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Part 1:

One of the arguments that I am getting more and more sick of hearing is "hurr Tobey sucks as Spider-Man cuz he doesn't quip!!" because I have been hearing it for so many years, and it's gotten to the point that I felt like writing this dissection on Tobey's Spider-Man quips because so many people overlook them, and even the people who do acknowledge them, arbitrarily handwave them and downplay this aspect of his character by saying he only quips once or twice per movie. This is not an attack on people who don't like Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. If you don't like Tobey and prefer Andrew Garfield and/or Tom Holland, that's perfectly fine and you are allowed to have a different opinion. You are allowed to disagree with me. It is not a crime to not like Raimi/Maguire's take on Spider-Man, there's no shame in not liking a particular version of a character because it's all personal taste. Films are art. Art is subjective. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on matters like this, as long as you express your opinion calmly and respectfully. Virtually everything that I am going to say is my subjective opinion, not fact. My opinion is not any more valid than yours, and yours is not any more valid than mine. Now that I have prefaced the subject of this thread and stated my opinions, I'm now going to delve into Spider-Man's sense of humour:

Spider-Man's Quips

One of Spider-Man's core character traits is that he is wisecracking and cocky. He is a witty and sarcastic superhero who quips. The comics have given different explanations on why Spider-Man quips, one of them being that he is hiding his fears and doubts from his enemies:



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It's a coping mechanism that enables him to mask his fears and uneasiness from his enemies, thereby projecting false aura of confidence. There have been other explanations e.g. he's trying to add levity to dangerous situations to calm down other people, he's trying to tick off his enemies so much that they make careless mistakes etc. None of these explanations are mutually exclusive with Peter's explanation to Mary Jane in ASM #275, but they do further flesh out why he displays a sense of humour as Spider-Man. In fact, one of the Marvel guidebooks gives another explanation:



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This source says that Peter Parker "developed a real appreciation for quips and pranks" because Uncle Ben did not just "spend quality time with" Peter, Uncle Ben also "had a great sense of humour and many hours of telling jokes and pulling gags on Peter" i.e. Peter got his sense of humour from Uncle Ben.

So how is this relevant to Tobey Maguire's version of the wall crawler? Well, I don't think Maguire is a perfect representation of Peter Parker or Spider-Man from the comic books. He is not completely accurate. None of the live action Spider-Man are completely accurate. Christopher Daniel Barnes is the most accurate and probably the closest we'll ever get (sorry Josh Keaton fans!). But that doesn't mean he's not accurate at all. And I don't think he has to be completely accurate in order to be good. For example, Christian Bale did a fantastic job as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, and in my opinion is the best live action Batman and far superior to Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Val Kilmer and George Clooney. But Bale's version of the caped crusader isn't completely accurate either. Another example I want to give is Joaquin Phoenix as Arther Fleck AKA Joker. Phoenix's Joker is actually a very inaccurate version of the clown prince of crime, but I loved his version of the character because he's very tragic and interesting. Very little about him screams the Joker from the comics or cartoons, but that doesn't mean he's a bad representation of the Joker from the comics, just a very inaccurate representation.

The inaccuracies that Bale had as Batman and Phoenix had as Joker are part of what made their characters so great. Not simply because the filmmakers took creative liberties, but the choice of liberties they took were good liberties that created great versions of these characters and actually made them refreshing. It made them stand out in contrast to other versions of these characters. It made them unique, interesting and nuanced in a good way and they are proof that being inaccurate is not always bad.

Before I start, I want to point out that a quip isn't necessarily a joke, it can be a joke, but it can also be a clever and witty remark. Spider-Man's quips aren't always jokes, sometimes they are him verbally mocking his enemies in a clever and witty manner. I think Maguire did a good job as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and one aspect of his character that I feel like gets overlooked and even handwaved, is his sense of humour. Tobey displays a sense of humour throughout all 3 movies, and I am now going to delve into his Spider-Man quips case by case. Now I will start with the first movie:

Spider-Man (2002)

The first quip he displays is when he fights Bonesaw, which is technically before he truly becomes Spider-Man (i.e. Spider-Man the crime fighter):



