- “My Uncle Ben was killed. It was my fault. [...] The night Ben died, I hunted down the man who I thought did it. I wanted him dead. I got what I wanted. It didn't make it better. It took me a long time to... learn to get through that darkness.”
- ―Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man to Spider-Man[src]
The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, simply known as Spider-Man and also called Peter-Two, is an alternate version of Peter Parker from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy that appears in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
As result of Doctor Strange's spell, this Peter is transported to another universe along with another alternate version of himself. There, they help their younger counterpart to deal with the pain of losing his aunt. Recalling his own feelings of rage and actions after the death of his uncle, Peter tries to stop his younger self from going down the path of revenge like he did, all the while the three Spider-Men fight together to cure the villains who were displaced from their universes because of Strange's spell.
Background[]
In his world, Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider during a field trip to Osborn Indistries with his best friend Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson. The bite caused Parker to feel unwell and pass out all evening. He woke up the next day with an enhanced physique and perfect vision. Parker soon discovered he could climb walls and swing across places. Following the murder of his uncle Ben Parker, Peter used his powers to fight any oncoming threats in New York, becoming famously known as Spider-Man. Throughout his early years as Spider-Man, Parker fought villains known as Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and Sandman, as well as his friend Harry whom became known as the New Goblin after learning of his father's alter-ego, who also died in Parker's arms. Peter also formed a complicated relationship with Mary Jane, which they managed to sort out and have a steady relationship in the years following their reconciliation.
Powers and abilities[]
- Spider Physiology: This Spider-Man was bitten by a genetically engineered spider, causing the arachnid's genetic makeup to fuse with his DNA. As a result, he possesses abilities of a spider up-to-scale with the physiology of a Human.
- Wallcrawling: Unlike the other two Peter Parkers, this Spider-Man has sharp, "barbed" like material on his hands, allowing him to stick to any surface, no matter how rough or slippery. The barbs on his hands combined with his superhuman spider strength enabled Peter to climb walls, ceilings, and other surfaces.
- Organic Webbing: Unlike his two other counterparts, Peter has organic webs rather than mechanical web-shooters, which he can shoot from the glands inside his forearms. The process is effortless for him, as he states it is like breathing. However, he can momentarily lose this ability if he becomes overly stressed.
Appearance[]
Spider-Man: No Way Home[]
After Peter Parker accidentally botched Doctor Strange's spell, people who know that Peter is Spider-Man were transported from other universes into his reality. Along with them, two other alternate Spider-Man's were also transported by the spell, including the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man walks through the portal.
One day after being brought into another universe, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man wanders through New York when a magic portal, which was opened by Ned Leeds, appears in front of him. Going through the portal, he enters Ned's house. As he was opening portals to look for this universe's Peter, Ned is disappointed and thinks that this newcomer is just a "random guy" because of the casual clothes the alternate Peter is dressing. Ned is accompanied by Michelle Jones, the girlfriend of this universe's Spider-Man. She asks if he is Peter Parker and the alternate confirms that he is. Peter greets Ned's grandmother and says that he has seen Ned and MJ before, recognizing that the two of them are friends with this universe's Spider-Man. However, he then notices the presence of another alternate Peter who arrived earlier, the Amazing Spider-Man, and doesn't recognize him. The two Spider-Men study each other and then shoot webs at the other's direction, confirming their identities.
Realizing that this older Peter is also Spider-Man, Ned wonders why he didn't say it. Peter replies that his superhero identity is a secret, so he does not go around announcing it. This response surprises the group because the Amazing Spider-Man had said the exact same thing earlier when Ned and MJ asked him to show proof of his superhero identity. He explains that since he was transported to this universe, he has been trying to find MJ and Ned's Peter, because he feels that he needs him. The other alternate also has the same feeling. MJ tells them that her Peter does need help, neither she nor Ned know where he is. The older thinks that their Peter must be somewhere meaningful to him. The other alternate agrees that he probably is in a place where he goes to get away from everything. The older Peter says that for him this place was the the top of the Chrysler Building, but the other alternate reveals that he would go to the Empire State Building because of the better view. MJ tells them that she knows where this place would be for her Peter.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man tells his younger self about the words his uncle said at the day he died.
