How Peter Parker’s Identity Crisis Sets the Stage for the Perfect Sequel
If you haven’t done so, check out the first instalment of the Unmasking Spider-Man series: Are Powers and Responsibility the True Measures of Heroism? Here, meet Peter Parker and watch as he transitions from an average overlooked teen to web-slinging, sacrifice-making, superhero.
Spider-Man 2 is a great title. It’s simple, clean, and does exactly what it says on the tin; continuing the story from where we left off.
When we last saw Peter Parker, he had walked away from the woman he loved, Mary-Jane Watson, so that his alter-ego, Spider-Man wouldn’t put her life in jeopardy. Peter’s best friend Harry Osborn had sworn vengeance on him — well on Spider-Man — whom he believes killed his father Norman Osborn. Unbeknownst to Harry, his father was secretly masquerading as the villain, The Green Goblin.
Life isn’t exactly looking up for Peter by the end of Spider-Man but when he walks off-screen and swings through New York we are hopeful that things will work out for the best.
Spoiler Alert: They doesn’t.
Peter is back at square one. He has lost his pizza delivery job because he’s always late (saving the citizens of New York will do that) and The Daily Bugle lets him go because “Spider-Man” won’t “pose” for him due to the paper’s consistent slander (low-key Peter has had enough).
Peter’s personal life isn’t going any better. Did you know he’s in college? Well, neither do his professors who see him as lazy, which you know, is fair enough. He rarely makes it to class, misses deadlines and is on his way to flunking out.
His friendships are also suffering; he’s still in love with Mary-Jane, and has to watch as she moves on. And because he takes pictures of Spider-Man, his revenge-hungry best friend Harry peppers him for information on the web-slinger’s identity.
And if you think things couldn’t get any sadder, his Aunt May is behind on the mortgage payments and Peter, who doesn’t have a job, and hasn’t paid his own rent can’t do a damn thing to help.
The final nail in this coffin of sadness is that these series of unfortunate events all happen on his birthday — a day Peter himself forgot.
It’s an incredibly depressing start to the movie, but it hammers home the reasons behind a tough choice Peter makes: to quit being Spider-Man.
Watching Spider-Man 2 it’s near impossible to say what comes first; the internal conflict over Peter’s dual identity or the slow loss of his abilities.
It’s a small thing that slowly gains momentum. A promise broken. A web that doesn’t come when called. A rift causing secret. The inability to scale walls. Another loved one in danger. An embarrassing elevator ride down from the roof. An unending loneliness. A leap that ends in a fall.
The direct cause and effect of Peter feeling like he’s losing a grip on life because of Spider-Man, coupled with the loss of his abilities makes you wonder: if things were going smoothly, would he be losing his powers?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If being a superhero was easy we’d all be doing it. And in many ways that alternative life doesn’t exist. Something has to give, and it’s clear to Peter that Spider-Man is the common denominator in his misfortune.
In an internal scene, Peter is back with Uncle Ben in his car before he goes off to the fight. Before Peter lets the thief go, before that same thief murders his Uncle. With Uncle Ben, Peter interrogates why he became Spider-Man, who he did it for and the struggles that have come from his initial decision to put on the mask.
In the end, Peter, for once, thinks about what he wants, and he chooses himself.
Choice played a big part in what made Peter Parker a hero and now we see it unmake him. He was already losing his powers but with the active choice to relinquish his responsibilities, Peter Parker is mortal once more.
A great physical manifestation of Peter’s morality and the perfect irony is his loss of sight. As a glasses wearer, this was a tough pill to swallow but them’s the rules; no hero, no vision. His lightness of foot is replaced by his former clumsiness as we watch him stumble in the street, and yet, despite all of this, Peter seems happy.
Mary-Jane notices this change in him too; Peter is reliable, he is open, and the possibility of the two of them being together is revived now that Spider-Man is no longer cock-blocking. Without the need to constantly save people, Peter has time for his homework and flourishes at school.