After Bonesaw asks Spider-Man why he's all the way up the cage, Spider-Man says he's staying away from Bonesaw, and then proceeds to mock Bonesaw's outfit and insult his manhood. In the past few years, a lot of people have began to found that quip offensive because they think Spider-Man is making a gay joke, but I completely beg to differ. Spider-Man isn't calling Bonesaw gay, he's calling him a woman because Bonesaw is very muscular and masculine, so he's trying to get under Bonesaw's skin by insulting his manhood because Bonesaw is a wrestler who's very proud of his muscles and masculine qualities. Keep in mind that earlier in the movie, Bonesaw was flexing his victories over his previous opponents, so it makes sense that he would be prideful about his muscles and masculine qualities. Granted, one could argue that this would also be offensive to men who are insecure about their manhood, but I honestly think that's an SJW type of complaint. And even then, this is no different than Spider-Man making fat jokes about Kingpin in the comics, cartoons and video games. So if we want to be consistent with this SJW-esque mindset, Spider-Man's quips over Kingpin's weight would also be detestable because there might be some overweight people who find these quips "fatphobic." I know Dan Slott has done this:

Part 2:

This is another reason why I am not a fan of Dan Slott, but Dan Slott is irrelevant to this so I won't bash on him in this thread. But my point is that I find it silly to dismiss the quip that Tobey's Spider-Man made to Bonesaw under the assumption that it's homophobic or promoting toxic masculinity. Sure, they might be offensive to some people, but this is a dumb reason to dismiss his quip, and it's also hypocritical because Spider-Man has mocked Kingpin's weight in the comics, cartoons and even video games, which could also be perceived as fatphobic (which they are by people on Twitter), so please quit the double standards with Spider-Man needing politically correct quips. Also, please remember that the characters that Spider-Man made fun of, are not real. Bonesaw barely reacts to Spider-Man's quip in the movie. He was silent in response, suggesting that he was irritated. Either way, it's a pretty good quip. It's clever, and Tobey's delivery is great. Tobey genuinely sounds like he's having fun when he was performing that scene. Now I will move onto the next quip:



Spider-Man makes a witty remark about web slinging being better than taking the New York subway train, and MJ actually laughs in response, indicating that she found it funny. MJ then asks Spider-Man who he is, and Spider-Man ironically says she does know who she is (i.e his secret identity is Peter Parker, MJ knows Peter), MJ asks "I do?" in confusion and Spider-Man exclaims "Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" as a response. I won't consider this an actual quip because of the wording, but more of an ironic remark that Spider-Man cleverly makes that prompts MJ's curiosity, but doesn't reveal that MJ knows him as her in the way she thought he suggested (which she ironically does). The way Tobey delivers his dialogue is also great, he sounds very confident and speaks very loudly and clearly. His voice as Spider-Man actually sounds different than his Peter Parker voice to an extent. He sounds more confident and loud in costume than out of costume. He doesn't completely change his voice in the same way Christian Bale made Batman and Bruce Wayne sound like two completely different people, but it's more like the way Michael Keaton makes subtle differences between Batman's voice and Bruce Wayne's voice. As Batman, Michael Keaton's Batman voice is colder and lower pitched than his Bruce Wayne voice when you listen to them carefully. So Tobey does deserve credit for making Spider-Man sound more confident and bold than Peter Parker. Now I will move onto the next quip:



Whilst the Green Goblin is interrogating JJJ about the identity of Spider-Man's photographer, Spider-Man appears and sarcastically calls the Goblin a "tough guy" whilst also telling the Goblin to let go of JJJ. It's pretty brief, but I love the way Spider-Man does it. He abruptly comes out of the blue, hanging upside down and uses sarcasm to get the Goblin's attention. Tobey's delivery of this quip is also perfect, he sounds very confident and cocky. Spider-Man quips again in the same scene, which I will now move onto:



After announcing his presence, the Goblin uses a phrase that's said when a person appears just after being mentioned, and JJJ immediately accuses Spider-Man of being in league with the Green Goblin, but before JJJ can finish what he's saying, Spider-Man silences JJJ by covering his mouth with web, and proceeds to mocking dismissing JJJ as a "kiddo" and tells him to allow him to talk to the Goblin for a minute, Spider-Man refers to himself and the Goblin as "mom and dad" in contrast to JJJ being the "kiddo" in the scenario. Even though this moment is brief, I find it hilarious because all 3 characters aren't on anyone's side and just insult each other. Tobey's delivery of this quip is also good, and he makes Spider-Man sound loud, confident and assertive, and the context of the scene also helps because the audience and the characters know that JJJ hates Spider-Man and vents his hatred by constantly attacking Spider-Man's public image. I'd also like to mention that Spider-Man webbing JJJ's mouth to shut him up is a tactic that Spider-Man has used in the comics whenever he's sick of JJJ tirades:



