Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man Quips
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:
Peter Parker: Can't I? Well, you don't know the worst part... Before I even realized it, I fell into my old, familiar patterns -- and started making with the snappy patter! Can you imagine it? I was trading puns with a lunatic like Sin-Eater! 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... People bleeding in the street, and I was making jokes. My God, what have I become?Source ― The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) Issue #275.
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:
Biography: Peter Parker's parents died in a plane crash while he was still a child. When they said goodbye at the airport, his parents told him to be a good boy for his Aunt May and Uncle Ben Parker, who later raised him as their own son. Peter always thought of his Uncle Ben as his best friend. Not only did Ben Parker spend quality time with the boy, he had a great sense of humor and many hours of telling jokes and pulling gags on Peter who developed a real appreciation for quips and pranks. Peter studied hard in school and became an honor student. Although his teachers praised him, the other students had little use for a know it all like puny Parker. The girls thought him too quiet, and the boys considered him a wimp.Source ― The Marvel Encyclopedia (2006).
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):
Bonesaw: What are you doing up there?Spider-Man: Staying away from you. That's a cute outfit, did your husband give it to you?
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:
Dan Slott: One problem with Spidey's jokes over the years...A lot of them do NOT age well. Like all the fat-shaming jokes he's made to Kingpin and Doc Ock. Or the joke he makes to Bonesaw in the first SPIDER-MAN movie. That was not good. Almost feel like it should come with a disclaimer.