It’s all about choice, and even though Peter has chosen himself, he is also choosing to look away from the ugliness that is still going on. With Spider-Man’s retirement, crime is up, and Peter, now a regular-schmegular-degular- guy, no longer helps those in need.
Can we begrudge him from turning his back on someone being beaten up and robbed in an alley? How many of us cross the street instead of getting involved, keep our heads down on the train or walk away from a problem with the mindset; that someone else will deal with it?
Being a hero is hard which is why so many of us are not the worst of humanity but certainly not the best.
Peter Parker, on the other hand, is cut from a different cloth, and he can only put aside that part of himself for so long.
Stay with me here, but, in Season 2 Episode 18 of Avatar The Last Airbender, Prince Zuko goes through a metamorphosis;
“What you did beneath that lake, it was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body.”
— Uncle Iroh
Peter has been at war with himself over his identity. Is he Peter Parker, or is he Spider-Man? Should his loyalties lie with those he loves or with the safety of the city? Is the sacrifice of one greater than the other — and at what cost is he willing to lose half of himself?
Although Peter chooses to give up Spider-Man that isn’t the end of his metamorphosis, it’s the middle.
Two things allow Peter to come out on the other side, reborn.
The first is forgiving himself for what happened to Uncle Ben. Peter does this by telling Aunt May the truth. He wasn’t at the library; he went to a fight, and through a sequence of events he blames himself for, her husband’s death.
Peter’s guilt over Uncle Ben is the reason he became Spider-Man. It is his penance on his quest for atonement. It’s why he sees Uncle Ben when he chooses to give up the suit, seeking his understanding for turning his back on his silent vow.
Once he lets go of that guilt, Peter is able to see he didn’t choose to be a hero only for his uncle. He chose to be a hero because it was his responsibility to use the powers he was given for good.
During his metamorphosis, Peter comes across a burning building. When he hears a child is trapped inside, he runs into the flames. It’s a wonderfully contrived juxtaposition with the first film where Spider-Man swings into action to save people trapped in a different burning building.
Peter locates the child and, on his own — no powers, just determination and inner strength — he gets the child to safety. Peter is a hero. He does what none of the bystanders were willing to do by saving that child.
It wasn’t the suit that made him special; it was the person wearing it all along who had the markers of being a true hero.
These actions set off a chain reaction because Peter has enjoyed his jolly holiday but it’s time to take those glasses off and return to business.
Ironically it’s Peter Parker who puts Mary-Jane in danger when Harry, still on his revenge side-quest, sends the villain, Doc Ock, after Peter because of his known association with Spider-Man. Awks.
However, this marks a turning point in the identity struggle that has been pushing and pulling from the start of the film. Now were are re-introduced to Peter-Man… Spider-Parker?
The point is, we have a reconciliation between the two warring sides, Peter Parker and Spider-Man. They understand that one can’t live without the other because they are one and the same. They weren’t poisoning each other, instead, it was the weight of the secrets they kept.
Who is it that said, “to know thyself is the beginning of true wisdom”?
We watch as Spider-Man sheds the burden of his secret, first when his identity is revealed to a train full of New Yorkers, in a beautifully tender moment of sympathy, courage and trust, in a scene that gets me teary-eyed, every single time.
After that Peter starts whipping that mask on and off like a party trick. His identity as Spider-Man is revealed to Harry, who then develops his own identity crisis, and then to Mary-Jane who claims she always knew (she didn’t).
Understanding at the end of his metamorphosis that his two halves are a whole, and choosing to continue saving the city for himself, sees Peter rewarded at the end of the film when Mary-Jane chooses to be with him, webs and all.
Sequels are notoriously never as good as the original, but Spider-Man 2 is hands down an exception to the rule. It is a faith continuation to Spider-Man, developing the characters’ stories and strengthening their arcs by delving deeper into their wants, needs, and the exploitation of their desires.
Peter Parker has walked through fire and flame and he is cleansed.
Now all the cards are on the table, stay tuned for how the chips fall in Spider-Man 3. Tobey Maguire’s final voyage as our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.
Read the first instalment of the Unmasking Spider-Man series.
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