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Granted, Spider-Man does say more to JJJ in those comic instances than Tobey's Spider-Man did when he webbed JJJ's mouth shut, but keep in mind that there are no supervillains nearby in those instances, whereas Tobey's Spider-Man also worry about the Green Goblin that was in closer proximity to Spider-Man than JJJ. Heck, the fact that he makes any quips even when in closer proximity to a supervillain is still something. Now I will move onto the next quip:

Granted, Spider-Man does say more to JJJ in those comic instances than Tobey's Spider-Man did when he webbed JJJ's mouth shut, but keep in mind that there are no supervillains nearby in those instances, whereas Tobey's Spider-Man also worry about the Green Goblin that was in closer proximity to Spider-Man than JJJ. Heck, the fact that he makes any quips even when in closer proximity to a supervillain is still something. Now I will move onto the next quip:


The Green Goblin asks Spider-Man if he's interested in his proposal, asking if he's in, or out. Spider-Man's response is "It's you who's out Gobby. Out of your mind!" i.e. Spider-Man mocks the Goblin's proposal and also mocks his name at the same time, calling him "Gobby." Tobey's delivery of this quip is good, he sounds does well at making Spider-Man sound mocking but also disinterested in the Goblin's proposal. I'd also like to mention "Gobby" is a nickname that Spider-Man has given the Green Goblin in the comics:



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He's also on it in the 90s cartoon as well. Now I am going to move onto the next quip, which happens in the same scene:

Part 4:



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Spider-Man makes a "little joke" about hanging around, and a bystander calls it a "terrible little joke." Spider-Man himself has also virtually admitted his sense of humour aren't the best:



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Spider-Man says that he has "no shame at all" about making "some corny joke about being a swinger" to his enemies. There's also this:



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In his internal thoughts, Spider-Man admits he made a bad pun. He also says this in the same issue:



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Spider-Man says that he has "made enough bad jokes for one day" during a battle with Mister Hyde.

Whenever I read a Spider-Man comic and see Spider-Man quip and taunt his enemies, I rarely laugh. I don't read Spider-Man comics looking for Spider-Man quips to make myself laugh. I read them for story and characters. Moreover, let's not forget that humour is subjective. Just because you don't find Tobey Spider-Man's quips funny, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't. And his quips don't need to be funny when the comic book version of the character has admitted his quips are corny and bad.

Earlier in this post, I cited The Marvel Encyclopedia, which said that Peter Parker "developed a real appreciation for quips and pranks" because Uncle Ben did not just "spend quality time with" Peter, Uncle Ben also "had a great sense of humour and many hours of telling jokes and pulling gags on Peter" i.e. Peter got his sense of humour from Uncle Ben. So there's a lot of nuance for why Spider-Man has a sense of humour. None of the Spider-Man movies actually explain where Peter's sense of humour comes from as it's not important to explain, but in the Raimiverse, there is a scene where you see some subtle banter between Peter and Ben:



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Uncle Ben calls Peter "Michaelangelo" and tells him to not forget that he has to help Ben paint the kitchen right after school. Peter says "Sure thing" and tells Ben to not start without him, and Ben tells Peter to not start up with him. The way Tobey Maguire and Cliff Robertson deliver these lines are very playful, they're acting like best friends, and the way Cliff Roberton's Uncle Ben winks at Peter also helps. The fact that Ben calls Peter "Michaelangelo" seems like a nickname, and it's probably a reference to teenage mutant ninja turtles. I wouldn't be surprised by this because the second movie establishes that Peter read comic books as a kid, and there are many references to characters from DC Comics. Either way, the way Peter and Ben interact with each other gives me the impression that Ben treats Peter like a best friend and they probably joke around a lot. The movie doesn't explore much of Peter's childhood, but I don't think that's a problem because that would've been a bit distracting from the story it's trying to tell.

