Spider-Man is one of the most recognizable characters in comic books, if not the most. While there have been specific suits in the comics, such as the Iron Spider from the Civil War event, his main outfit has not changed much since the 1960s. The red-and-blue spandex makes for an iconic costume. Add to the fact that Spider-Man makes his own suits and web-fluid from scratch, and voila. That is the making of a ground-level superhero, a real ‘man of the people.’
However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) changed all of that. In Captain America: Civil War, video footage shows Spider-Man in what can be best described as themed pajamas, swinging his way through New York City. This presents a fairly realistic portrayal of what a real-life Spider-Man would do; how many teenagers know how to sew, anyways?
Iron Man is the character who gives Spider-Man his relatively comic-book-accurate suit. It fits like a glove, is reminiscent of the comics, but has some tech upgrades to boot. It is the tech upgrades that have caught the ire of some die-hard Marvel fans since 2016. Some argue that Spider-Man has become Iron Man 1.5, and is too reliant on tech. However, such qualms fall logically short, and miss the overall point of 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming: that just like for normal men, it is the guy who makes the suit, not the other way around.
Cinematically, Tom Holland’s Suit Makes More Sense Than Previous Iterations
All three 21st century iterations of Spider-Man franchises have had different costume issues. Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man had puffy webbing on his suit. Both Maguire and Andrew Garfield had lenses that resembled Oakley sunglasses, and the latter’s first suit was a great visual departure from the comics.
For all of the tech, Tom Holland’s suit physically resembles the iconic comic book costume. It even includes Spider-Man’s armpit webbing, which allows him to glide from great heights. Furthermore, it even features moving lenses to help Spider-Man emote despite having a face hidden by a mask. Spider-Man’s lenses emote in the comics as well, but if Peter Parker had simply created a suit made by sewing, these lenses would not make sense. The story requires some advanced tech precisely in order to be visually comic book faithful.
Not to mention, in the third decade of the 21st century, a teenager from Queens is more likely to be able to work with an advanced super-suit than he is likely to be able to sew a super-suit.
Even with Stark Tech, Spider-Man is the Purest Character in the MCU
Despite the fact that Spider-Man got a massive suit upgrade from one of the more flawed superheroes in the MCU, he is still the purest character in the franchise. Yes, even more so than Captain America, who is for all intents and purposes the villain of his own film in Captain America: Civil War.
The Spider-Man mantra “With great power comes great responsibility,” though never spoken verbatim, radiates through Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Even in the tech-heavy suit, audiences are privy to Spider-Man doing everything from taking down supervillains to helping elderly women find their way through Queens. Perhaps it is his youth, but Spider-Man is the best of what the MCU heroes have to offer in terms of a moral compass and pureness of heart.
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker Does Not Need the Stark Suit
Famously, in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Iron Man takes Spider-Man’s Stark suit from him after a mishap involving the Staten Island Ferry. That particular situation was too much for Spider-Man to handle, even with a tech-heavy suit. This leaves Spider-Man to take on the Shocker and the Vulture in what is essentially a fancy sweatsuit. He is able to emerge from rubble using sheer willpower and his enhanced strength, and eventually winds up saving the day at Coney Island. All in his ‘underoos.’
It is only after showing what he is capable of no matter the suit that Iron Man gives Spider-Man the Iron Spider suit, which proves a necessity for subsequent Avengers films.
The Suit’s Main Function: Set Expectations for Even More Advanced Future Suits
As Spider-Man: Homecoming unfolded, it turned out that Peter Parker could defeat the Vulture in his original Spider-Man sweatsuit. No advanced tech needed, no Stark gimmicks, no artificial intelligence to guide him.
So what was the purpose of the original Stark suit? To set audience expectations and, frankly, to ensure Spider-Man survives against Avengers-level threats. Spider-Man: Homecoming took the nickname “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” fairly literally, as the superhero barely left Queens in that film. At the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Iron Man presents Spider-Man with the famous Iron Spider suit. The webbed Avenger was space-bound in said suit the next time audiences saw him in Avengers: Infinity War, where the Iron Spider would save his life multiple times. It was also crucial in the battle for Earth in Avengers: Endgame.
The new suit(s) that Spider-Man will don in Spider-Man: No Way Home will be even more technologically superior for a storyline that warrants it. Peter Parker will be no less Spider-Man for it, he will simply be logically following the interwoven storyline that is the MCU.
