Making Spider-Man Great Again
A diehard Spidey savant discusses his hopes and dreams for his most cherished fictional companion
One of my favorite moments from 2016 was, at first glance, what some would view as just another instance of the tried-and-true superhero blockbuster accomplishing some divinely spectacular “Wooo!! Action!!” of high-budget proportions. I can imagine most will think this brief, mostly insignificant excerpt from an over-the-top action sequence is nothing to write home about; that is, of course, unless you’re like me. If you’re like me — and, obviously, there ain’t nobody like me except me but let’s just pretend okay? — this was a moment that made you smile and cheer like Han Solo when he saves Luke from Vader in A New Hope. Oh, what’s the moment, you ask? Just get on with it, you say? I’m needlessly impeding the progression of this article, you think? Well, true-believers, the gargantuan moment of euphoric satisfaction I’m referring to is when Spider-Man comes across the Winter Soldier in Captain America: Civil War — and, for me, it was a moment that cemented what I’d already thought was happening: My beloved Spider-Man was, truly, back.
Before it reached that point, though, the introduction of Peter Parker is what got the swag juice going. Right from the moment when Tony Stark initially meets the web-slinger and says “Oh, Mr Parker!” my nerdgasmic levels had begun to boil up like a volcano. The scene was damn near flawless; you know, with Downey doing wonderful Downey things and Tom Holland introducing us to all the wonderful things he does. I was hooked — like Rusty when Danny Ocean insinuates he’s planning a heist in Ocean’s 11 — and began to emotionally prepare myself for the ass-kickery Spidey was gonna unleash on any of the clowns who crossed him. My premonitions soon came true, as I watched in awe as my favorite character STRAIGHT-UP CAUGHT THE FOOL’S ARM.
Keep in mind, this is the same arm that nearly broke Chris Evans’ dreamy face, and a general instrument of punishment that made the lives of all the characters who crossed him miserable. He’d been set up as, essentially, the goddamn Terminator of the Marvel cinematic universe. So seeing Spider-Man’s first encounter with this titan of terror play out like if I had picked a fight with The Rock was — in the most beautifully eloquent and simple terms — dope.
Ever since Civil War came out, there’s been a surge of optimism when it comes to Spider-Man’s entertainment quality. After all, the web-slinger has had a mixed bag of ventures over the past decade; the whole “Spider-Man 3 might’ve been very very bad” debacle; the Andrew Garfield-led Amazing Spider-Man films failing to accomplish the universe-building task (which, of course, is a method Hollywood hasn’t at all regurgitated to any detrimental effect) they’d been hoping for; and even some very mediocrevideo game entrees that Activision shoved out the door.
All in all, Spider-Man hadn’t been served justice. Don’t get me wrong, the character certainly wasn’t in any danger of irrelevancy — and since he’s arguably the most popular superhero, if not character, in the wonderful world we live in, probably never going to be in such a situation — he just wasn’t living up to his potential.
Now, it seems, he’s back in the frontline of Marvel’s roster. In large part, this Spidey hype train starts with Tom Holland, who’s debut in Civil War was nothing short of spectacular — even if it was only a small segment of the film. Holland brought a much more kiddish vibe to the role than we’d ever really seen from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. It felt more like the character we’d seen in the comics: He was a kid. Not to disparage Maguire or Garfield, but their portrayals seemed a lot more adult than we — the diehard Spidey fans — would have preferred to see. My personal golden standard for the character is the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book run from the last decade, which zeroed-in on the aspect of Peter’s high school life to great effect.
Of course, This doesn’t mean Holland’s Spider-Man is by default the best film incarnation, or that Spider-Man: Homecoming will definitively be the best Spider-Man film ever made. But based on some of the early buzz that’s out there, there’s a possibility I may break down in tears — much to the disdain of my friends that will be attending with me, I’m sure — from being so happy after I watch it this Thursday. It’s like, easily, the most exciting thing for me this summer; a summer that includes my 21st birthday, mind you. Who dat boy, you ask? I’m a goddamn nerd, deal with it (Hopelessly cheesy, though? Yes.)
To add on to my nerd persona, there’s also another area in which Spider-Man’s resurgence is seeing an influx: Video games. As I mentioned earlier, Spider-Man has slipped up when it comes to his gaming ventures. Not completely disdainful titles, for the most part, simply below-average and rushed products. Then something miraculous happened: They started caring. Instead of giving lesser-capable developers a limited timetable to make a game, Marvel began taking the approach that Warner Bros has instituted with their DC licenses over the last 5+ years — which, of course, resulted in the Batman Arkham series and Injustice series. Give talented studios time (baffling concept, I know) and creative freedom, you might just have something special on your hands.
And alas, look what we have here:
A Playstation exclusive title developed by Insomniac Games (the people who made the Ratchet and Clank series, my favorite of all-time, and Resistance series) is now on the horizon. This could be the most important thing that has ever happened to me — like, it’s practically something I would’ve dreamed of myself, never expecting it to become a reality. Combine this with Homecoming (and a planned animated movie), and I’m currently riding on a high of the likes many can’t possibly understand. It’s all kicking off; Spider-Man is truly great, again.
One of the funny things I’ve come to notice about writing, aside from it being something I clearly need practice in, is that in the midst of the process I always seem to make new observations or realizations about the topic at hand. You see, this was simply meant to be a throwaway piece in which I rambled about how awesome Spider-Man’s run of things has been. That still hasn’t changed, but I’ve started to think about fictional characters as a whole, and how attached to them we can be. For me, Spider-Man has been one of the shining spots of joy throughout my life — from my younger years of being ridiculed for my nerdy interests to my older years of all that “Oh god! Who am I?!?!” melodrama of teenage angst. The stories of Peter Parker’s very similar struggles and cycles have fueled me, in a sense, into becoming what I am now: A lover of superheroes, and art, as a whole.
The beauty is that, like me, everyone has their own Spider-Man; their own personal favorite character. Through all the games, all the music, all the movies, and all the stories ever given to us there’s always someone we each get butterflies for. It can be as obvious as a Marvel or DC superhero, or as obscure as an anime character like Neku Sakuraba from The World Ends With You, or even someone from the beloved Dune book series. So even though I’m celebrating Spider-Man, I think it’s important to celebrate everything — every character that everyone adores to the degrees I adore mine. It’s because, upon reflection, I realize that there’s plenty of unsung favorites that don’t get the spotlight, they don’t get the same volume of attention their fans dream of.
I know Spider-Man will always be there. He’s a fixture in pop culture like very few properties are. Sure, he might not be as richly entertaining as he is at every given period of time. He’ll go through slumps — through phases of decline that have me silently screaming at executives to treat him with better care.
But he’ll still be there.
For others, it’s not so simple. Taking risks isn’t exactly the path that the entertainment industry likes to follow, for better and worse. So, those hidden franchises that have yet to see the same mainstream spotlight as others may never get a chance — and that, in the most blunt of terms, sucks. Furthermore, this makes me feel a sense of needed-humility. As much as I want my cherished wall-crawler to be fantastic, I realize there are so many gems yet to be given the proper restoration.
Perhaps it’s not about making Spider-Man great again — as he was always great, even with his flaws — but about hoping others get their shot. Spider-Man is certainly exceptional, but that doesn’t mean others are inferior — or that they aren’t, in their own way, just as equally exceptional.
