Maguire’s Spider-Man Proves The MCU Was Right To Avoid Holland’s Origin

The MCU was right to avoid a repeat of the Spider-Man origin story with Tom Holland's version of the iconic character. Following Tobey Maguire's reprisal in Spider-Man: No Way Home there has been an overwhelming demand for more of his Peter Parker/Spider-Man, with a desire for stories about a mature, established version of the character. This demonstrates that audiences are well past needing any more Spider-Man origin stories.

Spider-Man’s origin is among the most well-known in comic book history. Peter Parker, a socially awkward teenage science whiz is granted spider-themed powers after being bitten by a radioactive or genetically altered arachnid. Following the violent death of his beloved uncle Ben, Peter learns his great powers come with great responsibilities, and he decides to use his newfound web-slinging abilities to fight crime and defend his home in New York City. Moviegoers were treated to iterations of this origin in 2002's Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire and the 2012 reboot The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield, and this has left even the most casual viewer with at least a vague notion of the story.

The MCU made the very sensible decision to skip this well-known tale and jump right into the action with a fledgling Spider-Man. Tom Holland's take on the character was introduced in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, with Spidey siding with Iron Man against Captain America. In his first standalone film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter is still presented as a novice, yet the MCU rightly avoided raking over old coals. The success of the MCU's Spider-Man movies, combined with the popularity of Tobey Maguire's veteran Spidey, shows that audiences don’t need any more origin stories for a character they are already familiar with. If there is ever any significant deviation from the most established versions, then flashbacks and memory sequences can cover any changes, but a whole origin-focused movie would be grossly unnecessary at this point. This now favorably seems the trend across superhero franchises, with The Batman skipping the Caped Crusader's equally well-known origin story.

The MCU Needs A Proper Ending For Spider-Man, Not An Origin

Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man had follow-up films canceled, leaving audiences twice robbed of a complete Spider-Man storyline. Despite all three Peter Parkers reappearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel has seemingly wiped the slate clean, with Spider-Man: No Way Home ending tragically, and Dr. Strange's memory spell leaving us further away than ever from a satisfying conclusion to Spider-Man's arc. A satisfying last chapter, not a repeat of the first, is what the character now needs most. The MCU has the opportunity to finally deliver a satisfying conclusion to the Spider-Man story through Tom Holland.

The end of Peter Parker's story doesn’t even need to be the end of Spider-Man, as the mantle can be passed on to someone new. The MCU could take inspiration from 2018's brilliant Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in which the death of Peter Parker allows Miles Morales to rise to the occasion and take his place. Having Peter pass the torch to a new Spider-Man in the MCU could even open up new possibilities for his character, as it did for the DC character Dick Grayson when he was able to graduate from Robin to Nightwing.

Superhero origin movies are truly played out, and the MCU was right to avoid a new one when it came to Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man. The trope is so tired that even obscure heroes with less cultural clout would be wise to avoid drawn-out origin movies. With any luck, this trend away from origin stories will continue, and future offerings will condense the boring baby steps phases of our heroes — which in the past have taken up whole films — into more digestible forms.