Granted, I don't think this aspect of this personality was done perfectly in this movie, but I blame that on the script for not giving him more quips, rather than Tobey's acting. But what is given isn't too bad. I think what would've been better is if there was a scene in the script that gave Spider-Man 4 or 5 quips, all in one scene. Anyway, that's enough ranting of the quips from the first movie, now I'm going to move onto 2 and 3:

Part 5:

Spider-Man 2 (2004):

This is the movie where Spider-Man's quips are far less. Despite this being considered the best out of the entire Raimi trilogy, Spider-Man has the least amount of quips in this movie. He only quips twice here, but the quips he has are actually great. Both of these quips occur when Spider-Man fights Dr Octopus in the bank:



Dr Ock throws bags of money at Spider-Man, Spider-Man by a pun about money uses his webs to throw one of them back at Dr Ock whilst shouting "HERE'S YOUR CHANGE!!" at Dock Ock. The quip itself is very creative and clever, and Tobey's delivery is top notch. He quips again shortly later:



Dr Ock expresses annoyance at Spider-Man for getting in his way, saying that Spider-Man is getting on his nerves. Spider-Man humorously says that he has a knack for getting on people's nerves, and Dock Ock says "Not anymore!" with a sadistic smile. Tobey's delivery of this quip is good, and I do like how he says it when Dock Ock literally has him restrained, so he's still bold enough to say something witty when in a disadvantaged position.

So yeah, these are all of Spider-Man's quips in this movie. I personally would have liked to have had at least a few more, but I think the quips he does have are appropriately timed. When shits get serious, he takes shit seriously just like he should do. I think there is a valid in-universe reason why Spider-Man is far less quippy and jokey in this movie. Peter's life was in shambles because his double life was so busy and chaotic that caused him to become so disconnected from his personal life that he forgot his own birthday, rarely got to spend time with his friends and family, his grades for his university course declined because he couldn't attend classes on time, he's having difficulty sleeping and when he does attend university he ends up falling asleep in class, he's having money problems because he's always late to his pizza delivery job due to having to be Spider-Man, JJJ has desecrated his public image to the point Aunt May distrusts Spider-Man and doesn't want to hear about him because she's convinced he's a menace and only changes her mind when Spider-Man saves her life, and a black guy mistakenly assumes Spider-Man robbed pizza from a pizza delivery guy, but the reality was that Peter Parker just went into an alleyway to change into costume to deliver his pizzas quicker.

Peter is very miserable and depressed up until he completely loses his powers and abandons his heroic ideals. Peter's also having an identity crisis because of his double life creating a dual identity he's struggling to choose. He wants to live a normal civilian life, but at the same time he also wants to fight crime as Spider-Man to live up to Uncle Ben's ideals, so he's conflicted and struggling to make the ideal choice until he throws his Spider-Man costume in the trash. So it's no wonder why he's not that quippy and jokey in this movie.

And to be fair, when Peter does get his powers back and the drive to become Spider-Man again, he does display a subtle sense of humour when getting his costume from the Daily Bugle:

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After getting his costume back from the Daily Bugle, Spider-Man leaves small web with a note for JJJ in, the person who probably hates Spider-Man the most, and the note says "COURTESY, YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN" which infuriates JJJ into going backwards to the mentality that Spider-Man is a public menace. I won't consider it a quip because Spider-Man himself doesn't verbally say anything because his top priority is to after Dock Ock, but this seems like such a trollish thing to do, when considering context.

So, to summarise everything, here's a list of all of Tobey's quips as Peter Parker and Spider-Man.


Spider-Man: Makes a pun about money when throwing a bag of coins at Dock Ock ("HERE'S YOUR CHANGE!!".
Spider-Man: Makes a witty remark about having a knack for getting on people's nerves when talking to Dock Ock ("I have a knack for that!"


That's it, I think more would've been nice, but what's there is still good. Now I am going to move onto Spider-Man 3:

Part 6:

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Both Peter Parker and Spider-Man have a lot more quips here than in Spider-Man 2. This is also the movie where Peter is at his most confident. In the first movie he was growing out his nerdy bookworm self, in the second movie he was miserable and depressed. But in this movie, Peter is radiating with more confidence than ever. In fact, he's so confident that he's become very arrogant and egocentric. Peter develops an over inflated ego because Spider-Man is receiving far more recognition than before. Spider-Man has become a celebrity in the eyes of the public. In his first encounter with Sandman, Spider-Man opens up their conversation with this quip:



Spider-Man says "Jig's up, pal!" to Sandman, he's using an old fashioned way of telling Sandman that he's been caught doing his illegal activity and he will not allow Sandman to continue pursuing it. He even calls Sandman pal, which could either be interpreted as Spider-Man being sarcastic, or Spider-Man just being cocky. Either way, it's a decent quip, it's not Tobey's best quip, but still something. The way Tobey delivers it is good, he sounds very assertive and confident. The scene continues with more quips:



Sandman makes it clear that he's not interested in fighting and tells Spider-Man to leave, but Spider-Man refuses and says "I guess you haven't heard! I'm the sheriff around these parts!" i.e. Spider-Man makes a witty remark about Sandman being ignorant, because Spider-Man is well known, and Spider-Man calls himself the sheriff around New York. Spider-Man is being overconfident here, he underestimates Sandman and jokingly dismisses his threats, Tobey's delivery is excellent because you can even hear the overconfidence in his voice, he is even laughing whilst he's delivering the quip. But when they fight, Spider-Man punches Sandman, and his arm is stuck in Sandman. Spider-Man realizes he has underestimated Sandman, even saying "Uh oh!" to express his tactical error. I'm not sure whether to consider that a quip, but I do like the fact that he says "Uh oh!" to convey that he's realized that he has underestimated Sandman because it shows he has an actual personality in costume. Now I will move onto the next quip:



I love this moment. Spider-Man displays a sense of humour here, but it's a far more sardonic and twisted sense of humour. Eddie Brock appears, asking Spider-Man to give him "some of that web action" and Spider-Man ironically does what Eddie asked, but not the way Eddie meant. Spider-Man gives Eddie some "web action" by webbing his camera and breaking it, whilst then saying "See ya, chump!" before leaving to track down Sandman. Spider-Man mockingly dismisses Eddie as "a chump" and basically says that he'll see him later. The way Tobey delivers this quip is perfect because you can hear the menacing aggression in his voice. Now I will move onto the next quip:



Peter mockingly asks Harry "Stings, doesn't it?" after hurling Harry through glass. The question itself could be interpreted as a reference to when Harry hurled Peter through a glass window earlier in the movie, or perhaps Peter is just mocking Harry to get under his skin. Tobey's delivery is top notch again due to how sardonic and mocking he sounds here. Next:



Harry threatens to kick Peter's "little ass" and Peter, in response, mocks Harry's threat by sarcastically showing fear. Peter technically doesn't say a proper word but he's still showing sarcasm to insult his opponent. Tobey's delivery is solid as usual. But the best quip in this entire scene, is this:



This quip has become so hilarious and memorable to people that it literally became a meme, for all the right reasons. It's hilarious. I've seen it in so many different internet communities, where many people use it as a way of roasting other people who are butthurt and salty. Peter's quip in this scene is very mean spirited and cruel, but that's partially because the Symbiote is influencing his psyche by amplifying the darker qualities of his personality, even making his sense of humour more mean spirited and sardonic than it usually is. Peter laughs at Harry, calls him "a little Goblin junior" and asks him if he's going to cry about being insulted. This enrages Harry, but Peter slams him to the wall again. Tobey's delivery of this line is probably what makes this quip so great.

There is another instance of Peter showing a sense of humour, but it's a lot more subtle and only obvious to the out of universe audience who are watching the movie, not the characters within the movie's universe.



In case I need to spell this out for people, Peter quips in this scene in the sense that he sarcastically says he'd never thought Spider-Man would rob a bank. Peter initially uses sarcasm when confronting Eddie, and then he also mocks Eddie's statement about how Peter should "see it as it is" by saying "It's funny you should say that, because I was looking through some old photos, and it looks very, uh... Similar" which is ironic in this case because Eddie is telling Peter he should see things how they are, when the reality is that Spider-Man did not rob a bank, but Eddie photoshopped one of Peter's old photos of Spider-Man. Peter doesn't immediately call out Eddie on faking a picture of Spider-Man robbing a bank, he's initially being a wise guy by expressing shock very sarcastically, and then he mocks Eddie for his hypocrisy about seeing things how they are. After that happens, Peter finally decides to stop fooling around with Eddie and just expose him. Now I will move onto the next quip.

