One of the things that is great about Spider-Man (2002) is Peter Parker's character arc. Part of that character arc is learning about power and responsibility like in the comic books (Amazing Fantasy #15 and Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #1-5), and the other part of it is his progression into adulthood. I will not talk about the former because it's much more blatantly obvious to anyone who watches the movie, and it happens in the comic books too, so there's no need for me to talk about it because it's nothing unique. What I will talk about is Peter's progression into adulthood, because it's unique to the Raimiverse, and it should be.
One of the things that Spider-Man (2002) does well is that it doesn't depict Peter Parker as a gary stu. He isn’t depicted as a perfect person, but he isn't depicted as a bad person either. Peter is a virtuous person who is old fashioned for his time and age (which is likely because he was raised by his old fashioned Aunt and Uncle), but he isn't exempt from human flaws and weaknesses.
Tobey Maguire plays a Peter who’s in 12 grade, so his version of Peter is approximately 18 years old. He's in the beginning stages of adulthood, but he doesn't quite have the mindset of an adult, which is conveyed by his behaviour after he gets his powers. He has a fight with his high school bully, Flash Thompson, and defeats him due to his new-found powers. But he doesn't just defeat Flash, he absolutely humiliates him in front of a crowd of students, and he's even satisfied about it, which is understandable because Flash bullied Peter, and has probably been terrorizing him for a long time off screen. But fighting fire with fire isn't right, and he shouldn't indulge in the act of humiliating someone. Peter soon realizes this when Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson looks at him with shock, so Peter subsequently runs out of school to get away from the attention.
After Peter runs out of school to experiment with his powers, Peter is amazed by finding out that he can wall crawl and shoot webs from his wrists and whatnot. But when the movie then transitions to the very next scene, Peter arrives home very late at night, which is in stark contrast to the previous scene taking place during day time. This is implying that Peter has been spending so much time fooling around with his powers that he comes home later than he should do, and what reinforces this is that when Peter does come home, Uncle Ben and Aunt May aren't home and the entire kitchen has already been painted. Keep in mind that earlier in the movie, Peter promises his Uncle that he would help him paint the kitchen, which makes Peter come across as irresponsible because he didn't help his Uncle paint the kitchen despite previously saying that he would. But the scene that really conveys Peter's flaws and imperfections is his last conversation with Uncle Ben:
This is one of the best scenes in the entire movie, and it isn't just because it has the iconic "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility" quote. Tobey Maguire and Cliff Roberton perform well, and it's also a character driven scene that prompts Peter's personal growth. The filmmakers do a masterful job at conveying Peter's flaws and imperfections because Uncle Ben is trying to sit down and have a heart to heart conversation with Peter because of his recent unusual behaviour. Peter, in response, is unwilling to cooperate. He doesn't want to have this conversation at this time because he's so focused on winning money for his own personal gain. Ben tells Peter that they need to talk right now because they haven't talked for so long that Ben and May don't think they know who Peter is anymore. Ben brings up how Peter has recently been behaving irresponsibly in that he has neglected his chores, done bizarre experiments in his rooms and "start fights" in school. Peter, in response, gets defensive and angry, telling Ben that he never started that fight with Flash Thompson. Ben makes a remark about the humiliating fashion Peter ended that fight, Peter asks "What I was supposed to do? Run away?" because he is sick and tired of being pushed around by people. Ben says no, but struggles to tell Peter what he should have done in that fight and digresses into a lecture, saying "Pete, look, you're changing, I know, I went through exactly the same thing when I was at your age." Peter shrugs it off, saying "No, not exactly..." because Ben never got superpowers at any point in his life. Ben gives Peter a lecture about power and responsibility, emphasises to Peter that he is in the stage of his life when a man becomes the man he'll be for the rest of his life, and advises him to be careful who he changes into, and says the iconic "with Great Power, comes Great Responsibility."
