Forgiving Your Inner Demons in Spider-Man 3

I didn’t think I was going to be writing this article! I thought, in fact, I was going to be writing a very different article!

Pictured: me, deciding to give this movie a chance after so many years.

So, earlier this season I played through Spider-Man 2018 on the PS4, an incredible game that is perhaps one of the cleanest Spider-Man stories put to screen. In the midst of that, the first trailer for No Way Home came out, a movie that promises to be “the” Spider-Man movie. Now, I don’t for a minute believe it’ll live up to that promise, but I’m hoping it will surprise me! As such, I’ve been meaning to go through all the Spider-Man movies and rewatch them, because it’s been a minute. Yeah, all of them. There’s a few out there. Including Into the Spider-Verse (the best of these films, by the way), I’m counting eight movies in total, covering a solid twenty years of time. It’s already interesting to see how the interpretations of Peter Parker have changed in such a short amount of time. My intention was to take in a whole bunch of Spidey media and then put out an article about what makes a good Spider-Man flick. And I still might do that! But halfway through the process, I got hit by this and I feel obligated to gush about it.

I had a tentative relationship with director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy growing up. It took me until about 2012 to fully get into the superhero brand, and while I definitely watched all three movies, I’m not sure I ever had a deep attachment to them. I remember Willem Dafoe going ham, and that Doc Ock looked very, very cool. I remember all the high school stuff feeling very played out and clunky. Mostly, I remember Spider-Man 3 being kind of bad. 2007 was the year of over-ambitious blockbuster finales, and Spider-Man 3 fit squarely beside Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End as a movie whose reach exceeded its grasp. As most everyone knew, Spider-Man 3 had too many villains and too much melodrama. There was simply too much going on. As time went on it was kind of regarded in the same manner as the Star Wars Prequels, a goldmine for memes, but not much else. The “Emo Peter Parker” stuff was especially derided for being goofy and ridiculous. And that was without talking about the immediately dated CGI that felt reminiscent of an edgy video game. The world was not kind to Spider-Man 3.

Pictured: the world not being kind to Spider-Man 3.

The other two movies, comparatively, were much more beloved in the nostalgia zeitgeist. It’s telling that much of the hype for No Way Home is in the return of beloved Raimi characters. And for good reason! A couple of years ago, I think just before the release of Homecoming, I came back to those first two movies and had to admit that they were pretty alright. While the high school scenes still felt dated and laden with tropes, and while McGuire still had a very punch-able face, I mostly enjoyed the rewatch. Spider-Man 2 improved a lot on the first one, and while some bits of dialogue and acting still stuck out as clunky, the core story elevated the material around it. There’s a reason that Spider-Man 2 is still regarded as one of the best superhero movies out there; it captures the heart and soul of this genre like nothing else. But I didn’t rewatch Spider-Man 3 at that time. Why would I? That was the bad one! In fact, I’m really not sure when the last time I watched Spider-Man 3 was. Probably in the range of ten years or so. I didn’t have any ill will towards it, but I was content to let it sit in the past.

I didn't know where else to put this still, but I had a goofy still of James Franco and I was determined to use it because it's fantastic.

Enter the present! With No Way Home on the horizon and Spidey-fever at an all-time high, I come back to Raimi’s movies. Some of the clunky dialogue stands out more to me now than ever, but, there’s something unique about these movies that make that all bearable. Especially when compared to modern superhero flicks. The Marvel brand feels very corporate and sterilized these days, and even though I still find them all fun, it’s a kind of engineered fun. We call them popcorn flicks for a reason. But Raimi’s movies are so strikingly genuine. 1 and 2 are unabashedly optimistic without being idyllic; the story of a guy like any other guy, simply trying his best to manage life in an unkind world. It brings to mind an old Tolkien quote that C.S. Lewis liked, describing Middle Earth as a world where there was great sorrow and darkness, but also “great valour, and great deeds that were not wholly vain.” Raimi’s Spider-Man lives in that sort of world, forever dedicating himself to great deeds not done wholly in vain. New York feels like a vibrant, active character in these movies, always for a pure-blooded hero to swoop in and save the day yet never willing to let him rest. “Everybody loves a hero,” says Aunt May in the second movie. “People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names. […] I believe there’s a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble.” Ultimately, they’re movies about everyday heroism, how you are what you choose to be, so choose to be the best version of yourself there is.

