confronts Peter, holding the box, and tells him that while it’s great he was able to cure most of the villains, it’s gotta end here. He sees the other two Spider-Men and Benedict Cumberbatch gives the best reaction of “I thought one was bad, and now I gotta deal with three?” communicated nonverbally.
But before anything can happen, Willem Dafoe’s voice fills the sky: “Can the Spider-Man come out to play?!”
The Goblin is back.
He swoops in and steals the box from Strange. Otto slows him down and Strange uses a magic whip to steal it back, but everyone realizes too late that the Goblin left a nasty surprise: there’s a bomb inside the box.
It explodes, destroying the box and sending the giant shield crashing down near the water below. MJ falls off the scaffolding, and Peter’s attempt to save her is interrupted by Goblin smacking into him with his glider.
And so, Garfield takes a dive. He’s not gonna let a repeat of Gwen Stacey happen on his watch. He saves MJ gracefully, catching her in his arms, and shooting a web that lowers them safely to the ground. You almost get the impression Garfield has played out the scenario in his head over and over, thinking of the best way he could’ve saved Gwen.
He asks MJ if she’s okay, and MJ asks him the same after noticing Garfield is emotional. Garfield just nods tearfully, having finally found closure for his biggest failure. He might not have been able to save Gwen, but he’s just saved our Peter from that same heartbreak.
Everyone and their grandmother saw this coming. From the moment we saw MJ falling in the trailer, we knew Garfield was gonna be the one to save her. This moment was still impactful, and brought a tear to many eyes in the theater. It goes to show that there’s nothing wrong with doing exactly what the audience expects every once in a while. You don’t have to chase subversion every single time. Imagine if someone like Rian Johnson directed this film, and they robbed us of this beautiful payoff to have MJ land somewhere soft and comfortable off-screen before Garfield even has a chance to try and catch her because it would be “different” and “unexpected.”
I shudder at the thought.
But it’s not over. The corrupted spell has been let loose, and it’s creating tears in the universe that Doctor Strange can only do so much to keep under some control.
Peter, occupied with the Goblin, takes one of his bombs and trashes his glider with it. The two come crashing down onto the fallen shield, the arena for their final battle.
Goblin stands up and takes off his goggles, and Peter takes a battle stance. There isn’t a shred of innocence left on Tom Holland’s face here. Peter is pissed. And he’s glaring at the man who took his remaining family from him.
[Goblin]: Poor Peter…too weak to send me home to die.
[Peter]: No. I just wanna kill you myself.
[Goblin]: (smiling) Attaboy!
The two clash, and exchange blows that carry the same weight as the fight in the apartment. Peter’s friends look on in horror as the boy coldly and mercilessly beats on Norman until he becomes unresponsive. Peter finally stops the barrage…and picks up the glider over his head. He gets ready to bring down on Norman the same weapon he killed May with, the same weapon he was to die from in his own universe.
But just in time, Raimi Spider-Man steps in between the two and catches the glider in his hands. Peter, still fueled by anger, struggles to push past him and get his vengeance, but the older Spider-Man does not let go. He doesn’t scold the boy. He doesn’t yell at Peter to stop. He doesn’t need to. He only needs to give him a moment to pause. The look on Tobey Maguire’s face is understanding, firm, and pleading. It says, “I know how you feel but this is not what we talked about. This is not what we do.”
Slowly, gradually, Peter cools down, and drops the glider. The Goblin seizes the moment and stabs Tobey right in the back.
In his last attempt to torment Peter, and turn him dark, he tells him, “She was there… because of you… I may have struck the blow, but you…you’re the one that killed her.
As he cackles maniacally, Garfield throws Peter Norman’s cure, and Peter, uses his last bit of vengeance and bitterness to thrust it into the man’s neck. The laughter and look of sadism is slowly replaced with confusion. Norman is back. He has no idea what he’s done, but he is horrified at the implications.