MJ deduces correctly where her Peter is. She and Ned find their Peter at the roof of their high school and the two alternates go with them. The younger Peter mourns the recent death of his Aunt May at the hands of the Green Goblin. The two alternates appear before the him, telling that they feel bad for his loss. But the younger Peter doesn't think his other selves know what he is going through. He had tried to cure the villains that came to this universe after learning that their fate is to die at the alternate Spider-Men's hands. But because the attempt resulted in his aunt's demise, he blames himself for the loss and thinks that she died for nothing. He now just wants to use the magic box, which is containing Strange's spell, to send the villains and his other selves home. Before the younger can use the box, his counterparts share with him their own experiences involving the loss of loves ones in their lives. While the Amazing Spider-Man tearfully tells of his failure to save his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man talks about the night his Uncle Ben died. He reveals that his uncle also died as a result of his actions and he hunted the man he thought was the killer. He desired to avenge his uncle, but when he got what he wanted, it didn't make him feel any better. It took a long time for him to learn how to deal with the darkness within himself. The younger Peter admits to his alternate versions that he wants to avenge his aunt too and reveals what she said moments before dying, that with a great power comes a great responsibility. However, the two alternate Peters already know these words, because Uncle Ben told them the same the day he died. The oldest Peter doesn't think that the younger's aunt died for nothing.
Having being convinced to try to help the villains again instead of simply sending them back to their doom, the younger Peter and his two alternate selves go to work on the cures in the laboratory of the high school. While the Amazing Spider-Man says he will prepare the cure for the Lizard, because he already did it once in his universe, the oldest Spider-Man offers to make an antiserum for Dr. Osborn. He reveals that he has been thinking about making a cure for him a for a long time, but then notices the reluctance of the younger upon hearing the Green Goblin's name. The older assures that they will cure all the villains, because that is what Spider-Man does. Despite his reluctance, the youngest Peter agrees.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man talks with Ned.
While they work on the cures, Ned approaches the older Peter and asks if he has a best friend, wanting to know about his counterpart in the alternate universe. Peter tells him that he did have a best friend, referring to Harry Osborn. However, to Ned's surprise, the older Peter reveals that his best friend tragically died in his arms, after trying to kill him. This revelation leaves Ned speechless and he moves away looking disturbed. Later, the older Peter notices the other alternate observing the youngest Peter interacting with MJ and asks about his love life. The Amazing Spider-Man replies that he is currently not in a romantic relationship and has no time for a normal life. In turn, the older reveals he has a complicated relationship with "his MJ", Mary Jane Watson, but the two of them eventually made it work. As they work, Ned suddenly calls out to his Peter, but the alternates also reply. Because of the confusion, the trio explains that all of them have the same name and surname.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man shocks the others by revealing he can make organic webs.
After finishing the cures, they review the plan. They will lure the villains somewhere and try to cure them during the battle, then send everyone home using the magic box. Realizing that the older Peter is still wearing his casual clothes, the other alternate asks if he really is going to fight dressed like a "cool youth pastor" or if he has a suit. Hearing this, the oldest Peter reveals that he is wearing his suit underneath his casual clothes. The oldest sees Ned giving web cartouches to his Peter and asks what it is for. When his youngest counterpart explains that it is web fluid for his web-shooters, he shoots a web, revealing that he doesn't need web-shooters. Everyone is shocked by this and the older is surprised that his counterparts cannot produce organic webs. The other alternate wonders how this is even possible.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, now wearing his suit, talks to his counterparts while waiting for the villains.
The trio of Spider-Men choose the Statue of Liberty as the location of the battle. There, they use their spider-webs to set the cures around the place and this universe's Peter broadcasts their location to the reporter J. Jonah Jameson. As they wait for the villains to arrive, they talk and share past stories. The Amazing Spider-Man talks about Electro, commenting that he was the sweetest guy before falling into a pool of electric eels. Feeling that his back is stiff, the older bends himself. He reveals that he has back issues from swinging so much. The other alternate tells him that he has a similar problem and offers him some relief by cracking his back. Still curious, the Amazing Spider-Man asks about the older's organic webs, making the older Peter think that he is teasing him. But the youngest Peter explains that he can relate to the questions because he cannot produce them either. The older reveals that he can naturally make the webs and it comes out only from his wrists. The other alternate says that he has to make his web in the lab and it is always running out, so he asks if the older ever suffered a "web block". The older says that during a time he was going through an existential crisis, it did cause him to have a "web block".