Part 7:



When Harry arrives to help out Peter, he says that it looks like he arrived "just in the nick of time" and Peter says "A couple minutes ago wouldn't have been so bad either!" in response. In this case I need to spell this out for people, the reason why I am saying Peter is quipping in this scene is because he's making a witty remark about how it wouldn't have been so bad if Harry arrived a few minutes prior. Peter is serious, but he expresses his thoughts in a witty manner because he wouldn't have had to take a beating if Harry arrived earlier. It's funny because it's true from Peter's perspective. Like I said earlier, a quip isn't necessarily a joke, it can be a joke, but it can also be a clever and witty remark. What reinforces this is that Peter has a smile on his face when he says this.So these are all of Tobey's quips as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Interestingly enough, most of his quips and sense of humour are mean spirited and ill natured, largely because Peter's anger and ill will towards Eddie and Harry, combined with the Symbiote increasing that pre-existing anger. Another scene that I think does a good job at illustrating Peter's sense of humour is when Peter brings Harry back from hospital:

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Peter's sense of humour is conveyed mostly non-verbally in this scene. They have some fun callbacks about how they used to be terrible at basketball, not something I would describe as quippy, but still something worth noting. Then Harry asks Bernard if he has any girlfriends, Peter ends Harry's conversation with Bernard by grabbing the basketball and playing basketball with Harry, and they share a few laughs about their social lives. Moreover, when Harry has a look at Norman's painting, Peter gets flashbacks of putting Norman's dead body on his bed before Harry's very eyes. Harry says that he wishes he could remember more about Norman due to his amnesia, which makes Peter somewhat nervous, but Peter still tries to add levity to the situation as a means of distracting himself and Harry by throwing a basketball to him, Harry catches the basketball and the falling vase very quickly to both Peter and Harry's surprise, and Peter shrugs it off by saying "Still got the moves!" to conceal his nervousness when Harry's looking at Peter.

So, to summarise everything, here's a list of all of Tobey's quips as Peter Parker and Spider-Man in this movie.


Spider-Man: Tells Sandman that he's not allowed to continue his criminal activities in a witty manner ("Jig's up, pal!".
Spider-Man: Makes a witty remark about Sandman not hearing that Spider-Man is the sheriff around New York ("I guess you haven't heard! I'm the sheriff around these parts!".
Spider-Man: Smashes Eddie's camera with the "web action" Eddie ironically asks for and mockingly dismisses Eddie and says he'll see him later ("See ya, chump!".
Peter Parker: Mockingly asks Harry if everything he's dished out on Peter is all he's got ("That all you got?".
Peter Parker: Mockingly asks Harry if being on the losing side of the fight hurts ("Stings, doesn't it?".
Peter Parker: Mocks Harry by sarcastically expressing fear at Harry's threats to kick Peter's "little ass" ("Ooomph!".
Peter Parker: Mocks Harry for being so self entitled and clingy to his dead father ("No. He despised you. You were an embarrassment to him. LOL, look at little Goblin junior. Gonna cry?".
Peter Parker: Sarcastically expresses shock at Spider-Man supposedly being caught committing theft when confronting Eddie Brock ("Huh! I'd never thought he'd really do that!".
Peter Parker: Mocks Eddie Brock for saying Peter made a judgement call and needs to see things as it is ("It's funny you should say that, because I was looking through some old photos, and it looks very, uh... Similar.".
Peter Parker: Makes a witty remark about how it wouldn't have been so bad if Harry arrived earlier to help Peter to save Peter from taking a beating from Sandman and Venom ("A couple minutes ago wouldn't have been so bad either!".


What's interesting is that Tobey has more quips as Peter Parker than he does as Spider-Man. I have a feeling it's because Spider-Man has less screen time than he does in the previous movies. He also has more quips in this movie than in any of the previous movies. Could it have been illustrated better? Definitely. I don't think it was done perfectly, I think what would've been better is if the movie took more cues from the way the 90s Spider-Man cartoon illustrated Spider-Man's quips. Christopher Daniel Barne's Spider-Man quips very frequently and rarely shuts up, but at the same time he doesn't come across as unfunny and cringe worthy whilst he quips, he times them perfectly and doesn't come across as a Deadpool knockoff. But that doesn't invalidate what is literally shown on screen in the movies. There's a time and place for everything, and Tobey's Spider-Man shuts up in the situations that he should shut up because they're so serious that adding quips would probably ruin the tone of the scenes. And if you're not satisfied with the quantity of Spider-Man's quips, bear in mind Tobey also voices the character in the video game adaptations of the movies. Tobey has far more quips in the video games. It's not exactly the same version of the character, but it's still a very similar version, which is another reason why I am not that bothered by Tobey not having more quips. He does more of it in the video games, and I find them amusing.

