Oftentimes, the best comic book movies operate as more than excuses for eye-popping CGI and action-packed extravaganzas. It’s in those films that they transcend the cliches of the genre and speak to human experiences and emotional depth. This is why Peter Parker and Spider-Man have resonated with readers and viewers alike for nearly 64 years. It’s the duality that he tries to maintain that people relate to. A young man navigating a normal life while protecting New York City as his heroic alter-ego. We, of course, haven’t been bitten by a radioactive spider and given powers, but the work-life balance is certainly a relatable experience, something wonderfully explored in Sam Raimi’s 2004 sequel, Spider-Man 2.
It’s the concept of big life changes beginning to affect you physically and mentally that makes Spider-Man 2 more than a mere comic book movie. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has the weight of the world on him as the responsibilities of his everyday life and his secret life as a superhero begin to take their toll. This was touched upon in 2002’s Spider-Man, but it hits a peak in the sequel as he begins to come to terms with his new life and that just doesn’t involve scaling the walls of New York City.
Peter is balancing studies, earning an honest living, struggling to pay his rent, navigating a complicated relationship with his would-be-love-interest Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and hiding secrets from his best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), that could ultimately destroy their friendship. All of this while attempting to stop scientist Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) from recreating an experiment that could prove deadly. Spider-Man 2 is just as much a coming-of-age story about Peter’s ever-changing life as it is a comic book fantasy about saving the world.
Stress Begins to Take a Toll on Spider-Man’s Powers
The resonance in Spider-Man 2 comes from the realistic depiction of life’s stressors forcing our hero to hit a wall. Following the events of Spider-Man, Peter is estranged from both Mary Jane and Harry as his responsibilities as the protector of New York City have come first over his relationships. In addition to this, Peter discovers that his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) is in danger of losing her home, something that deeply affects him because of all she has sacrificed since her husband, his Uncle Ben, was killed. Adding to his woes is that, even though he wants to help his Aunt in any way he can, Peter can barely make ends meet himself, struggling to maintain a barely sustainable apartment.
The stress of all this begins to make his powers act up and practically fade during critical moments, usually during high-intensity situations that make his exploits as Spider-Man especially dangerous. Stress is quite literally affecting his body, which is no different from that being a direct correlation between stress and one’s health when the weight of the world feels all-consuming. How much can someone take when it feels like every obstacle is being thrown at you?
Writer Alvin Sargent, working from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, has a fundamental understanding of how this will be instantly relatable to the audience. A lot of this was shaped through various drafts of the script, but it was Sargent’s work about Peter’s internal personal conflicts and wants balanced with his new responsibilities of being a hero that most impressed Raimi. This is what makes Spider-Man 2 unapologetically human. It’s a story about Peter Parker first and a Spider-Man film second, but it’s also about the necessity of making both of these lives coexist.
Love Is a Complicated Thing
The relationship between Peter and Mary Jane is reminiscent of most young love, which is made even more stressful when the universe puts forth outside forces meant to test it. There is deep love between the two, but circumstances are keeping them apart. Not only is Peter’s life as Spider-Man a complication, but so is her engagement to John Jameson (Daniel Gillies), a man with an occupation as an astronaut that doesn’t force him to hide or keep secrets. John can take care of Mary Jane in a way that Peter believes he can’t. His life won’t put her in danger, and he can give her the normalcy she deserves.
That being said, just because someone knows something is right doesn’t make the decision any less painful. Peter has crushed on Mary Jane for years, and he could have her if there wasn’t this big secret wedged between them. Peter’s choices regarding Mary Jane are made out of his love for her, and yet those decisions also hurt her in the sense that it has put a strain on their actual friendship. It’s a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t scenario.
This is a big part of Peter’s life that he can’t set straight in Spider-Man 2, and it pushes him to the brink of stress, so much so that he loses his powers completely. This life event does present him with an opportunity. With his power virtually gone, Peter decides to stop being Spider-Man. Perhaps without this added responsibility, he can embark on a life that gives him his own brand of normalcy. The concept of giving it all up for love and a shot at pursuing a life that makes you more accessible to that love is profoundly relatable.