Garfield comes to comfort Tobey, who’s in a lot of pain but he’ll manage. In a bit of comedy, he asks “is that really happening or am I dying?” in relation to the growing cracks in the universe.
Oh shit! The universe is still coming apart!
Peter rushes to Doctor Strange at the top of the statue, who is still doing everything he can to contain the damage. There are now hundreds of silhouettes of people who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man poking through the multiverse. Some of them are recognizable as Kraven the Hunter, Scorpion, and Rhino.
Strange says “They’re coming through…and I can’t stop them. They’re here. They’re here because of you!”
It’s the end of the world. We’re past the point of trying the memory spell again. But it’s at this moment that Peter realizes there really is only one solution to this. He asks Doctor Strange to make everyone forget who Peter Parker is. Strange initially refuses, but concedes that it will work, and gives Peter time to say his goodbyes.
Uhhh I’m not entirely sure how it follows that altering the memory spell to make everyone forget Peter Parker will fix everything, but I guess the important thing here is that Peter is making the ultimate sacrifice. Everyone Peter loves, everyone that knows and loves him, will forget he was ever in their lives. And what’s more is no one will remember he did this. It’s the most selfless act anyone can do, short of giving their life. It might even be more selfless because no one will remember he even did this.
So Peter meets up with the other Peters. It’s about as awkward as what is essentially saying goodbye to two of yourselves could be. There’s so much Peter wants to say. He settles for a big hug, and thanking them for being there for him at a time he really needed it. Tobey and Garfield wish him well as they fade away and are sent back to their home universes, along with the cured villains.
So Peter meets up with Ned and MJ, and tells them that this is all the time they have left together before Strange finishes the spell. He promises to find them and explain everything, and they tearfully embrace. Peter and Ned perform their best friend handshake one last time, and he and MJ share a final kiss. Peter is about to tell MJ he loves her, but she tells him not to say it until they see each other again.
Peter gives one last look at Strange, who gives a somber nod and says quietly, “So long, kid.”
The spell is complete, a wave of magic sweeps the area.
We cut to a view of the New York city skyline, with a voiceover of JK Simmons giving a report.
[JJJ]: It’s been a few weeks since the fiasco on the Statue of Liberty, and Spider-Man’s cultists continue to contend that the vile vigilante is a hero. But if he were a hero, he’d unmask himself and tell us who he really is! Because only a coward conceals his identity. Only a coward hides his true intentions. Rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, that this reporter will uncover those intentions, through hell and high water.
For better or worse, the spell worked, and though Spider-Man remains a known figure, no one has any idea who Peter Parker is.
We then see our boy making his way to the cafe. He’s mentally preparing lines to say to MJ and Ned when he sees them again.
He enters and sees his best friend and his girlfriend, now students of MIT living normal lives. He walks up to MJ, introduces himself…and asks for a cup of coffee. He can’t bring himself to tell her the truth just yet. Zendaya brings Peter his coffee and he notices a scar on her forehead, an injury she sustained from the battle on Liberty Island. He asks about it and she says “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
At that moment, Peter makes his decision. These people don’t know him, and their lives are better for it. He’s not going to intervene and put them in jeopardy all over again. It is heartbreaking to see Peter put on a forced smile, thank Zendaya for the coffee, and leave without fulfilling his promise. But realistically, this is the only way this could’ve played out. Even if Peter told them everything, it wouldn’t equate to the experiences they shared. These two are essentially different people now. Without the memories, it was a lost cause. This is Peter’s real sacrifice.
He visits Aunt May’s grave (on it says “When you help someone, you help everyone.”), and he’s joined by Happy. He tells Peter that he lost a friend a while back, and what hurts more than knowing they’re gone forever is remembering what they stood for and wondering “if that’s all gone too.”
Peter, a complete stranger to Happy, tells him that it isn’t gone. Everyone she helped will keep it going.
We then cut to Peter opening the door to his new apartment. It’s a humble small, humble space and he’s the sole resident. It’s hammered in here that Peter really has no one. He starts to unpack, starting with the LEGO figure of Emperor Palpatine from the Death Star he and Ned built and rebuilt so many times. In his box is a GED study book, indicating that Peter won’t even be able to graduate high school, let alone attend college.
He pulls out a police radio app from his phone, and picks up that there’s trouble somewhere in the city. He puts on a brand-new costume he stitched together himself, and swings out into the night. It’s bittersweet. The suit is cool, and Peter can now be Spider-Man full time, but at the cost of a significant part of his life.
As the script puts it, Peter Parker is no more, but Spider-Man lives on.
We then get a post-credits scene showing that Eddie Brock and Venom from the Sony universe were fucking around in a bar before going back to their home universe. Venom leaves a bit of black symbiote goo behind, which might spell trouble for Peter somewhere down the line…
In a post-post-credits scene we get a teaser for a lesser film.
SUMMATION
I feel like it’d almost be a formality to give a summation, given everything we’ve just gone over. But let’s give it a shot anyway, shall we?
WORLD
So…this movie kinda fucks with the world. And it’s all because of Doctor Strange (who would’ve guessed?) Apparently we now have magic that can erase memories of a person worldwide. Do you know what this means? Any memories associated with Peter/Spider-Man would need to be altered. What would’ve happened to people who met and became buddies at a Spider-Man protest rally? Not to mention photographs, documents, etc. And Doctor Strange succeeds in making everyone forget Peter Parker entirely, making it so he, essentially, never existed retroactively? How is that possible? He’s altered history! Is Doctor Strange a god at this point? He has to be the most OP character in the MCU next to Scarlet Witch! I guess to the movie’s credit, it yada-yadas over the fine details. I say “I guess” because it doesn’t really fix the issue to keep it ambiguous, you’re just saving yourself from providing an explanation that can ruin things further. It ain’t great but it ain’t catastrophic.
World: 4/10
PLOT
We’re in some trouble here too. There’s a significant amount of contrivances and holes.
Like how the multiversal interlopers all just happen to be from universes we recognize. Or how the spell realistically should not have worked on Electro cause he didn’t know Spider-Man’s true identity. Or how Lizard really has no reason to be here other than round out the villain count. Or just about everything to do with Doctor Strange, especially the fight, which Peter has to win for the story to continue.
Plot: 5/10
But it’s almost worth it because we’re at the areas of the film it excels at.
CHARACTER
J Jonah Jameson was fantastic as a sort of Greek choir giving us the state of what’s going on in a way only JK Simmons could. While he’s spiteful towards Spider-Man he isn’t wrong for feeling the way he does about him. He’s acting on the information he has. Without the context we see, it’s easy to see Spider-Man as someone who causes destruction everywhere he goes.
Ned and MJ are charming as always, and they add a nice bit of levity and humanity to the film. Ned through his humor and MJ through her being an emotional anchor for Peter.
I particularly like Zendaya in this movie. I was unsure of her compatibility with Peter in Far From Home but they have a really cute and heartfelt relationship in this movie. She admires Peter for the qualities he has, not just because he’s Spider-Man.
Meanwhile, this trilogy had me sold from the beginning that Peter and Ned are best friends. He’s there no matter what, and though it’s played semi-comedically, I appreciate that he’s horrified at the idea of turning against Peter and trying to kill him. After everything the three have been through, their goodbye is emotionally heavy. It’s tragically ironic that the two ask Peter to consult them the next time he messes with magic, and he doesn’t because he knows they would be opposed.
[MJ]: But what if that doesn’t work? (Starts panicking) What if that doesn’t work, what if we can’t remember you? I don’t wanna do that. I don’t wanna do that.
I suppose there are many interesting directions you could take these characters with the next installment, but I’d be more than satisfied if they were put to rest as many players after this film.
