While there are plenty of great superheroes to enjoy throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one that fans constantly find themselves gravitating toward is Tom Holland’s take on Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man. The wall-crawler joined the MCU back in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, making an immediate statement with his witty comments and exciting action, and thankfully for many, his origin story was mostly glossed over.

Tom Holland has become some people’s favorite Spider-Man, but for others, the character has been lacking something that the previous iterations both managed to have in their unique takes on the character. The latest Spider-Man may be unique, but that hasn’t always been a good thing, especially for those who want more solo Spider-Man stories. It’s time for the MCU’s Spider-Man to break the trend of always relying on the other heroes around him as he breaks out of his shell to become a new leader in the MCU.

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Tom Holland's Spider-Man Works With Other Marvel Heroes

It’s no secret that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has been much more of a team-oriented character than the hero tends to be on the big screen. Starting with Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man joins forces with his idol Tony Stark in order to combat Captain America’s forces, even if he doesn’t fully understand the situation. From there, the webhead would get his own standalone film in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but even then he was constantly in contact with Tony Stark and making use of his incredible tech. In his second film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, he worked in tandem with big names like Nick Fury and his eventual villain Mysterio. The world is already well aware of Spider-Man: No Way Home in which Spidey works with the other multiversal Spider-Men and Doctor Strange all throughout.

That’s without mentioning his appearances in the major team-up films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, where in both Spider-Man is in a key role as he works with countless MCU heroes. His adventures with the other heroes of the MCU have quickly taken Peter Parker from a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to a galaxy-traveling Spider-Man. All of this is to say that throughout Spider-Man’s stay in the MCU, he’s never been far from someone else who’s willing to hold his hand. Regardless of where Peter Parker turned, he always had a more experienced hero to rely on in some form, or at least he thought that was the case.

At every turn, Peter Parker has been aided and kept stagnant as a starry-eyed rookie thanks to the useful meddling of others in his adventures. That’s not a critique either as the youthful take on the character makes that direction come across perfectly, but the outcry for a more grown-up and competent Spider-Man has been growing louder and louder as the years go by. Moving forward, it’s possible that Spider-Man will end up working with even more heroes simply because the fans would love to see it, but that doesn’t mean it is the best move possible.

Spider-Man 4 Should See Peter Working Alone

There are countless ways that a new line of Spider-Man movies could go, but many will agree that Spider-Man 4 needs to make a shift and let Peter Parker be his own hero. There are a lot of things that fans love about Spider-Man, but two major things have been his loner status despite getting along with other heroes and his lack of resources to pull from. It’s almost a bit twisted, but fans seem to love to see Peter Parker struggle whether he’s leading his civilian life or swinging across the city as a friendly neighborhood hero. Luckily, the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home seem to have set up this very thing, though it could be changed in a hurry depending on the studio’s plans for the character.

There’s no forgetting the monumental shift in the MCUthat came at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home in which Peter convinces Doctor Strange to make their universe forget who Peter Parker is. By Strange’s own admission through the use of the word “we,” it’s made clear that even he should have no idea who Peter Parker is the next time he comes into contact with Spider-Man. This is the perfect set-up to give Peter his own solo adventures away from the rest of the MCU in Spider-Man 4, allowing him to fully develop into a competent hero and young man as he takes responsibility for each and every action he takes. The reset may feel a bit too much of the same, as it’s likely Peter will meet some friends at college that fill the roles of Ned and MJ, but everyone can agree he does need some kind of supporting cast.

As long as his identity remains a secret from the new cast Peter surrounds himself with in Spider-Man 4, there are tons of creative storytelling opportunities for the team behind the MCU. Fans want to see Spider-Man struggling with his foes, without anyone to rely on but his own brilliance and creativity. The MCU doesn’t need to go as far as to give Peter six arms in some kind of major mistake, but allowing him to unintentionally cause his own problems will remind everyone of that classic and infamous Parker Luck. It’s all of this hardship that would allow Peter to grow and start feeling like a veteran of the MCU instead of a hero as fresh as someone like Kamala Khan.

If Peter is forced to stand on his own, villains would additionally pose a much greater threat. There’s no turning to the Avengers if a villain targets someone in his personal life without the risk of revealing his identity again. This puts the conflicts and resolution of those conflicts squarely in Peter’s hands, and while we do get tastes of that in the conclusions to his previous films, Spider-Man 4 needs him to go it alone much like Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield had before him. With a more independent Spider-Man in Spider-Man 4, it’s possible that the best is yet to come for everyone’s favorite web-slinger.

Spider-Man is available to stream on Disney+

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