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The simplified costume he dons is something these films have been too shy to ever try, and seeing it in action is a wonderful thing - as if the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15 were magically given motion. In the MCU, Peter Parker is now a broke nobody.

No Way Home is the third in a trilogy and the ninth(!) Spider-Man film by Sony, and it took us this long to arrive back at a place Spider-Man is meant to be. Sam RaimiвЂ™s Spider-Man trilogy wisely established the essentials of Spider-Man. How No Way Home вЂњfixesвЂќ Spider-ManДonвЂ™t mistake it for nostalgia. Spider-Man should be uncomfortable with the kind of power Stark and the other Avengers routinely handle. In a misguided effort to stand out from other Spider-Men, namely the masterworks of Sam Raimi (even Spider-Man 3, a cornball classic whose crime is having fun), the MCU drafted a Spidey far removed from who the character is supposed to be. Though the whole point of films like Spider-Man: Homecoming was for Peter Parker to be a hero without вЂњthe suitвЂќ - a gift from ex-warmonger Tony Stark - itвЂ™s still bothersome he keeps a suit that sports an вЂњinstant killвЂќ perk at all (even if he only uses it on CGI alien monsters).

Spider-Man had all the power (including nanotech suits and a sentient A.I.) but a lopsided sense of responsibility. вЂњItвЂ™s still bothersome he keeps a suit that sports an instant kill perk.вЂќ

A LONG WAY HOME SHOWTIMES PRO

But like a pro athlete walking onto the field without practice, it became impossible to overlook a distinct absence in the essentials. It allowed Holland, and audiences, to mercifully thwip past tired origin beats. So off Spider-Man went into the big wide MCU without Uncle Ben, spider bites, pro wrestling matches, or harsh lessons about the nature of violence. But to make sure audiences didnвЂ™t roll their eyes at yet another reboot, the franchise zapped him of the fundamentals. Through unparalleled cooperation at the corporate level, Marvel Studios finally had space to introduce Spider-Man, a character moviegoers desperately wanted to see hang with the Avengers. Sony PicturesДuring the making of the third Captain America, which introduced Tom Holland to the universe as Peter Parker, the MCU was in a pickle. Tom HollandвЂ™s Spider-Man finally feels like a real Spider-Man by the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. As the movieвЂ™s ending demonstrates by the end credits, MCU has finally told Spider-ManвЂ™s origin story - If only if hadnвЂ™t taken so long.

But five years after his debut in 2016, itвЂ™s clear Marvel realized it needed to circle back rather than swing forward with the character. This is not a slight on Tom Holland, a fine actor who delivers a powerful performance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. He remains a fun character, but the foundations the MCU built its version of Spider-Man on are as sturdy as an inflatable tube man swaying in the wind. A Spider-Man whoвЂ™s chummy with a billionaire superstar weaponвЂ™s mogul is a far cry from a Spider-Man whoвЂ™s struggling to pay the bills, and the results show in how comfortable Tom HollandвЂ™s Peter Parker is with lethal violence. Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home ahead.ДЄ few weeks ago, I criticized the Marvel Cinematic Universe for its wobbly interpretation of Spider-Man. Amazing, even.Д«ut the invigorating feeling of bearing witness to a pure, spandex Spider-Man swinging through a New York Christmas also raises a nagging question: What took so long? And how will this influence Spider-ManвЂ™s direction for years to come? Somewhere between satisfying hardcore fans and raking in giant piles of money, director Jon Watts caps off this eraвЂ™s Spider-Man trilogy - but not Spider-ManвЂ™s story - in No Way Home. Against all odds, they remembered to make a Spider-Man movie.

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