Aunt May. What a legend. May, while nurturing to Peter, was always someone who encouraged her nephew to fight. Not in a neglectful way…quite the opposite actually. She’s enthusiastic at the prospect of Peter being a superhero. Her packing his suit in Far From Home was humorous but it’s recontextualized here as representing a core belief she has. Anyone with the power to help should, wherever they are. She’s the first to suggest curing the villains and does whatever can to help. She takes an active role in Peter’s first fight with the Goblin, and is ready to go down swinging. And even when it results in her death, she tells Peter that trying to help was the right thing to do. She regrets nothing. However she got it, it’s clear what kind of person May is, what kind of influence she really had on Peter throughout the years. I don’t care if she isn’t Uncle Ben because it was great in terms of fleshing out this character.
Now for our weak link, Doctor Strange. Let’s go over these quickly. Strange goes straight for the “forget-me” spell when Peter asked for him to undo what Mysterio did. He jumps right into performing the spell without going over the implications with Peter first. He includes himself as one of the people who will forget, despite having the power to include exceptions easily. He alters the spell over and over mid-casting instead of talking first and casting later. He loses to Spider-Man in a fight despite basically being a god, and being in the Mirror Dimension. He remains in the Mirror Dimension for twelve hours and comes back by sheer luck. For some reason, Peter is the one who needs to suggest to the wizard a spell that could fix everything. And what’s more is that Strange, who is more of a strictly utilitarian character, initially refuses to go through with it. I know he’s formed an attachment to Peter at this point, but the man has always put the needs of the many over the needs of the few. This is the needs of one, and the world is currently cracking apart. But the real question is, is the movie that assassinates him? You could make the argument. Though I think Multiverse of Madness carries that distinction. This movie does give some strong characterization to Strange, carrying on from Infinity War that he is someone who will do whatever it takes to protect his world. But there’s so much working against the character, and it’s tough how many it deducts from the film overall because he’s such a major part of it.
The villains are notable in that although they were pretty much the Sinister Five, they were just as much in conflict with each other as they were our heroes. Doctor Octopus is initially hostile until he learns of his fate. Even so, he’s distrustful towards Peter and his grouchy skepticism provides a humorous contrast to the overall lighter MCU. Sandman has no reason not to go home since death isn’t waiting for him. He’s just along for the ride since he can’t go back until the others are cured. When he runs out of patience, he attacks so he can just take the cube for himself. Lizard is probably the weakest of the bunch. He has no real vendetta but he does warn Peter that his plan is doomed to fail. He makes no attempt to stop him or even escape the truck. He seemingly just wants front row seats to deliver an “I told you so.” The only real motivation I can think of for him is turning everyone into lizards, but he makes no real attempt to do this. He just adds to the general mayhem. Electro wants to stay in the MCU because the energy and technology affords him more power than he’s ever experienced. He gets to be somebody.
But let’s get to the show-stealer of the group. Green Goblin. A villain through and through, standing out from the others by having zero sympathetic traits and a desire for murder and corruption. He’s Peter’s match in strength and intelligence, and he wants to see Peter fall, to take the boy’s innocence for his own twisted amusement. He provides a dark mirror to Peter’s philosophy. Whereas Spider-Man believes that power gives you the responsibility to do good for others, he believes power affords him the right to do whatever he wants. He welcomes death at Peter’s hand, and almost gets what he wants. Willem Dafoe gives every one of his lines power and malevolence, and the Goblin laughs till the very end, when Peter kills him without killing him. He’s fucking awesome. He’s the best villain in Phase 4 of the MCU and he isn’t even from the MCU!
And now for the man of the hour, Peter Parker himself. The boy struggling to have everything he wants, while the world tries to make him choose. This movie pushes him to his absolute limit, taking away all he holds dear until he’s left with nothing. There really is no way home. It puts on a path of vengeance, and who better to help him at that moment? The other Peters arrive at the perfect time to give him the talk he needs. To empathize with the battle he’s fighting, as it’s one they’re all too familiar with.
