Why Consequences Make Spider-Man 2 the Best Spider-Man Movie

There is a scene in the first Spider-Man movie where Peter is given a choice: save MJ from certain death or save a bunch of children from certain death. The film frames this as a difficult decision for Peter to make. Writer Robert McKee has written that true character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure, and that the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character's essential nature. Will Peter make the selfish decision to save the girl he has a crush on, or a bunch of innocent children? That is such an interesting moral dilemma for someone to face.

Except the choice gets ruined, because it turns out Peter did not have to choose at all. He was able to save them both in the end. Scenes like this infuriate me, because Peter never had a true character revealing moment. You could argue that he chose to save MJ first, implying that if he truly had to pick one he would have picked her, but that still does not work, because Peter never had to face the consequences of that choice. He saved them both and walked away seen as a hero. Peter does not grow because of it.

A similar, if different, example shows up in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. During a Force pull tug of war, Rey loses control of her anger and supposedly kills Chewbacca with lightning. That should have been a huge moment for her, since losing control of her anger led to the death of one of her closest friends. But a few minutes later we find out Chewie is alive, and Rey learns this too, meaning she had no consequences to face for her recklessness.

Consequences are what actually drive character growth

Consequences are one of the most important themes in storytelling, because that is ultimately the core of character growth. Without characters facing consequences for their flaws, there is no way for them to grow. That is why Captain America: Civil War is a better and more memorable movie than Avengers: Age of Ultron, even though Age of Ultron is an Avengers movie. The events of Age of Ultron have very few consequences on the rest of the MCU, while Civil War has tons of them.

You could argue Age of Ultron does have consequences, since we are introduced to Wanda and the film's events lead to the creation of the Sokovia Accords. My response is that a character introduction is not really a consequence, and the Accords are the result of about four different movies, not just Age of Ultron. By the end of the film, Tony and Steve do not break up because of the Accords, but because of what Bucky did to Tony's parents. The events of Civil War have direct consequences felt across a good portion of the Phase 3 MCU movies. You could even argue Thanos was able to win in Infinity War because the Avengers were split up, a direct consequence of Civil War.

Spider-Man 2 makes Peter face injustice at every turn

So what does this have to do with Spider-Man 2? Spider-Man 2 is a movie where the core theme is about consequences. There are many great aspects of this movie that make it great, but the fact that Peter faces so many consequences is why it is the best. Injustice is probably the one trait that can spark the biggest feeling of empathy, or often sadness. If you look at some of the most powerful deaths in all of cinema, there is usually a strong element of injustice done. There is no unjust death in this movie, but Peter still faces a lot of injustices throughout the story.

Peter is constantly taking unfair losses in this film. He needs to deliver a pizza, but because he is Spider-Man, he takes time out of his day to do the right thing and save people in need of his help. He saves the day but is late delivering the pizza and ultimately gets fired because of it. That is unjust, because we know Peter was too busy doing the right thing but still had to face the consequences of not delivering the pizza on time. We see his grades slipping and his friendships and relationships struggling, both direct consequences of Peter being Spider-Man.

Throughout the first act, Peter faces so many consequences for being a good person. When a character faces that much injustice, it is human nature for the audience to empathize with him, because we know how unjust all these consequences are. But that is the reality of the real world: actions have consequences, and all of these are a direct result of him being Spider-Man.

Giving up the mask improves his life but costs the city

In the second act, Peter gives up being Spider-Man and his life starts to turn around for the better. His grades improve, his relationships improve, and he seems overall happier. But because he is no longer Spider-Man, crime is rising in New York. There is not a singular moment like in the first film where he has to choose one option or the other in an instant, but the concept is the same: be Spider-Man and keep New York safe but have an awful personal life, or do not be Spider-Man and have a great personal life but leave New York less safe.

One of my favorite moments in this movie is when, for a minute or so, you think maybe Peter can do both. There is a building on fire, and Peter thinks he can save the day as Peter Parker, not as Spider-Man. He goes in and manages to save a little girl, a heroic moment that makes us think he can keep New York safe without being Spider-Man. But because Peter cannot catch a break in this movie, we hear that someone else in the building died and Peter was not able to save them. We empathize with him here because we know he feels that had he been Spider-Man, he probably could have saved everyone in that building. It is another example of Peter facing consequences.

The train scene punishes Peter for doing the right thing

The last scene I want to talk about, and probably what most people agree is the best scene in the movie, is the train scene. I am not here to talk about why it is a great fight scene stylistically. I want to talk about how it is another example of Peter constantly getting let down in this movie. Peter is in the middle of fighting Doc Ock, and after some dirty tactics from Doc, he has to make another decision: continue fighting the main villain and let a bunch of innocent people die, or go save the people and let Doc Ock get away. This is not like the ultimatum from the first film. The obvious choice here is to save the people on the train.

Peter gives all of his strength to save the people on the train and passes out. All of the passengers see his face, but they give him his mask back because they are so grateful for what he has done. But remember, actions have consequences: because Peter gave up all his strength and energy to save the people on the train, he is now weak enough that Doc Ock can just walk in and knock him out easily. All these injustices and consequences that Peter faces in this movie make us empathize with him to an insane amount, and I think that is the core of why so many people love Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man.

Why this makes me more hopeful about consequences in other superhero stories

One of my biggest frustrations with a lot of these superhero movies is that I do not feel like the heroes face consequences for their actions. That is one thing I really liked about the ending of Eternals. The Eternals decide that sacrificing the life of a Celestial and saving the people of Earth is more important than letting the Celestial be born, but because the Celestial was not born, the Eternals have to face the consequences of that decision. We did not know at the time what those consequences would be, but that they would come.

That same idea is part of why I was hopeful about Spider-Man: No Way Home. Peter had to face the consequences of his recklessness from the events of Far From Home, since everyone now knew he was Spider-Man. It looked like he was going to try to get that reversed somehow with the help of Doctor Strange, and that was going to lead to classic Spider-Man villains returning to fight him. Peter did face those consequences when the villains returned and fought him.

What other superhero stories do you think handled consequences well, and which ones let their heroes off too easily?