It’s no question that Tom Holland does a great job of playing Peter Parker. His youthfulness and juvenile spirit translate well into MCU films, perfectly capturing the essence of everyone’s favorite webslinger. Holland’s character never fails to bring moments of lightheadedness amongst the chaos and uncertainty the Avengers often face. Perhaps one of Peter’s most famous scenes is when he started talking too much and making clever quips during the airport battle scene in Captain America: Civil War, showing fans that Peter truly is just a kid at heart.
Peter has had a long history with Marvel’s most famous heroes, having first been mentored by Tony Stark, who appeared quite often in the original Spider-Man: Homecoming film. After Tony died in Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home was released and Peter joined forces with Mysterio, trying to find another mentor since Tony was gone. Now that the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer has dropped, it seems as if the consequences of Peter’s affiliation with Mysterio are really starting to catch up to him, and now Peter has to turn to another hero for damage control.
Peter and Stephen Strange will have to work extremely close together to clear Peter’s name and reverse the damage they’ve done to the multiverse, which still leaves fans with hope that Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield will pop up alongside these fan-favorite heroes and some other returning, revamped villains.
The main takeaway from all of this is that Peter Parker doesn’t work alone. The only constant across all of Spider-Man’s appearances in the MCU is that he’s always accompanied by someone else of the same stature. Peter never fully stands on his own, having been paired up with Tony, Mysterio, some other members of the Avengers team, and he will now be joined by Doctor Strange.
Peter has never had a true moment alone in the spotlight, whereas other heroes like Thor and Captain America have all been featured in movies in which they were the sole focus of the narrative and the only fan-favorite hero. Of course, these characters eventually collaborated with other characters either in the Avengers films or with a specific hero in their own respective trilogies, like how Natasha showed up to fight with Tony during Iron Man 2.
With all the publicity fans have given to both Tom Holland and Spider-Man, as well as his many appearances in other MCU films, it begs the question as to why Marvel isn’t giving Peter Parker any true “alone time” in the franchise, or within any of his self-titled projects. Part of it could be attributed to the fact that Peter is still a kid and should have supervision on dangerous missions, but the real reason appears to be much deeper than that. Perhaps, Spider-Man is simply too weak to stand on his own - in terms of creating a compelling storyline and not his physical strength, of course.
Due to his comedic and often lighthearted nature, Peter seems to function better in the MCU as a side character or a partner, rather than the “I work better alone” type of guy. Holland’s Spidey seems to thrive when he’s got another major hero working next to him. Trying to force Peter to go on these emotional journeys (like Wanda exploring her grief in Wandavision) or have him come to some sort of epiphany (the way Loki did during his Disney Plus series) probably wouldn’t work for his character.
Peter is a teenage boy, seemingly one who hasn’t had to deal with much loss besides that of his mentor, because his parents are never mentioned in the MCU. Even Uncle Ben, whose presence was always felt in the previous Spider-Man movie series, has not been mentioned once. Writing his story in a way that makes him go through some serious, adult-like changes wouldn’t work very well given his age and how new he still is to the superhero business. As a 16-year-old boy Peter is still pretty new to life itself, as well.
That’s not to say that Tom Holland has done a poor job bringing Spider-Man to life. A lot of fans would agree that Holland has done the best portrayal of Peter Parker thus far. Sometimes, heroes simply work better in teams. Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is another example of this, as he’s never had a set of his own movies in the official MCU, but he constantly pops up in other places throughout the franchise. Even the DCEU’s Harley Quinn has been put in a similar position, and although Birds of Prey was supposed to be her story, she shared the limelight with her ragtag ensemble team of butt-kicking women.
There’s nothing wrong with a character needing others around them to create an intriguing story. Spider-Man has been one of the most well-known Marvel characters for a very long time. The MCU has done well by fitting him in amongst their hero lineup, but it seems as if Peter Parker will need to continue working with others if he’s going to be a strong character.