🤓 “You know what, Ibrahim? You’re nothing but a hypocrite. You criticized Multiverse of Madness for treating every multiversal variant of the main character like they’re the same. This movie does the same thing and you love it!”
Well, Nerd Emoji, there are few differences between this film and that one. Multiverse of Madness gives every multiversal Doctor Strange the same character flaws to artificially break down our main character. “Look! Doctor Strange’s need to control everything puts his loved ones in danger! Look! Doctor Strange’s need to control everything destroyed an entire universe! Look! Doctor Strange’s need to control everything turned him into a…murderous incel?” And the crimes (real and imagined) of the other Stranges are used to condemn ours preemptively, even though his decisions are almost always for the greater good. Our Strange suddenly needs to be held accountable for crimes he hasn’t even been given a chance to commit. It treats the characters like they’re interchangeable even though they no doubt have lived different lives. It’s so shallow and dismal.
This film introduces two Peters that have lived very different lives from ours, but they each have had key moments that taught them what it means to be Spider-Man. What’s so much more inspiring is that they admit that they hit low points. And getting out was hard, but they did it. And they had to do it on their own. Our Peter gets an opportunity they didn’t. To have someone give them the advice they needed to hear when they had to learn the hard way. The Peter Parkers are different, but there’s a core idea that binds them. That is how you do multiverse. Instead of condemning Peter and treating him like he’s already committed to vengeance, it’s an attempt to bring him out off a road he otherwise might have taken.
I think there’s something to say about the way Peter stabs the cure into Norman’s neck. He uses a little more force than necessary, and in a way, I think this was his way of getting what he wants and “killing” the Goblin without going down a dark path.
But yes, Peter Parker has probably lost the most out of any MCU character at this point. Before I saw this movie, my expectations were low. My only hope was that they wouldn’t assassinate Peter. I can happily say he flew higher than ever before. He stuck the landing and closed out this trilogy with flying colors. I can’t wait to see more of him.
I don’t wanna hear any of you calling this character a Tony Stark trust fund baby who doesn’t struggle ever again.
Character: 7/10
THEMES
One theme throughout the film is forgiveness, towards others as well as yourself. Peter might be legally “forgiven” for his alleged crimes but he still has to deal with a public divided. His friends are understanding of him turning to magic in an attempt to make life better for them. Peter’s unwillingness to forgive himself for allowing May’s death almost puts on a point of no return. The end of the film has him essentially absolve himself by performing an altruistic act for the entire world.
Next is power, and what one is supposed to do with it. Peter is presented with three viewpoints on the matter. Goblin believes power should untether you from morality. Strange is pragmatic, almost to the point of ruthlessness, and would preach that power should be used to save as many people as possible, even if some have to die on the way there.
And May represents the most moral point of view.
With great power comes great responsibility. I said earlier that the line’s usage in this film got some backlash. Not only do I think the scene works fine, but I think it’s the perfect culmination of the theme’s presence throughout this trilogy.
So. Here’s why all of them are wrong, and why this is actually banger.
I don’t really wanna humor the idea that May “stole” the line cause…is that really what we’re making the standard when it comes to adaptation? Is Uncle Ben the only one who’s allowed to say the line and die?
Let’s talk about how well it works in this story. We’ll start by addressing the idea that the line is forced.
This line is only “forced” if you’re aware of the meta. In-universe, it’s natural for May to deliver the line when she does. Peter prompts the phrase when he says, “this isn’t my responsibility”, and his quiet little “Yeah, I know” after she says it implies this isn’t the first time he’s heard it. Also worth mentioning is that Peter repeats in May’s last moments, “it’s just me and you,” something she’s told him a couple of times in this trilogy, implying it’s a thing they decided on together after Ben’s death. The variation of the phrase in Civil War is so noteworthy because it implies Ben gave Peter this lesson before the events of that movie (Hell, you could headcanon that Aunt May is repeating the words of her late husband in her final moments). You could say that moment is undercut by the lesson being so blatant here, but this makes it a moment of the lesson coming around full circle instead, in my view. It’s been the most consistent lesson he’s had to learn since we met him back in 2016, with each caveat of that lesson being more challenging than the last.