Friendships Destroyed By Secrets
Peter’s life doesn’t only affect his romantic dealings. His friendship with Harry Osborn is also being challenged by the secret being kept by Peter’s alter-ego. Harry believes that Spider-Man murdered his father, Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), and it’s a belief that puts a serious strain on his friendship with Peter. As Peter has become known for getting snapshots of Spider-Man for The Daily Bugle to make money, Harry has seen it as a connection between the two parties. It’s not until Spider-Man 2 is nearing its conclusion that he discovers they’re the same, further complicating matters.
Harry and Peter were once best friends. Two people who found a connection despite being fundamentally different. Peter’s upbringing was far more modest than Harry’s, and the latter possessed a deeper confidence in himself, whereas Peter struggled as someone more meek and mild before his contact with that radioactive spider. Despite this, the pair formed a strong friendship because they filled in the gaps in each other’s lives.
Going all the way back to high school, Peter is brilliant but much quieter and more reserved than Harry, resulting in a sense of loneliness. Harry, despite his wealth, is lonely in his own right because his powerful father doesn’t pay attention to him as he should. They form a mutual protection and respect for each other; with Harry often protecting Peter from being picked on at school while Peter gives Harry a friendship grounded in something real that relieves him of the pressures of his upbringing.
Their shared long history is built on trust, and it’s all tarnished by external conflicts that begin in Spider-Man and then hit a fever pitch in Spider-Man 2. Providing another life lesson, Spider-Man 2 illustrates how the elephant in the room can come between friendships and that even the strongest ones evolve and change over time. Sometimes life events separate you without consequence, while Spider-Man 2 dives into the very real notion that serious conflicts mean that evolution pushes you apart.
Being Spider-Man Is a Necessary Responsibility For Peter Parker
The lesson learned in Spider-Man 2 is that Peter’s responsibilities as the titular hero might be hard, but they’re very necessary. Comparing it to any job that is much more than you bargained for, the only way to truly succeed at it is to make difficult sacrifices. Even though being Spider-Man has made aspects of his life harder, and the likes of J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) think he’s a menace, the city needs Spider-Man, and it’s a purpose that has been thrust upon him. As Peter is trying to find himself, it becomes clear that he has done just that as the city’s protector.
The necessity of Peter’s role as Spider-Man begins to resonate as the crime rate in the city begins to skyrocket once he has decided he is “Spider-Man, no more.” It becomes a concern to Peter and proves to him just how much his superhero persona is needed. He has to be Spider-Man because, even if it means sacrificing a life of normalcy he has desired, his superhero persona has become a fabric of the city.
This is driven home during the big train sequence in Spider-Man, representing one of the best moments from one of the live-action films. As Peter is free of his mask, he exerts every ounce of his power and energy into saving the passengers of a runaway train following his battle with Dr. Otto Octavius. Following the ordeal, Peter collapses, and even though it presents itself as a moment where his identity will be exposed, something much more profound happens. The people of the city literally lift him up and give him the support he has given them. As they realize that Spider-Man is just a kid, it becomes a poignant moment that showcases that no matter the level of responsibilities we tackle, we’re all human and much more relatable to each other than we realize.
Spider-Man 2 is About Finding Your Place in the World
The struggles of coming of age come with the discovery of where you belong in this world. How do we fit? What is our purpose? Spider-Man 2, despite being a comic book film filled with all the necessary action and spectacle, is really about this at its core. This is why this film has remained the favorite installment of many across all of the films. It’s the relatability about the joy and pain of growing up that makes it remarkably accessible.
Sometimes, as kids, we dream about the excitement of being a superhero. What would it be like to have powers and save the world? There is an adoration there that becomes an exciting notion as a child, but Spider-Man 2 shows that, while it certainly has its perks, they come along with consequences that can upend your life as you know it. By the film’s conclusion, Peter has accepted his role in the universe, something driven home by the closing moments of the movie.
Mary Jane stands in Peter’s apartment, having left John at the altar, and all of the secrets are laid bare. She knows what he has been hiding from her and the struggles he has gone through because of it. Throwing caution to the wind, the pair share a kiss, but soon police sirens begin to sound off in the background. During a moment of normalcy Peter has longed for, he’s given a choice. Does he selfishly stay in it, or does he sacrifice it again for the sake of the city? Knowing what Peter has faced, Mary Jane gives him the go-ahead to take on his greater responsibility. It’s a choice that Peter already knows he has to make, and life is all about these choices. They may not always be easy, but sometimes they have to be made for the greater good.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters nationwide this Friday.
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