Cinepals React to HISHE's Spider-Man Ending: The Bridge Scene Fix Is 'Such an Obvious Thing'

Jaby Koay and Achara Kirk sat down to react to How It Should Have Ended's parody cut of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, and their verdict is that HISHE nailed a genuine plot hole in the movie's climactic bridge scene, even if the reaction also wandered into some outdated humor and a few nitpicks about pumpkin bombs.

For anyone who grew up on the Tobey Maguire trilogy, this reaction is a chance to revisit the bridge fight with fresh eyes, since Jaby and Achara zero in on exactly why Spider-Man saving both Mary Jane and the cable car full of kids has always felt a little too easy.

The HISHE Fix for the Green Goblin Bridge Scene Makes Too Much Sense

The biggest praise in the reaction goes to HISHE's suggestion that Spider-Man could have simply used his webbing to pin Green Goblin down the moment he had the chance, rather than letting the villain monologue his way into another attack. The point made was that "that is such an obvious thing because he's got the spider senses and all that," and that stopping Goblin right there "would have been the optimal move in that moment to be efficient." HISHE even calls out the moment directly in the parody, having Goblin ask why Spider-Man doesn't just stop him then and there, right before the glider ends up killing Goblin instead.

Why Saving Both Mary Jane and the Kids Felt Like a Cop-Out

Jaby and Achara also dig into the classic complaint that Spider-Man never really has to choose between saving Mary Jane or the trolley full of children, unlike the famous Harvey Dent and Rachel dilemma in The Dark Knight, where Batman actually loses someone. They argue that letting Spider-Man save everyone lets the story off the hook emotionally, with one of them noting, "it's almost like the writer in a way sort of copped out by not having to kill either one of them." They even joke about how differently the trilogy would have felt had Mary Jane not survived, though they acknowledge audiences at the time would likely have been furious.

Other Observations: Dated Jokes, Pumpkin Bombs, and Aunt May's Machine Guns

Along the way, the reaction flags one of Bully Maguire's recurring jokes as something that has aged badly, with the admission that "that joke is, that's not cool anymore, you can't say that." They also single out the animated bit with Aunt May panicking over machine guns as one of the funniest small touches in the parody, and they debate Green Goblin's choice of weapons, comparing him to the Joker in that he seems to be toying with Spider-Man rather than trying to kill him outright, right up until the glider attack that backfires and kills Goblin himself. As one of them sums it up, Goblin "wasn't thinking straight, which doesn't really make sense because he's a pretty smart guy."

Do you think Sam Raimi's Spider-Man should have actually killed off Mary Jane to raise the stakes, or would that have ruined the trilogy?