Peter’s first solo movie had him learn that responsibility means knowing when to keep your head down and going where you’re needed, even if it doesn’t gain you accolades or glory.
It’s an experience that led him to defy Tony’s orders and do his part to defend Earth, on the principle that “helping the little guy” means he can’t abide the universe’s destruction if he can help save it.
Peter’s humility and sense of honor led to Tony entrusting him with the EDITH glasses in the wake of his death, whereupon an increasingly battle-weary Peter learned that your responsibility is yours, and that means taking care in who you pass them on to or share them with.
And now, this film has brought that logic to its most challenging conclusion: if you have the power to help others, you should do so, even at great cost to yourself. May regrets nothing, even in her death. Her mission is helping people. It’s her job. It’s why she encouraged Peter’s superheroism. When Peter falters and almost steps off the path, May firmly sets him straight again. I don’t even think this trilogy needed the line. I thought the implication in Civil War was enough. But to me, everything I just laid out is how this film earns the line, rather than repeating it to us because we expect it from Spider-Man.
So yes. Not only do I think the scene works just fine, but I think it’s a fantastic culmination of Peter’s arc in the MCU up to this point. I’d even say this is the defining moment of the trilogy.
Call me biased, but I think I’ve made my case.
Lastly is the very strong theme of second chances. The crux of the conflict between Peter and Strange is that Strange wants to send the villains back and give the universe a second chance after Peter put it in jeopardy. Peter sees his cosmic mistake as an opportunity to give the villains a chance to redeem themselves (and save their own lives). The other Spider-Bros help give Peter a second chance at doing what’s right when he almost spirals. In the climax, Peter takes the fight to the Statue of Liberty, explicitly because it “represents second chances.” Even Tobey uses this as a chance to cure Goblin, something he’s always wanted to do instead of watching him die. Garfield doesn’t get to save his love, but he gets a shot at saving someone else’s, and he succeeds this time. It also applies to the meta, as the film is basically a second chance at giving the Webb-verse characters a story to thrive in. And they ended up stealing the show for a lot of people, especially Garfield, to the point that people wanted Amazing Spider-Man 3. MCU Peter also got a shot at making a good impression on fans who wanted him to be more independent.
Themes: 9/10
OVERALL
Jon Watts has achieved something special here. The story practically sits atop a mountain of contrivances but he cashes it in for all its worth. He had the money, the acting talent, and an eager fanbase and he delivered by going above and beyond mere lip service to these characters and the stories they come from. It’s flawed in many areas. But it excels in just as many. It’s the best film in Phase 4 by far.
Bravo, sir.
Overall Assessment: 6/10
PERSONAL
If it wasn’t obvious, I adore this movie. Going over it in detail has only made me appreciate it even more. Yes, we lost Doctor Strange, but as far as I’m concerned, his characterization in this movie isn’t nearly as frustrating as it is in Multiverse of Madness.
I’m very biased towards Spider-Man. I’ll admit it! But I think there’s a lot to appreciate about this film. And I think it’s unfair to label it as a cheap nostalgia-bait flick. It’s just not fair. Because it would’ve been piss easy to just throw these legacy characters into the film and do nothing with them. Not only would it have been easy, but it probably would have earned them just as much praise and box office dollars. But there was real care and passion behind this. Jon Watts made sure to treat every one of these characters from films that aren’t even his with respect. The film tiptoes the fanservice line perfectly in my opinion, giving plenty of nods to the classic films without alienating audience members who might not have seen them. So yes, with the amount of love that went into this, putting it on the same level as a movie like The Lion King (2019) is not fair to me.
This movie is a gem, and we’re lucky to be in the timeline to have experienced it.
Personal Rating: 9/10
Ibrahim Noir 
Leave a comment