Why Tom Holland Is My Favorite Spider-Man

[u/SHERlockedNloaded]

I grew up on Andrew's Spider-Man and I absolutely loved him. I remember watching his first film and immediately pretending to be a webslinging hero afterwards on the monkey bars. So obviously I was genuinely distraught when I learned that they were doing another Spider-Man reboot and replacing him.

And then I watched Spider-Man: Homecoming, and I immediately changed my mind. I LOVE Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, but there was always this disconnect because he didn't really feel like a teenager to me--especially when I actually became one.

I grew up alongside Tom Holland's Peter, and I understood him because he was more relatable to me. Nowadays we have a world of resources at our fingertips, and I think it would be plain stupid not to explore that in this universe. So all the "Iron Man Jr." stuff is ridiculous to me. I like that they explore new suits and all that tech, because they do remind us, "Hey, yeah these are really flashy and cool. But they aren't what make Spider-Man." Like that's one of the central themes in the first film; "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it."

Spider-Man was originally self-made. Tom made a sweet first Spidey suit and webs and was out on his own before Tony recruited him. Then he got the new suit, got a taste of being an avenger, and wanted to join. Who wouldn't? Those are his HEROES. He grew up idolizing them. And then he learns that maybe his place is with the little guy (I do wish we got more of Tom and New York interacting. I personally don't love the Tobey Maguire films, but his relationship with the citizens of New York was one of my favorite aspects of it). Anyway, he learns he doesn't need the suit or Stark's help.

In FFH, he thinks that because his mentor died, there needs to be a replacement. The responsibility (which is a huge aspect of Spider-Man's character) threatens to strangle him because how on Earth can he be like his idol? He barely even knew the guy. He finds a new Idol in Mysterio (kids are taught to trust their elders and role models) and is betrayed (adults aren't perfect and can hurt you). Peter learns to trust himself (seen with the learned Spidey-sense) and his intuition instead of what people say and what he sees. He learns to trust himself and be himself as well.

And then his identity gets exposed. Poor Peter; kid just can't catch a break.

Suddenly, his family and friends are being hurt just because they know him. Their opportunities are being withheld, people are throwing rocks through his window, etc etc. Peter goes to Dr. Strange for help (the, like, one superhero mentor he has left) because what's wrong with asking for help? Kids are supposed to have a support system--too bad the universe has it out for Peter. The spell is botched (which btw, why the heck did Dr. Strange not completely debrief Peter on the entire spell and its consequences, etc.? Though I will say, I think Peter should've just kept his mouth shut and retold Aunt May & Co.), bringing in villains, some of whom are going to die. Peter is hesitant because he doesn't think it's his responsibility, but Aunt May convinces him otherwise. At first I was like, "Shut UP Aunt May. They're villains and they honestly kind of deserved it. Their deaths were their fault." But these aren't the Joker (who should definitely be put down, because he's irredeemable). They have actual factors that are making them the way they are and second chances are important. So they try to make cures, things fall apart, and Aunt May and Peter pay the price. After all, "No good deed goes unpunished."

Peter wants to give up the responsibility. He just lost the last living relative, a fifth parent (if you consider Tony a near parent, and if Uncle Ben was an actual person in this universe). But the other Peters, who have suffered too, who have lived different but similar lives and have advice and help to give, step in to help cure their villains because they get a second chance too. Tobey's Peter gets to save Doc Ock and Sandman (and plays a big help in saving Green Goblin), and Andrew gets to save MJ like he couldn't save Gwen, and also save his respective villains (though he did help Curtis Conners already, he played a big part in Electro's fate).

And Peter pays for his small act of selfishness regarding the spell by having the only people he has left in his support system completely forget who he is. They've helped him, supported him, loved him--and they've all been hurt by him. Just because they know him.

So he decides the best course of action is to be totally independent. Everyone who helps him gets hurt. So no more. He's completely on his own, with no support, no records (as far as we can tell), and an entirely clean slate.

A second chance.

You can see the "Never give up" theme shine clearly in the end of the last film. Peter's lost everything. But he still has that glimmer of hope in his eyes when he's looking at his new shoddy apartment. He makes his own suit using the sewing machine from May, combining the suits from the other two Peter's.

We started out with a high school kid given powers in a world where superheroes are prevalent and have been for a while. We skip past the origin story because we already had it twice, why do it again? ((Though eventually, I would really like to know how it was, since there's no Oscorp and there's no actual confirmation that Uncle Ben existed, other than the suitcase in FFH that has his initials)). Peter's youth is excellently explored, and now he's at a spot where the Spider-Man we're more familiar with--the one with more experience, quips, loneliness, independence, and badassery. Plus, now he has a perfectly good reason to withhold his identity (if they choose to go down that route), since he learned that everyone who knows him gets hurt. Though maybe the next lesson in the 4th movie--if there is one--will be that letting people in is important and we don't have always control over bad things that happen.