Which brings us to Spider-Man 3. I’m assuming that everyone has kind of seen this movie by now, so beware of spoilers throughout if you haven’t because I’m kind of going to talk about the entire movie.

Spider-Man 1 is about choosing the responsibilities that come with heroism. Spider-Man 2 is about continuing to choose that path, even if it means not following the path of your dreams. But Spider-Man 3 asks what would happen if the hero were to choose the other way. What happens when the hero ceases to be the hero and becomes something else?

A lot of the CGI in this trilogy rides this unique lines where like, it doesn't quite hold up but the movies around them are already so cheesy and comic-book that it kind of works.

To my profound surprise, I loved Spider-Man 3 this time around. Like, I didn’t just say “okay, there are some good parts here,” I was thoroughly swept away. A lot of it has to do with the fact that if you dropped any of these movies into the modern era, they would blow away any other blockbusters coming to screen. The sheer level of filmmaking on display here, the wild practical effects, the delightful stylistic camerawork, the thematic depth and earnestness, it’s all a breath of fresh air. But Spider-Man 3 really feels like the culmination of all these ideas that Raimi was working with. A lot of the criticisms that were thrown at it feel kind of silly in hindsight because many of them have been consistent through this whole trilogy. For example, I remember everyone hating the love triangle at the center of this one. Or maybe I was just a kid who was bored by the romance scenes. The fact is, though, in all three of these movies, Raimi is doing something of a soap opera. Peter Parker only works as Spider-Man when he is surrounded by a cast of characters who constantly ground him in the real world. Being New York’s hero is his day job, but he is still swamped by working to pay rent and uphold his friendships. These films have always milked the tension between life as Peter and life as Spider-Man. In fairness, Spider-Man 3 lays on the tensions at home even thicker than usual, but not without reason.

It's kind of jarring how frequently I've seen people quickly jump to Peter's side and accusing MJ of being selfish or controlling when, like, Peter was Not being a good dude.

One of my biggest takeaways from Spider-Man 3 as a kid was that all the relational conflict was “boring” and could have been solved if everyone had just communicated with each other. This isn’t entirely an unfair criticism, but I remember specifically putting the blame on Mary Jane, Peter’s would-be fiancé. “Just talk to him about your problems! Why are you going to Harry about everything?” But on this rewatch, the perspective totally flipped. Spider-Man 3 is shockingly sympathetic to MJ’s plight, she feels more like a realized character in this movie than ever before. Here’s this woman who is struggling and failing to get into the career of her dreams. Her opening show is devastated by critics, in a way that she openly says reminds her of her abusive father. She knows that her beloved is Spider-Man, but that knowledge doesn’t spare her from all the frustration of watching him always be two steps behind, just a little bit late, always out the door. She sees Spider-Man kiss some other woman on stage for all to see, a woman Peter apparently has a personal connection to, one MJ was never told about. When she tries to talk about Parker, the man simply cannot listen. She tells him about the criticism she’s been under, and he deflects by telling stories of how Spider-Man has been criticized, not in a move to connect with her pain but in a way to assure her that “you’ll get over it.” But she’s not getting over it. And he’s not listening. And the man she loves isn’t there for her. So when Harry Osborne wants to personally dig into Parker, to torture Parker’s heart, he knows exactly where to start.

The fact that they made Sandman work in 2007 and he still looks pretty decent is kind of phenomenal.

