The MCU’s Spider-Man is the best live-action Spider-Man

With Spider-Man: Far From Home now in theaters, the MCU once again reminds us it has the best version of Spider-Man. Minor spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home follow.

At this point in time, arguing which version of Spider-Man is the best is about as common as common which version of Batman is the best. Everyone has their favorite whether it be from nostalgia, stories they were involved in, or performance, everyone will feel differently about their favorite version of the character. After seeing Spider-Man: Far From Home though, it’s unequivocal about who the best version of Spider-Man is — the MCU’s version portrayed by Tom Holland.

First off, Tom Holland, throughout his appearances, simply gives the best performance as Spider-Man, with Far From Home being his best yet. Taking Spider-Man out of the equation, Holland manages to convey so many different types of emotions that perfectly match the scene that he’s in. Whether it be the cocky swagger of Spider-Man, the awkward nerdiness of Peter, or simply the sadness that often comes with the character, Holland manages to portray it all so well. He doesn’t simply give a good performance as Spider-Man, he gives a great performance simply as an actor who just happens to be a superhero.

As for the character itself, the MCU provides Peter with an agency that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films or Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man simply didn’t have. Every choice Peter makes throughout these films feels consequential and changes the impact of the story and where the character is headed. It doesn’t feel this way in any of the other films. Those films feel cyclical in their character patterns and cause Peter to feel like he doesn’t have any agency.

In Raimi’s films, Peter is given the chance to make choices that significantly affect the character, but none of them feel real because either they are immediately reversed or it feels like the writers had Peter make a choice that would artificially increase the drama of the films. As for The Amazing Spider-Man, the Peter in those films doesn’t really have much in the way of agency. Things kind of just happen and are often out of his hands. There are instances where the choices made by the Peter’s in those incarnations do end up mattering, but they aren’t as common as one would hope.

As for the MCU, every choice Peter makes affects the world around him. Nothing about his choices are there to artificially inflate the drama or simply happen, but rather Peter often makes his decisions based on his circumstances and what a hero would do. The MCU version of Peter is selfless despite wanting to be selfish and, even though the agency that this version of Peter has causes him to make mistakes, it creates a more interesting and well-developed character.

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For the most iconic part of the Spider-Man mythos, “With great power comes great responsibility,” the MCU does an excellent job of portraying Peter’s eventual understanding of what that means. This is honestly one of the most compelling parts of this character’s journey throughout the MCU so far, his growing up. In Civil War and Homecoming, he’s simply a kid who wants to grow up too fast, before learning that he needs to embrace his youth. By the time Far From Home rolls around, he’s gone to space, been dusted by Thanos, and come back just to see Tony Stark die. At this point, he just wants to be a kid.

His journey throughout Far From Home, though, is about learning what his responsibility to the world is, even if it means growing up faster than he wants to, but on his own terms, not everyone else’s, which was excellently symbolized when Peter creates his new suit in Far From Home. His arc throughout five films so far has been wonderful and is a great coming-of-age story that blows anything from Raimi’s Spider-Man or Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man series out of the water.

The supporting cast is also a lot better than any previous series of Spider-Man films, with the cast getting more play in Far From Home. Zendaya is a great, different interpretation of MJ, and she has a wonderful rapport with Peter, as well. And then there’s Ned. How can you not love Peter’s “guy in the chair?” He’s wonderful. The other series simply didn’t have that. None of the cast in Raimi’s trilogy had a good rapport with each other and, while The Amazing Spider-Man series had Peter and Gwen, there honestly wasn’t much else there. The MCU’s Spider-Verse utilizes Spider-Man’s supporting cast extremely well, but it still never takes its eyes off its main subject, Peter Parker.

The MCU, throughout five films, has proven that it completely understands both the characters of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and they’ve created the version of the character that will be iconic for years to come.