Back in 2001, Tobey Maguire slung into theaters as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man alongside Kristen Dunst as Mary Jane and James Franco as Harry Osborne. There were a lot of great things this movie did, CGI was not one of them. However, it's hard to deny the nostalgia we all hold with Uncle Ben saying "With great power comes great responsibility".
Mary Jane was the worst in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films.
I'm not gonna lie, these movies are actually pretty enjoyable. I do feel that my option is slightly biased as Spider-Man was the very first movie my family owned on DVD, opening doors that a VHS tape simply could not. Nevertheless, there are some really iconic moments. Unfortunately, the pitfalls of this particular series, other than Peter's awful dance sequence in Spider-Man 3, is none other than Mary Jane. I mean come on she's the absolute worst, especially in Spider-Man 2 and 3. The only positive thing she contributed was the iconic upside-down kiss. Other than that, she constantly begged for Peter's attention in the worst ways, from almost marrying another man to spite him to complain when saving the city came in the way of their relationship. Every. Single. Time.
Andrew Garfield was the hot Spider-Man.
A couple of years passed and we were soon introduced to a new Sony Spidey, Andrew Garfield. Andrew honestly did this role justice in the fact that he was HOT, and his girlfriend at the time, Emma freaking Stone, brought pure chemistry to the on-screen relationship of Gwen and Peter. However, Peter Parker is historically not known for being HOT; he's usually a nerd! A regular guy that happened across crazy powers.
Additionally, this short span of two movies relied a lot on story arcs from the series that came before - and then tried to build off it. It's a lot to not only expect fans to find sympathy with Uncle Ben's death but then throw on Peter's parents' death too. Oh, and then add Gwen's dad and eventually Gwen.
Marvel's Spider-Man is the perfect Spider-Man and Peter Parker.
Marvel stepped in at an ideal time, swooping up Spidey and using the good and bad of the past series to their advantage, not as a script foundation. By 2016 even passive moviegoers knew a brief synopsis of Spider-Man's origins, making him the perfect add-on to the final battle scene in Captain America: Civil War and building on his story, not retelling it. Since then, Tom Holland has made the perfect addition to the Spider-verse and ensemble to Iron Man (love you 3000). Zendaya plays the more down-to-earth version of Mary Jane the original series needed, and Jacob Batalon plays Ned, the encouraging friend parent-less Peter always needed. I mean seriously, Harry was the worst best friend to give to poor Peter.
All I can say is, Spider-Man: Far From Home is EPIC, launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe into Phase 4 in the best way imaginable.