Of course, that’s not the only strain in Parker’s life – he’s just found out that his beloved Uncle Ben’s killer is still at large, now a superpowered villain stooping to petty crime. Parker quickly becomes obsessed with tracking down Flint Marko and finding justice for his uncle. One of the times that MJ is trying to talk to him, Parker is spending all day in his apartment, ears constantly tuned to the police radio scanner in case Marko appears. Except it’s not simply justice that Parker wants – it’s revenge. When he goes out to confront Marko, he goes out to kill him. He returns after turning Sandman to mud, happily tells Aunt May that Spider-Man has avenged Uncle Ben, but May is horrified. “Spider-Man doesn’t kill people,” she insists. Revenge is “like a poison,” something to be avoided, even in the name of a loved one.

May and MJ aren’t the only people who’ve noticed Parker is stressed. Under the various mounting strains in his life, Parker dons the symbiotic Black Spider-Man suit. It gives him the feeling of power, of control – everything he needs in his life at that moment. But it infects him, pushing at all his tensions until he is about to snap. He yells at his landlord Mr. Ditkovitch, who until that point had basically been played as a minor antagonist in these movies. But shocked by Peter’s attitude he remarks, “He’s a good boy. He must be in some kind of trouble.” Everyone is worried about what is happening to Peter, and it’s kind of heartbreaking. It’s borderline stressful to watch him self-destruct. Because as much as his aggression is influenced by the symbiote, this isn’t “the magic goo is making me evil!” as much as it is uncovering a Peter Parker without any inhibitions. We’ve already seen him slowly fall into a trap of his own design, now he’s at his breaking point. He callously rips apart Eddie Brock’s false photography in front of the entire Bugle (It bears noting that this is a more where even J. Jonah Jameson is trying to work on his anger management), he brings his new girlfriend Gwen Stacy to MJ’s lounge simply to show off. Most of this showing off is kind of played for astonished laughs; here’s this normally kind-hearted dork trying his best to look cool in front of everyone. But it quickly breaks into a fight as Parker blames MJ for his problems. The bar’s security tries to escort him out and he flies into a rage – accidentally hitting MJ in the process. MJ, who grew up in an abusive home; MJ, who was pushed around by toxic boyfriends until she fell in love with good-natured Peter Parker. The same Peter who has just thrown her to the ground.

See, people talk about there being too many villains in Spider-Man 3. But the villain of this movie is Peter Parker.

Everybody on the street not wanting anything to do with Emo Peter Parker is very funny and you can't convince me otherwise.

Harry Osborne, Flint Marko, Venom; these are all just manifestations of the various strings pulling at Peter. Osborne is his personal friendships, torn apart by his dual identity and left wounded, now coming to collect. Marko is both his work life, the daily grind of fighting bad guys as Spider-Man, and also the temptation to give in to violence and revenge, to put crime to an end for good. And Venom is the tension in between. The symbiotic need to have control over everything, to have life go just as you want it to. And once he gives in to that temptation, it’s a quick descent into becoming his worst demons. While the movies previously believed wholeheartedly in the goodness of the hero, in becoming the best person you can be, Spider-Man 3 is a movie about a hero coming face-to-face with the worst version of himself. It’s harrowing. It boldly declares that no one, not even the best of us, are fully immune to the sort of toxic cycles that can rend a person in two. MJ asks what he’s become and Parker can only answer “I don’t know,” and flees to a church to rid himself of the symbiotic suit. He’s faced his inner evil, the potential darkness in his soul, and he knows he needs to overcome it.

He then goes to apologize to Osborne, but does so not really expecting forgiveness – he knows he can’t atone for all of what he’s done. But the movie celebrates that delicately intimate space; as the movie comes to its climax it settles on a theme of forgiveness being something you should seek to give but not something you should expect to receive. We’re all often really bad people to one another, and sometimes there’s just no making up for that, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Peter reconciles with his uncle’s killer, realizing that Marko is just as human and flawed as he is. Harry Osborne realizes how thoroughly he messed up with his best friend and comes back to help him at the last minute, even if it’ll cost him everything. If Spider-Man 1 is about the choice to bear the responsibility of your power, and Spider-Man 2 is about the choice to abandon your dreams for the sake of others, Spider-Man 3 is about the choice to confront your inner darkness and find forgiveness for yourself and for the people who’ve hurt you, while still reaching out to ask forgiveness from those you’ve yourself hurt. But at the heartbeat of the movie’s finale is a resolution that’s left unspoken.

