MCU Spider-Man Trilogy Is Repeating Marvel’s Early Iron Man Mistakes
The MCU's Spider-Man trilogy is set to come to a close with Spider-Man 3, currently scheduled for late-2021 release, and in doing so it risks repeating the mistakes Marvel made with the Iron Man trilogy. Towards the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, there comes a moment when Happy Hogan, clearly struck by his similarities to Iron Man, smiles as Peter Parker tinkers with his many gadgets, designing his own Spider suit. Like Happy, many fans have interpreted this moment as confirmation that Spider-Man will function as some sort of Iron Man replacement in the MCU after the character's death in Avengers: Endgame. However, there is a fear that everyone's favorite radioactive web head may have also inherited some mistakes reminiscent his predecessor's early days in the franchise.
While Tony Stark is widely considered one of the most influential characters in the MCU, criticism exists regarding the original Iron Man trilogy and its prematurely ended plot elements. His solo story, largely revolving around the reformation of an entitled, wealthy war profiteer, was more-or-less abandoned as the universe continued to expand and Tony's legacy became increasingly tied to the Avengers. In Iron Man 3, Tony's arc reactor, which had previously been so linked to his story and survival, is discarded hurriedly. Formative MCU villains such as Obadiah Stane and Whiplash, while not as complex or well-developed as later incarnations, are abandoned and never re-explored. The Tony-Pepper relationship is never again given the same amount of space nor material. In other words, while Tony Stark was originally presented as a one-man-band, with each recent installment he has become a member of a larger ensemble, albeit as a crucial player.
The re-positioning of Tony was in no way indicative of a failing franchise, but instead speaks to Iron Man being more efficiently repurposed within the framework of the MCU at the expense of his early story - a fate that may await Spider-Man based on his own solo films. And, of course, factors such as the existing Marvel-Sony deal surrounding the use of Spider-Man may prove further obstacles to Spider-Man's longevity within the Disney-produced superhero franchise.
The epilogue to the Infinity Saga and Phase 3, Spider-Man: Far From Home also functions as a lead-in to the MCU's Phase 4 and certainly changed the status quo for both Peter Parker and the larger franchise. The plot of the 2019 movie revolved around Peter's school trip to Europe with his classmates and defeating world-ending threats by teaming up with Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio. But when Mysterio is revealed to be a former Stark employee on a quest for revenge and power, Peter must go toe to toe with him in order to end his fear-manipulation, misinformation, and chaos. After Beck's apparent death (accidentally by his own hands), a video is released by the antagonist, blaming the hero for both his demise and the colossal destruction, and revealing Spider-Man's secret identity to the world. For the first time in his MCU history, it looks as though Spider-Man, formerly kept safe by Iron Man's massive influence and protective aura, is truly on his own.
But just what exactly is in the works at Marvel Studios is hard to predict, particularly with the legal complications surrounding the character, who is owned by Sony and, for all intents and purposes, is being loaned to Marvel for his in-universe appearances. While agreements can change, it was reported when Spider-Man re-joined Marvel after his brief exit that the new deal involved one solo movie and an appearance in one other MCU film, meaning his time is almost at an end. To complicate the situation further, rumors of Holland's Peter Parker making his way into the Venom series (created and distributed solely by Sony) may indicate that this iteration of the character will also exist outside of Marvel Studio's comfortable sand-box. If Sony decides to end its collaboration with Marvel again, it is possible that more Spidey-centric stories can be told outside the larger MCU umbrella, allowing for the exploration of a more street-level hero and his extensive rogue's gallery.
Both Iron Man and Spider-Man had direct solo outings after making appearances in big crossover movies. In Iron Man 3, the audience sees a Tony Stark traumatized by the events and devastation of The Avengers. Similarly, during Spider-Man: Far From Home (which premiered mere months after Avengers: Endgame), Peter Parker was grieving the loss accrued after Iron Man's sacrificial death, as well as the trauma that comes with being "blipped" out of existence for a few years. In other words, both traumas endured by the characters are essentially left over from previous MCU team-up movies. And yet, both traumas continue to inform the future character development within the characters' solo films.
As Iron Man became more entrenched as part of the Avengers' narrative, Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey's screen times were reduced. For Spider-Man, the time he spends preoccupied with the loss of his mentor may have contributed to the dropping of plot threads from Spider-Man: Homecoming when crafting the story for Far From Home (i.e. the Vulture and Liz are never mentioned, despite it being a sequel). With so many boxes to tick within the MCU infrastructure, there simply isn't space to explore Peter's more personal story, and that's a problem made worse by the impending, sudden end of his trilogy, which will have happened within just a few short years.
For Peter, some of those checked boxes also apply to the primary antagonists of his solo films, as both villains (the Vulture and Mysterio) are inspired after being wronged by Tony Stark. Similarly, the villains who seem to haunt Tony the most throughout multiple films in the series - arguably, Ultron and Thanos - are absent from the Iron Man movies. In other words, just as later depictions of Tony's character were rooted in his experiences from the series' larger Avengers story, Peter's entire character within the MCU has been influenced heavily by his interactions with Iron Man, and so too is Marvel's approach following those early mistakes. None of this is to say the MCU's Iron Man trilogy was bad, but rather that it was over too quickly, meaning key elements fell by the wayside, and there's the risk of similar happening with Spider-Man.
While it may be best for Peter's story that Tony Stark has been removed from the MCU (even if only temporarily), landing that particular ship won't be easy, especially since so much of it has been interwoven with the legacy of Iron Man. Without the strong ties to his mentor, there is a possibility that the MCU will begin seeing adaptations of familiar plot elements in line with the character's comic book history, including Peter Parker's dealings with poverty and loss, his photography skills, and Spider-Man's unpopularity with J. Jonah Jameson (who, played again by J.K. Simmons, made a surprise appearance in Spider-Man: Far From Home's end-credits scene). Kevin Feige, Jon Watts, and their fellow MCU creators could be setting the stage for a Peter Parker on the run, vulnerable, and much more separate from Stark's tech, resources, and the larger universe; a Peter Parker much more in line with other versions.
But if he only has one more solo Spider-Man film and one crossover film remaining, Spidey fans might need to brace themselves. To pivot too quickly from what has been (so far) a trilogy focused tightly on the taking of the torch from the previous generation may feel discordant and rushed, ultimately undercutting both Homecoming and Far From Home. However, if Tom Holland's feature in the aforementioned crossover film strongly continues his story (similarly to how Tony's co-starring role in Captain America: Civil War focused on the character's guilt from past actions), that might utilize the character most effectively before his big send-off, unlike his more supporting appearances in Infinity War and Endgame.
Additionally, if the creators over at Marvel Studios end up leaning into the MCU's past and the more problematic ideas surrounding their beloved characters (and, goodness knows, Tony is a prime example), they may be able to tell a more prescient tale of a young person needing to find the strength to clean up the mess left by a previous generation's mistakes and inaction. And then, should the character exist in Sony's more isolated universe, fans could be slowly introduced to familiar characters and storylines retroactively.
The addition of Spider-Man into the MCU was a wonderful surprise back in 2016 when he first appeared Captain America: Civil War. But his presence in the MCU came at a price: Peter Parker's story within it must be connected to that larger franchise. The resulting films have introduced audiences across the world to Tom Holland's Spider-Man, who managed to portray a character capable of humor, empathy, and great strength from the jump. No stranger to adapting these characters heavily for the screen, Kevin Feige and his team necessarily tweaked the plot mechanics surrounding the character while keeping the heart of the character similar to his comic book counterpart. And, just like Tony Stark before him, Spider-Man's endgame within the MCU should prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he has heart.