Conclusion:

Well, I hope people were able to read this, and I hope it was worth reading. I'm not naive enough to assume people are just going to change their minds, but I've gotten so tired of Tobey's quips being glossed over and handwaved that I just felt like writing a highly detailed analysis that breaks down each and every one of his quips just to air out my frustrations and disagreements. Thanks.

Not sure why you would get sick of that criticism when it is completely valid. I was already aware of those ones youve noted because I was always looking for them pre-Garfield and Holland lol.

Just wasnt Tobeys strong suit. They were few and far between and his delivery of them wasnt the best either.

That said Tobey was the best Peter Parker IMO. His transformation from Nerd to Superhero was great (Garfield had no transformation). And the nerd shouldnt completely dissipate once hes become Spider-Man either.

Those films got the majority of his back story done, which was pretty impressive for a first movie.

But yeah for the perfect Spidey I wanted more quips, and more inventing tools to help him (spider webs/tracers), and more using his intellect in a fight.

Originally posted by Darth Thor
Not sure why you would get sick of that criticism when it is completely valid. I was already aware of those ones youve noted because I was always looking for them pre-Garfield and Holland lol.

Just wasnt Tobeys strong suit. They were few and far between and his delivery of them wasnt the best either.

Not sure why you're glossing over what I wrote in the OP when my premise is completely valid in that the criticism I was addressing was was that people were ignoring his quips by saying he doesn't do it, or insisting he only does it once or twice per movie, which isn't "completely valid" because he does it more than "once or twice" in 2 out of 3 of the movies he's in. For a direct quotation of what I said:



I wasn't addressing the criticism that he doesn't have enough, but quality is just as important quantity and the quality of his quips were the best IMO.



Cool.

Originally posted by YousufKhan1212
Not sure why you're glossing over what I wrote in the OP when my premise is completely valid in that the criticism I was addressing was was that people were ignoring his quips by saying he doesn't do it, or insisting he only does it once or twice per movie, which isn't "completely valid" because he does it more than "once or twice" in 2 out of 3 of the movies he's in. For a direct quotation of what I said:

I wasn't addressing the criticism that he doesn't have enough, but quality is just as important quantity and the quality of his quips were the best IMO.





Fair enough. Its just clear that Wasnt a focus. It should ideally be an integral part of his Spidey dialogue. But the fact that we are counting how many quips he made, kind of shows it wasnt.

Thats one thing Garfield Spidey got right. Doesnt mean he was a better Peter Parker or that his films were as good.

Originally posted by Darth Thor
Fair enough. Its just clear that Wasnt a focus. It should ideally be an integral part of his Spidey dialogue. But the fact that we are counting how many quips he made, kind of shows it wasnt.

Thats one thing Garfield Spidey got right. Doesnt mean he was a better Peter Parker or that his films were as good.

If you aren't satisfied with the quantity of Tobey's quips, that's fine. However, the video games do kind of compensate for that because Tobey voices Spider-Man there too and quips all the time. It's not exactly the same version of the character, but it's still a very similar version in a similar universe, hence why I am personally not bothered by the low quantity of quips in the movies.

A lot of those aren't very witty or barely qualify as quips.

"Green Goblin: You're pathetically predictable, like a moth to the flame. What about my generous proposal? Are you in, or are you out?

Spider-Man: It's you who's out Gobby. Out of your mind!"

or

"Jonah Jameson: I don't know who he is!

Green Goblin: You are useless you....

Spider-Man: Set him down, tough guy!"

Tough guy? That's a quip? That quip to Bonesaw was the best he's ever done, and the only joke that actually made me laugh. Wit wasn't Maguire Spideys strong suit.

Hell, look at your examples for SM2. You only have two quips for the ENTIRE movie, and neither of them are particularly funny. Spidey should be slinging them out left and right, getting under the villains skin while being genuinely funny.

Now look at your examples for SM3. Almost ALL of them are from corrupted Black Suit Spidey. It's not the red suit norm for him, and most of those were to show that we was becoming crueler/more apathetic or overconfident. He was just being a dick. They weren't genuine Spidey quips with the goal of keeping the villain off balance. His quips should also come from a place of fear and stress of the situation.

I loved Maguire Spidey and his movies, but quips just weren't his thing. BTW I appreciated you typing all that out. It was a great read and effort regardless of my agreeing with it or not.