Anyway, those are my (somewhat jumbled) thoughts on Tom Holland's Spider-Man, and why he's ultimately my favorite in live action.

[u/renan_alvim_]

I was in highschool when his first movie came out and I really liked it. But I can't stand FFH. It's nice people like you see some value in it. I personally wish they went through a very different route.

[u/SHERlockedNloaded → u/renan_alvim_]

Oh no, I 100% understand that. That's definitely my least favorite of his trilogy.

I get secondhand embarrassment really easily, so that movie gets to me a lot of the time. But I ultimately can find a lot of good things they did with it. Mysterio was a very fun villain choice and I loved the effects, the way they toyed with the audience. I knew Mysterio was bad going in, but with all the multiverse talk, I almost fell for his act too. He was very charming and Peter was in so much stress and once again didn't really want the responsibility so he handed it off to someone else he thought he could trust.

A lot of people kind of hate on him for that, but why would he have any reason to suspect that Mysterio is bad? Nick Fury and Maria Hill (or actually the Skrulls, but Peter doesn't know that) trust him, so why shouldn't Peter? Not to mention the fact that Fury keeps saying that he's not really fit and blah blah blah. I understand a lot of his actions, even if they make me cringe because of how often things go wrong.

I think it's really cool that a lot of the themes in that film center around trust. Peter doesn't trust in himself or his senses, so he trusts others. It's never failed him before. Then it fails him, horrifically, and he has to learn how to trust in his abilities (Spidey-sense) and intelligence (making his suit--even if it is using stark's tech).

I'm not sure what route I would take for the film. All I know is that I wish that we could get to see more of Tom's Spider-Man in New York. They seemed to avoid the cool city swings in Homecoming because it's done so often in Maguire's and Garfield's, and I enjoyed seeing that play out. I guess we do get one at the end of FFH, and the beginning and end of NWH, but there's not much else that really screams Spider-Man in New York. This Spider-Man for being the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" does seem to move around a lot. Heck, he even went to SPACE. And Germany. And Europe for the trip. Virginia.

But I'm hoping that as (or if) they continue with Tom's films, they'll stick to him being a New York defender (though that's pretty unlikely, as they'll probably have Spider-Man play a big role in the Young Avengers or whatever. He's the only staple character they have left in Marvel, so they'll probably milk him for all he's worth).

[u/renan_alvim_ → u/SHERlockedNloaded]

Mysterio was a very fun villain choice and I loved the effects, the way they toyed with the audience

Me too, honestly Mysterio is the best part of the movie.

I'm not sure what route I would take for the film.

Three things I would change with this movie to make it much better is 1) much less SHIELD, if possible even get rid of it and focus more on the school people and their lil drama. 2) Aunt May not being treated as a joke. 3) Get rid of the heavy Stark related part of the plot (this one is harder because the core of the movie relies on it)

He's the only staple character they have left in Marvel

Fantastic 4 and the X-Men are coming, hopefully this will help to ground the character again.

[u/SHERlockedNloaded → u/renan_alvim_]

Yeah, I didn't love the SHIELD aspects of the film, but I guess they're trying to address how that was affected by the snap/blip. But I think they used it as a way to make us believe in Mysterio too because Nick Fury is pretty famously known for being paranoid so if he gives his stamp of approval, why shouldn't we?

I do agree with the Aunt May thing, though I think they did a pretty good job at making her a great mother figure even with all the comedic choices. She works to raise money for those displaced by the blip, messes with Peter fondly, and makes sure he's prepared by packing his suit for him even as she acknowledges that he does need the vacation. She's subtly reinforcing that he still has responsibility to help others.

As for your 3rd change, I disagree. I understand how people may use it to reinforce the "Iron Man Jr." thing, but I think it would be an odd choice to not acknowledge it this heavily, when the reason that Endgame even happened in the first place was because Tony wanted to bring Peter back. Also to go from Homecoming to Far From Home and not have Peter very obviously grieving from the loss of his mentor figure an they're also addressing, "Well, who IS going to be the next Iron Man?" Tony was Peter's mentor, made him an Avenger, and the other Avengers aren't as close to Iron Man and aren't going to be him. I think it's a great choice for Peter to feel like it's his responsibility to step in as Tony, but he doesn't want to because he's scared he'll fail. That way, the moral is being/trusting in himself; being his own hero, not Tony Stark's legacy.

I would LOVE to see Spider-Man interacting with the Fantastic Four.