karla bear 🌻

Screen Notes: The Spider-Man effect

We went out to watch the new Spider-Man movie this weekend, and boy, I was both surprised and not surprised at how well this movie is being received. Surprised, because wow, how is it possible that it's on track to overtake Avengers: Infinity War at the box office? And I thought there was superhero fatigue?

Then again, this is Spider-Man we're talking about. He will always shatter expectations because everyone just seems to love him. We watched on its second week, and yet our theater was packed. Kids, adults, grandparents. All ages covered. Spider-Man resonates with everyone. This really shouldn't be a surprise.

The compelling thing about Spidey has always been the burden of being both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. The weight of being a superhero and an ordinary young adult just trying to get by. And it seems never-ending. Just when he believes he has finally attained some kind of balance, the rug is pulled out from underneath him, and he has to battle it out all over again. It's like Sisyphus, condemned to push the immense boulder of great power and great responsibility up the hill, only for it to always come crashing down.

And almost always, he has to deal with this alone. He traipses and trudges on by himself. He learns to embrace the burden as a gift, and we, the audience, learn to embrace the ups and the downs of seeing him struggle and, eventually, win.

For much of the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, the torment of being both Spidey and Peter have always been there - but the "dealing with it alone" part was mostly lacking. He had Iron Man, Happy, and Aunt May for the most part. He had Ned and MJ. He had Dr. Strange. He even had Peter 2 (Tobey) and Peter 3 (Andrew). There was a lot of obstacles, sure, and definitely a lot of hard lessons to learn for Peter too. But within those 3 movies, incredibly fun and enjoyable as they were, relied too much on the people on Peter's periphery to get him to the finish line. The stakes just were not as high for Peter, and for the first two movies at least, the consequence of his "difficult" decision always still led to a pretty clean slate.

It wasn't the case for No Way Home. And it's only in this new one, Brand New Day, that we really see Peter actually alone. Detached and isolated. He is managing quite well, fully committing to being friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But he is unmoored. He is forced to navigate life without friends, without family. And the movie is all the more better for it for finally showing us a Spider-Man that is not entirely a lost cause, but is still out of sorts anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I don't quite enjoy any Spider-Man arc that makes him suffer just for the sake of suffering. ("One More Day" still sucks!!!!) Peter Parker should not be synonymous with agony or never-ending pain.

But, part of what makes Peter Parker, well, Peter Parker, is his ability to always rise above any adversity. It's inspiring to see him overcome the obstacles that are thrown his way, whether deserved (as a result of his own actions) or not (because the world is randomly cruel and unkind). This is what makes him relatable. "Superheroes, they're just like us, am I right?" simply does not apply to billionaire Batman or alien Superman.

And seeing him navigate the complexities of life all on his own is so much more rewarding. In Brand New Day, yes he has DeWolf, and he kinda also has Frank, but essentially, he has to work on himself, to confront his own issues, before he is in a position to genuinely help others. When he finally and fully accepts this new reality, only then is he able to meet the world's cruelty with something sturdier than luck: his own resolve. He is able to move forward on his own terms, instead of just reacting to whatever life throws at him next.

In Brand New Day, he can finally start living again, instead of just surviving.

I loved it so much. The heartbreak of realizing that he can never really get MJ or Ned back (or can he? Did Jean fix their memory loss, though?). The longing for Aunt May's comforting words and presence. The ability to reach out to Jean Grey and embrace her just as much as he embraces himself. It was all so rewarding. This felt earned precisely because for the first three Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, he had so much help. Here, he got to this position all on his own. No shortcuts.

And maybe that's the whole reason why the audiences will continue to love and show up for this Spider-Man: he will continue to try, learn, and earn his wins the hard way, just like the rest of us.

Stray Observations: