MCU’s Spider-Man Could Start to Feel Like the Spider-Man Fans Know and Love
As successful as the Tom Holland era of Spider-Man has been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans are making a good argument that it was a long distance away from the traditional stories. While everyone realizes the MCU movies had to deviate from the usual to stay fresh, many miss some of the key characters from the Spider-Man comics, TV shows, and past movies.
Recent fan discussions say the MCU’s version kind of ruined the vibe of what makes Spider-Man great. To prove that maybe Marvel reads fan boards, the upcoming Spider-Man 3 may do a little better on old school fan service.
Part of this comes in including J. Jonah Jameson at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Not all fans love the Spider-Man connection to Iron Man
It was more than obvious that Tony Stark was brought in as a substitute for Uncle Ben after having two different variations on the latter character in previous movies. For the most part, it worked compellingly if not excellently. Some fans disagree, however, when looking in hindsight.
On Reddit, this very discussion became a heated debate on whether the Tom Holland era ruined the Spider-Man many grew up with for years. Said one fan starting the initial thread: “Tony stark always is responsible for Spiderman’s villains, which is an awful idea and awful execution.”
Other arguments posited that it was a mistake to have Spider-Man use some of Iron Man’s suits when the original Spidey would always design his own garb. Plus, some suggest the message is a bit muddled, as in Peter Parker following Iron Man’s footsteps, yet he’s told to go his own way.
In the bigger picture, this might be looked at as nitpicking. Considering Holland is such a good actor, he made these films better than they might have been with someone else. Deviating from the original concepts, though, was probably just a ruse for more classic storylines later.
Bringing J. Jonah Jameson in may take directly from the comic books
The surprise cameo of J. Jonah Jameson (as played by J.K. Simmons) took everyone by surprise during Far From Home’s finale. His appearance also sets up a major battle between Jameson and Parker, something once played out in a famous comic book story.
If the rumors hold, Parker will sue Jameson in Spider-Man 3 for libel, then it might follow the tale taken from a She-Hulk comic book story in 2004, according to Polygon. In this story, Jameson takes Parker on in a court battle, ultimately becoming a larger examination of notables taking on libelous tabloid publications.
Since Parker is now exposed at the end of Far From Home, the above story seems set up with Jameson being sent doctored video of Spider-Man via Mysterio. Having a drawn-out battle with Jameson for the first time in the Tom Holland era really would take things back to the old days.
The bigger question is, will Spider-Man 3 go beyond just having JJJ in the story and reach back to other familiar elements?
What about MJ and perhaps Uncle Ben?
As a Reddit user above noted about MJ: “She isn’t the same as the comic MJ. I’m waiting patiently for the next movie to get more background about getting his powers and what’s up with uncle Ben…”
Some media analysts like one at Screen Rant have already gone after the possibility of MJ being Firestar rather than the Mary Jane everyone knows from Spider-Man yore. Even this would reach back to old animated stories of going by Firestar flirting and interacting with Spider-Man on early ’80s Saturday morning TV.
Regardless, others at Screen Crush think Uncle Ben could factor more into future Spider-Man movies with Holland. Considering Ben was only mentioned very briefly (with little to go on regarding what happened to him), all possibility exists of him showing up in some capacity.
What if he never really died and was just estranged from middle-age Aunt May? What if the MCU has an ace up their sleeve in making Happy Hogan the new uncle?
