The MCU Needs To Fix Spider-Man’s Love Interest Problem

Spider-Man is yet to appear on screen without a tangible or potential love interest at his side, though the portrayal of these romances has become a problem that the MCU needs to fix. The Marvel superhero, also known as Peter Parker, has been played in live-action movies by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, with their respective love interests—Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, and MJ—played by Kirsten Dunst, Emma Stone, and Zendaya. While these characters brought the traditional superhero romance to Peter's story, they have ultimately fallen short of their potential due to depthless and cliché writing.

The film history of Spider-Man dates back to 2002, when Sam Raimi's Spider-Man released, starring Maguire as the titular character. Spider-Man 2 and 3 followed, and the franchise was later rebooted in 2012 with The Amazing Spider-Man led by Garfield—which earned only a sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in 2014. Spider-Man made his long-awaited solo MCU entrance when Holland adorned the spider suit in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, succeeded by 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home and 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home—which arrives in theaters December 17. Holland is rumored to continue as Spider-Man in the MCU going forward.

All seven currently-released Spider-Man movies make the same mistake of portraying Peter Parker’s love interest as a one-dimensional plot device. Each film tells the tired story of Peter’s conflict of trying to profess his love to a girl and positions this dynamic as a major plot point. Considering how common a trope this is across film and TV, paired with Spider-Man movies' severe lack of well-developed female characters, the MCU has a major issue on its hands that must be addressed if Spider-Man's narratives are to fulfill their cinematic capacity.

Peter's characterization as an awkward high school student struggling to share his feelings with a girl replicates a cliché narrative that hurts both Peter and his love interests. In Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Mary Jane comes off as the typical kind, intelligent, and desirable girl that everyone, including a shy and unremarkable Peter, wants to impress. The MCU's MJ assumes different traits, although her edginess and attempt at relatability feel overdone. Effectively, individual character qualities and romance arcs, more befitting of a teenage-geared Disney flick than a superhero blockbuster, reduce the Spider-Man franchise's main figures to stereotypes.

Dunst’s Mary Jane and Zendaya’s MJ have different personalities, but neither see their character develop beyond the scope of Peter’s romantic interest. In Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy, Mary Jane does nothing of importance other than act as Peter's damsel in distress. Stone’s Gwen takes on a more promising direction in The Amazing Spider-Man films, as her storyline revolves around her work at Oscorp and anticipates a move abroad. She also plays a major role in defeating both Lizard and the Green Goblin. However, Gwen's improved setup goes to waste when she's killed off at the end of TASM 2 to serve as a source of anguish for Peter, exemplifying the sexist media trope known as "fridging." Essentially, all three of Peter's main love interests in the movies fail to become anything more than plot devices to serve Spider-Man's development, evidencing a comprehensive problem with female characters, as not even Aunt May justifies her existence outside of Peter's.

With No Way Home arriving soon, it's not likely that Spider-Man's third MCU installment will erase its longstanding love interest problem, given the vast number of characters in the film. An abundance of returning villains, plus the involvement of Doctor Strange, unfortunately, leaves little room for Zendaya's MJ to embody higher importance. The MCU's future Spider-Man entries should take a different approach to better develop both Peter’s and his love interest. This could mean elevating Spider-Man's romantic partner to superhero status by introducing Silk, Mockingbird, or Black Cat—who all feature as Peter's love interests at various points in the comics. A simpler approach may also suffice in the form of Holland's Peter and Zendaya's MJ continuing their love story with an expanded individual arc for the latter.

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