Forgiveness; can you imagine?

See, after Parker loses the symbiote, everything kind of rushes towards the finale. If there’s a genuine criticism it’s this: the movie is too short to really pull off everything it’s trying to do. Could you imagine any superhero movie coming out in 2021 operating on this scope and deigning to be shorter than 150 minutes? Those were really the days. And so Peter is never really able to apologize to MJ, and she’s never able to vocally welcome him back. At first, I didn’t love this! The finale, for as much as it is a CGI showdown, also is able to properly pay off a lot of the arcs going on, especially the aforementioned ones between Peter and Marko, and Peter and Osborne. Peter and MJ, however, have a much quieter moment. In the film’s closing scene, Peter walks into MJ’s club. She notices him in the middle of her set and slowly stops singing. She steps off the stage and approaches him. Wordlessly, they embrace. Both of them have tears in their eyes, their embrace simultaneously one of pain and relief. Here are two broken people, knowing each other’s mistakes, knowing each other’s wounds. Without saying anything, they come together and accept each other for who they are. They begin to dance, and then the credits roll.

I think the number one problem with all the Spider-Man movies after this is the focus on the struggles of being Spider-Man instead of the struggles of being Peter Parker. McGuire's Parker has no issues being Spider-Man, but it's to the detriment of his home life, and that's good drama.

It’s insane to me that Sam Raimi had the guts to go here for the third movie of his trilogy. It’s so bare-bones, so minimalist, so vulnerable. It does bear noting that this wasn’t always intended to be the finale. He had a fourth movie in the works but pulled out because of all the corporate revisions – and that’s without mentioning the corporate pressures to include Venom in this movie in the first place. But all that in mind, it’s wild that it works. It’s first of all wild that the whole Symbiote feels deeply necessary for all the themes going on here. But it’s also wild that Raimi would follow his box office-smashing films with this deeply profound and often dark take on humanity. There’s a rawness here that’s almost too vulnerable to touch. And, yeah, a lot of that is surrounded by some goofy Raimi shenanigans. I can totally appreciate why these movies aren’t for everyone; I watched Evil Dead for my big Halloween binge and it, uh, really wasn’t my thing. But I’m not convinced that this one is any campier or goofier than 1 or 2, and I deeply would disagree with the sentiment that a thing being campy makes it bad on its face. If this movie weren’t at least a little bit silly it would be downright devastating to watch. Whether Raimi’s tone is always perfectly balanced is a genuine conversation, especially for this movie. I don’t think it’s perfect! It is definitely cluttered and messy and has a lot going on. Certainly, it’s not the best of this trilogy. But it’s inevitably a very earnest movie about humanity, and I will always find myself defending a messy character piece.

Mostly I just miss big practical sets and action pieces. And having a suit that we don't need to digitally paint over ever single scene.

All that to say, I found myself loving Spider-Man 3 a whole lot more than I expected to. What a genuinely wild film. I’ll take a dozen scattered, heartfelt love letters like this over most paint-by-numbers blockbusters out there. I really don’t expect that No Way Home will be able to compete, but if nothing else, I’m glad that it drove me back to this classic. Sometimes life is about the gems that you find along the way. I guess this is going on the shelf next to The Last Jedi as “movies that audiences kind of hated but I really liked.” So, that’s fun. Somebody tried telling me again last week that I was too nitpicky because I didn’t like the live-action Cowboy Bebop and, like, I saw Cats three times in theatres, I’m not sure if I’m exactly hard to please? Oh well, at least everybody liked Dune!