Peter in response, completely misses the point. He doesn't understand what Ben is trying to tell him because he has this misguided notion that Ben is afraid that Peter will become a criminal. Peter aggressively tells Ben to back off because he wants to figure things out on his own, and begs Ben to stop lecturing. Ben slowly backs off and apologises, saying that he doesn't mean to lecture or preach, and that he knows he's not Peter's father, but before Ben can finish speaking, Peter snaps at Ben, demanding Ben to stop pretending to be his father. There is a brief moment of silence, and Uncle Ben says he'll pick Peter up later.
Peter is a jerk in this scene. The last thing he says to Ben is the one of the most cruel and hurtful things that any father figure could ever hear. However, I think this is great in the context of the movie, not just because it prompts Peter's character arc, it also illustrates Peter imperfections. He's not depicted as a goody two shoes that never does anything wrong. He has a chip on his shoulder. He has feelings of anger and frustration that he exudes to his Uncle, and eventually snaps in an attempt to get his Uncle to back off, but takes it too far. And to be fair, Peter does regret snapping at Ben, which is conspicuously conveyed by Tobey Maguire's facial expressions and body language in the scene itself. This is reinforced later on by this scene:
Peter graduates from high school and sits in his room to think about what he said to Uncle Ben in the car, and cries because he has just had his high school graduation, a hugely significant event that Uncle Ben would have definitely attended, but couldn't because he's dead, all because Peter allowed a mugger to get away from the law, despite having all the power to stop that mugger. And what makes this worse is their conversation in the car; Peter can't help but think about the last thing he said to Ben in the car, Ben was trying to tell Peter something important and Peter "threw it in his face" which is more than enough proof for his guilt and regret for snapping at Ben in the car.
The rest of my analysis will be concluded in part 2.
When the Green Goblin reveals to Peter Parker that he's Norman Osborn, Norman tries to trick Peter into getting himself killed by begging for forgiveness and protection from the Goblin persona, whilst secretly attempting to direct his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind. Norman asserts that he was like a father to Peter, and begs Peter to be a son to him, but Peter rejects this, saying that he had a father — his late Uncle, Ben Parker, thereby accepting Ben as his father.
That's part of Peter's character arc in this movie. From the start of Peter's character arc, he subconsciously doesn't consider Ben as his father, but after his own inaction causes his Uncle's death and subsequently experiencing the pain and frustrations of his father figure being gone, Peter eventually accepts Uncle Ben as his father. But Peter doesn't just accept Uncle Ben as his father, he also becomes more level headed and collected, which is in stark contrast to the brash, bitter and irresponsible person he was prior to his Uncle's death. The death of Uncle Ben affects Peter badly, but he grows from it. Yes, Peter's character arc also consists of something else i.e. learning the lesson of Power and Responsibility, but I decided not to talk about it because everyone knows about it. It's been told in the comic books and cartoons, so it's nothing unique to the Raimiverse. The part of Peter's character arc I talked about was unique to the Raimiverse, and there's nothing wrong about that. It's good character development. This movie does a nice job at conveying Peter as an flawed human being with actual depth, rather than just a boring gary stu, but it doesn't depict him as flawed to the point that he is a bad person. Peter Parker was never meant to be perfect. Spider-Man's co-creator, Stan Lee, once said: "I like Spider-Man because he's become the most famous. He's the one who's most like me -- nothing ever turns out 100 percent OK; he's got a lot of problems, and he does things wrong, and I can relate to that'' in an interview with Chicago Tribute when being asked about who his favourite Marvel characters are.
Well, that concludes my analysis. Yes, I know it's long, but it was worth writing and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I hope it at least one person has a better understanding of Raimiverse Peter as a protagonist in his first movie. Good day.
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Last edited by YousufKhan1212 on Nov 4th, 2020 at 11:38 AM
@K-Dog: I used to wonder the same thing as a kid, but I don't think he did. Uncle Ben was just trying to give Peter a lecture to prevent him from a bad person in the future.
@Superdad76: Thanks! What possibilities do you mean?
All the activity was well-done and there were enduring ramifications for Peter when the story was over like any great Spider-Man story. In Homecoming Peter endeavors to resemble the more impressive saints, to be an Avenger, and to accomplish something significant. After a brush with death by means of the Vulture, he chooses to remain a benevolent neighborhood Spider-Man.