With all the multitudes of surprises, guest stars, and fan service found through Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s tough to say that the movie’s last reveal (sans the post-credits scene) of Peter Parker’s new Spider-duds would make even a top 10 list of the film’s “whoa!” moments. But there’s more going on with the outfit than just another chance for Marvel and Hasbro to sell a slightly different Spider-Man action figure.
At least that’s what Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, the writers of No Way Home, believe. In a video interview with IGN, they were asked about the shiny blue and red outfit Peter (Tom Holland) dons when he resumes webslinging through New York City after asking Dr. Strange to erase him from everyone’s memories. It’s easily the most brightly colored iteration of the costume any Spider-Man has ever worn in the modern superhero movie era, and the tones of which McKenna believes could have come straight out of a comic book. He also feels the new and different suit indicates “this is a different Peter and a different Spider-Man than we’ve seen before.”
Given everything he experiences and loses in the movie, it stands to reason that Peter would be a very different person from where he started. But for Sommers, the change the suit represents is even more pervasive than that: “We really like the idea of Peter moving into a new phase of his life where he doesn’t necessarily have the help of a Tony Stark and all the access to all that technology and all of these things.”
Although some may disagree, this is a good thing. Spider-Man has always been best and most compelling as a scrappy underdog, which was always narratively hampered by the arsenal of Iron Man tech available to him. More importantly, however, the biggest problem of the MCU’s Spider-Man prior to No Way Home is that he existed almost exclusively in Tony Stark’s shadow, preventing him from becoming the hero he should be—and the hero he looks to be in that lovely, sparkly costume at the end of the film. He’s finally standing on his own two (eight?) feet as a superhero.
But if you’re a gadget lover, it doesn’t sound like Spidey’s new suit will be completely bereft of goodies. As per Sommers: “So time will tell exactly what’s in that suit. But I think people can look forward to a different kind of suit and a different level of technology, but maybe Peter’s got something stashed away somewhere and it’s full of gadgets. Who knows?”
Sommers, McKenna, Marvel Studio boss Kevin Feige, and long-time Spider-Man movie producer Amy Pascal surely know, since a fourth MCU Spidey movie is already in the works. Meanwhile, No Way Home is still in theaters, and its digital release is currently scheduled for March 22.
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