Yeah, even if they try to be quips they are not really witty or entertaining enough to be character defining. That trait of Spidey was missing

But at least he's less of a homophobic, fatshaming bastard I guess

Originally posted by Arachnid1
A lot of those aren't very witty or barely qualify as quips.

They do qualify as quips and I explained why they are quips and I will do once again:



This is a quip because Spider-Man mocks the Green Goblin's proposal through clever wording. Goblin asks Spider-Man if he's in, or out . Spider-Man mocks the Goblin by saying that Goblin is out of his mind, whilst also making fun his name by calling him "Gobby," which he also does in the comics and I listed 3 comic instances as evidence.



Yeah that's a quip because he's being sarcastic and I mentioned this in the OP. Quips demonstrate a sense of humour. Sarcasm is a form of humour.



This isn't a legitimate reason to dismiss his quips. They don't have to be funny to work. Spider-Man isn't a comedian, the reason why he quips in the first place is because it's a coping mechanism that he uses hide his fears and uneasiness from his enemies, thereby projecting false aura of confidence. There have been other explanations e.g. he's trying to add levity to dangerous situations to calm down other people, he's trying to tick off his enemies so much that they make careless mistakes, and he also got his sense of humour from Uncle Ben. I find a good majority of Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man quips unfunny and poorly written, but I am not going to use that to handwave the fact that he does quip by saying Andrew's Spider-Man qups don't count on the basis that they didn't make me laugh. That misses the point of the character because Spider-Man's quips don't need to be funny to count for that aspect of his character to function. In the OP, I cited ASM #212, ASM #219, ASM #232 as evidence that the comic book version of Spider-Man makes quips that are literally described as "corny" and "bad." Whether you agree with Spider-Man's opinion of his quips being bad and corny is a different issue, but that's entirely subjective.



Firstly, Spider-Man's quips don't need to be funny to make his character work. He's not Deadpool. Humour is subjective and I actually found them funny myself, but they don't necessarily need to be funny because comedy isn't what makes Spider-Man who he is. There's more to Spider-Man than just quips. Secondly, I gave a valid in-universe reason why Spider-Man is far less quippy in this movie on account of Peter being miserable and depressed to the point his depression causes him to temporarily lose his powers, which was inspired by ASM Annual 1, the first Sinister Six comic appearance. Heck, there are even stories where Spider-Man barely quips or doesn't quip at all, such as Kraven's Last Hunt, Spider-Man vs Wolverine because how of serious these stories are.



That doesn't invalidate any of these quips. You're committing the argument of incredulity fallacy and you're also delving into the intent of those quips, a complaint that doesn't go beyond the most superficial level. Intent and action are not one and the same. This argument of yours also falls apart when taking into account that Peter didn't just magically start becoming jokey and quipy when he got the symbiote, he was already like that, but his sense of humour more twisted and mean spirited due to Peter's anger and resentment towards Harry and Eddie, and the Symbiote bolstered Peter's pre-existing anger and resentment.



I disagree, because Peter's fight with Harry in Harry's home is proof of that because at one point Peter laughs at Harry and calls him "a little Goblin junior" and asks him if he's going to cry about being insulted, which actually enrages Harry and Peter slams him to the wall again.

And even I agreed, for argument's sake, intent and action aren't one and the same.



I don't completely agree. His quips could also come from a place of wanting to add levity to serious situation, they could also come from a place from wanting to annoy his enemies so much that they make careless mistakes. Alternatively, it could also be an second nature i.e. instinct. In ASM #275, Peter says: "When I first became Spider-Man, I used patter to cover up my uneasiness! My fear! It was an additional mask to hide behind! Now it's second nature.." i.e. keep in mind that Peter says that at first, he did it to hide his fear, but as his career as Spider-Man went on, it became his "second nature" i.e. a habit that he does without any conscious thought. So he doesn't solely do it out of fear and stress.



I will agree that his qups weren't the best aspect of his character. The best aspect of Maguire's character was his guilt complex, his heroic convictions to atone for Uncle Ben's death, relationship with Uncle Ben and Aunt May.



Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment and civility even if you disagree.

Originally posted by Bentley
Yeah, even if they try to be quips they are not really witty or entertaining enough to be character defining. That trait of Spidey was missing

But at least he's less of a homophobic, fatshaming bastard I guess

I'll have to agree to disagree.