This universe's Peter asks his alternates about the craziest villains that they confronted in the past. The oldest replies that the younger already met some of them and says that he once fought an alien made of black goo, Venom. The youngest Spider-Man tells his counterparts that he battled a purple alien, Thanos, on Earth and in space. This surprises the other two Peters. The oldest is impressed that his younger version fought an enemy in space. The other alternate feels excluded because he never battled an alien. He thinks he is "lame" compared to the other two Spider-Men and mentions fighting a Russian guy in a rhinoceros machine, Rhino. The oldest Peter realizes that the other alternate lacks self-confidence and says that he needs more self-talk, assuring that he is not lame, he is "amazing". The other Peter accepts the compliment, thanking the older one as he needed the reassurance coming from his other self.
Their conversation ends as the villains arrive. While this universe's Spider-Man goes get the cures, the two alternates distract the villains. The oldest Spider-Man confronts the Lizard and asks for his cure. However, their teamwork is a complete disaster. The other alternate also asks for Electro's cure at the same time that the oldest does, but the youngest is not able to give them the cures because he is captured by Sandman. In an attempt to free himself from Sandman's hold, the youngest shoots a web that ends up being cut by the swing of the Amazing Spider-Man. Having lost his own web after bumping into the younger's, the Amazing Spider-Man shoots a web that ends up sticking to the Spider-Man's face in the middle of his fight against the Lizard.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the other Spider-Men think about a new plan to defeat the villains.
Realizing how badly their plan is going, the trio regroups to think of a better strategy. The Amazing Spider-Man says that he kept calling out to "Peter-Two", referring to the oldest, who didn't respond. But the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man thought that "Peter-Two" was the other alternate instead of himself. The youngest recognizes that they clearly are terrible at teamwork. The two alternates admit that they don't really know to work as a team, but the youngest tells them that he was already part of the Avengers. His two alternates become proud of him, but they also confused as they don't know what is the Avengers. The oldest wonders how working with the Avengers helps in their current situation. The younger realizes that there is no Avengers in their alternate universes and decides not to explain this at the moment. He tells the other two Spider-Men that they should trust their "tingle" and coordinate their attacks. The alternates think that they should choose one villain to fight at a time. They decide to call this universe's Spider-Man as "Peter-One", the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as "Peter-Two" and the Amazing Spider-Man as "Peter-Three". When the trio is about to return to the fight, Peter-Three tells his other selves that he loves them.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with the other two Spider-Men.
The three Spider-Men swing back to the battle together. They decide that Sandman will be their first target. Peter-Two tries to lead the villain inside the statue while Peter-Three goes to get the cure and they decide to meet at the top. While being chased by Sandman, Peter-Two tries to tell the villain that they are actually attempting to help him. Ignored, the oldest Spider-Man crawls inside the statue, leading the villain to the top. Upon reaching the top, Peter-Two is quickly swamped by the villain's sand. He calls out to the other Spider-Men asking for Sandman's cure, but the other two are still not on the top yet. Eventually, Peter-Three manages to get the cure and throws it to Peter-One, who throws it to Peter-Two. Completely covered by sand, Peter-Two is able to catch the device and click on it to cure Sandman. Once the villain is cured and the sand is gone, revealing Flint Marko, Peter-Two assures that they will get him home soon.
While confronting Electro, Peter-Two is grabbed by Dr. Octavius' tentacle.
With Sandman cured, they decide that Electro is next. To do it, they will need to remove the his Arc Reactor, which is making him extremely powerful. The trio tries to attack Electro, but they fail. Peter-Three is caught by the villain and hold in the air while being electrocuted, causing him to drop the item to remove the Arc Reactor. Peter-Two gets the item that his counterpart dropped and moves to help him, but they are both grabbed by Dr. Octavius' tentacles. Peter-Two thinks that Octavius came to help Electro, not knowing that Doctor Octopus actually was already cured by Peter-One. Instead of adding the villain, Octavius saves the two Spider-Men and uses the item to cure Electro. Right after this, Peter-One also manages to cure the Lizard.
Peter-Two reunites with Dr. Octavius.
Peter-Two approaches and unmasks to greet Dr. Octavius, who becomes happy to see his Peter so grown up. Peter-Two is also glad to see Octavius again. When Octavius asks how he is doing, Peter says that he has been trying to do better, just as he said during a conversation with Octavius years ago. Peter-Two then sees a magic portal appearing nearby. Doctor Strange comes through it and carries the magic box. As Strange becomes surprised to see three Peter Parkers, Peter-One introduces the two alternate Spider-Men to the wizard. Peter-One argues with Strange, making Peter-Two confused when Strange says that he was at the Grand Canyon. While they talk, Peter-Two hears the Green Goblin approaching. The villain gets the magic box and puts a bomb inside of it. With Octavius' help, Strange is able to retrieve the box but doesn't notice the bomb, so it explodes. The explosion destroys the box, releasing the spell and opening a dimensional rift in the Multiverse. It also causes the scaffolding of the Statue of Liberty to collapse on itself. During this destruction, Peter-Two saves the cured Lizard, Dr. Connors, from falling to his death.
