I’m not ashamed to say I like Spider-Man 3. The final entry in Sam Raimi’s trilogy is a corny mess that turns Peter Parker into a two-dimensional edgelord with far too many villains and subplots, but I can’t get enough of it. A huge part of that is because of the cringe that comes with Peter’s dark angst. Bonding with the symbiote doesn’t make him ‘evil’ or push him toward anti-hero status, it makes him a fedora-tipping asshole who acts like he can take on the world. And he can, because he’s Spider-Man juiced up on alien goo.
It’s like watching a superpowered 13-year-old going through their ‘I’m better than everyone’ phase, right down to the bad dancing. There’s so much confidence in the edginess, a real belief that it’s cool, and at no point is it undercut by jokes. It’s played serious and that’s why it’s so fun - of course Peter’s idea of badass is framed through the lens of a Reddit-addled nerd. But Spider-Man 3 is reviled, seen as the blemish on what could’ve been the greatest superhero trilogy ever. I never expected anyone to tackle the symbiote again with the same unashamed cheese.
Cue Spider-Man 2 (the game, not the film), whose latest trailer finally unveiled the symbiote suit and how it’s affecting Peter. He’s moodier and more aggressive, but importantly, he’s making terrible one-liners to show what a badass he is now. He’s so painfully edgy and uncool, it’s like watching your friend pretend he’s Batman but his voice is just a nasally snarl. And even though Miles has a mask on, you can feel him cringing underneath his concern. I would too, Miles.
“He’s mine,” Peter says, before Miles adds, “You sure? He’s got big teeth”.
“So do I,” Peter replies, with actor Yuri Lowenthal making his voice gruffer. But again, it’s not Wolverine gruff, it’s kid-playing-tough gruff. Peter is trying so hard to be cool because the symbiote amps up the personality of its wearer, and in this case, the wearer is a geek who watches too many movies. Eddie Brock, the first Venom, has a warped sense of justice, a drive to protect the innocent so overwhelming that he falls victim to the symbiote’s bloodlust, justifying every death as a necessary casualty. He’s not trying to be cool, he’s trying to be a hero and falling at every hurdle. Agent Venom meanwhile plays on Flash Thompson’s love of Spider-Man, so he emulates his idols. Neither comes off the same way as Peter because that’s not who they are at their core.
Peter is unique because when it juices his personality and sprinkles in the darkness of the symbiote, it doesn’t result in a hardened anti-hero, it results in Peter’s idea of a hardened anti-hero. Like Peter, I’m a nerd who watches way too many movies, and I bet if a symbiote grappled with me, I’d be the corniest prick to be around. I’m not sure I’d have the confidence to awkwardly dance in the street, but I’d certainly be an embarrassment. Anything else for a character like Peter, a geek turned hero, would feel wrong. He’s not the Batman type, and even with the darker suit and powerset, that wouldn’t change, because, at his core, he’s a socially awkward do-gooder.