Peter-Two and Peter-Three see the younger Spider-Man fighting the Goblin and decide to intervene.
Shortly after, Peter-Two and Peter-Three spot the youngest Peter confronting the Goblin. Because the villain is Aunt May's killer, Peter-One, now consumed by far more rage, violence, and aggressiveness than before, fights his enemy with the desire to avenge his aunt. Watching this battle, Peter-Two and Peter-Three become concerned for the younger and decide to intervene. Not wishing his younger self to go down the path of revenge, Peter-Two stops him from killing the Green Goblin with his glider.
Peter-Two stops his younger self from killing the Goblin.
Peter-Two gets in between Peter and the Goblin and holds the glider when the younger is about to impale the villain with it. However, the Goblin takes this chance to stab Peter-Two from behind. Meanwhile, Peter-Three has just returned after getting the Goblin's cure and witnesses the moment his older self is stabbed. Despite the shock, Peter-Three throws the youngest the cure, which the youngest uses to cure the Goblin, restoring him back to his normal self. With this, the last villain is cured and the three Spider-Men accomplished their goal. Peter-Three runs towards Peter-Two, who had fallen to the ground wounded, but the older reassures the other alternate that he is fine, as it isn't the first time that he has been stabbed.
- “Peter, you know. It's what we do.”
- ―Peter Parker to his youngest counterpart.
Peter-One hugs Peter-Two and Peter-Three.
While lying on the ground, Peter-Two looks up and finally notices the dimensional rift that opened in the Multiverse. He wonders if he is dying, because he can see people in the sky on the other side of the rift. Peter-Three assures him that he isn't imagining things, this is really happening. As Peter-One decides to leave his two alternates to talk with Doctor Strange and find a way to fix the rift, Peter-Three stays to tend the injured Peter-Two. Peter-One returns to say goodbye to his other selves, informing that they are about to be sent home. He thanks his alternates and stutters while nervously trying to say more to express his gratitude, but the other two interrupt him. As they are the same person, the alternates already know. Peter-Two reminds him that this is what Spider-Man does. The trio shares an embrace and then the younger Spider-Man leaves.
When they are about to be sent back home, the Amazing Spider-Man gazes at the older and makes a peace sign. The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man returns the gesture just before they both disappear, returning to their respective universes along with the cured villains.
Trivia[]
- This version was the first shown in the cinema, followed by Andrew Garfield and then Tom Holland.
- Heath Ledger was considered for the role of this incarnation of Spider-Man before Tobey Maguire was cast.[2]
- Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man was almost given mechanical Web-Shooters in the early development of the 2002 film before the idea was scrapped and replaced with organic web-shooters, James Carson designed pieces of concept for the mechanical web-shooters. A design was approved and put into development. The early trailers showed Peter Parker wearing web-shooters, and they also made a brief appearance in the theatrical release. The unused web-shooter props for the Sam Raini trilogy were sold off on Ebay.[3]
- Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man seems to have inspired Peter B. Parker from Sony’s Into the Spider-Verse films: in the montage in the first film, Peter B. Parker is shown to have a similar history to this Spider-Man, including the upside down kiss shared between Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson in the first film; Peter saving Mary Jane at the coffee shop in Spider-Man 2; and dancing obnoxiously in public after being corrupted by the symbiote in Spider-Man 3. Tobey Maguire was even asked to voice Peter B. Parker but turned it down to avoid confusion.[4]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Overview". Marvel.com.
- ↑ "‘Spider-Man’ at 20: How Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures Rescued the Superhero Genre and Changed Hollywood Forever". Variety (April 27, 2022).
- ↑ "Tobey Maguire's Web-Shooters We ALMOST Saw in Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man' (2002)". YouTube. Retrieved on November 12, 2022.
- ↑ "Tobey Maguire Was Considered for ‘Spider-Verse’s Peter Parker". ScreenCrush (December 4, 2018).
See also[]
External links[]
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Marvel.com- Peter Parker (Sam Raimi film series) on Wikipedia
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
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