Spiderman, Doc Ock, and the Darkness Within.

Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for the entirety of SpiderMan - No Way Home. As well as parts of the other No plot point is safe from my review. Reader discretion is advised.

For the first time in over a decade and a half Doc Ock (or Doctor Otto Octavius for you purists) clambered onto the big screen to fight his friendly neighborhood spiderman. I nearly squealed in delight to see the return of one of my favorite comic book villains and portrayals come back as devious as ever, only to break my heart into two once more.

So that we all may flow on the same plane of reality let's do a quick recap of the Spiderman Cinematic Multiverse. We have not one, not two, not three, but 7 movies to recap before we can get to the man of the hour, No Way Home. So take a deep breath, grab some popcorn, and let's do a quick spider crawl down memory lane.

Sam Raimi Universe - Spiderman 1, 2, and 3.

Peter Parker 1 as portrayed by Tobey Maguire gets supernatural powers via a radioactive spider bite (don't think about any of this too hard we will be here all day) and has to balance his love life with his crime-fighting superhero life. Along the way, his Uncle/Sagely Mentor Figure Ben dies tragically from a gunshot initiated by Flint Marko. Put a pin in that.

I was very young when these movies came out so I don't really have nostalgia glasses for them. However, while the Green Goblin and MJ plotlines are a bit corny in retrospect they are all relatively enjoyable movies and Doc Ock and Sandman are really well-fleshed out villains whose stories you get emotionally invested in alongside Peter's journey. Really good set-up for our present-day tv-show-but-actually-movies MCU.

The most important takeaways from these movies are the following 3 villans:

The Green Goblin: A genius scientist Norman Osborne fights, and ultimately loses to his inner demons. These inner demons cause him to use his brains to consolidate his corporate power and ruthlessly murder folks along the way. He is impaled to death by one of his own creations and begs Peter to not reveal his identity to his son. Showing that underneath it all The Green Goblin had a heart. That tragic death is the end of film one.

Doc Ock: A genius scientist (I'm sensing a pattern) whose inventions range from semi-autonomous robotic limbs to a stable fusion reactor that could allow him to wield the power of the son (he says this a lot, get used to it) takes in Peter Parker to mentor him. Along the way, his robotic limbs take control of him and cause him to use his genius, not for good but for, you guessed, it evil. As his nuclear reactor is about to destroy the city, Octavious momentarily regains control and sacrifices himself to save the city. That tragic death is the end of film two.

Sandman: Not t0 be confused with the amazing Neil Gaiman comic book series of the same name, Flint Marko (yes, that one) plays a relatively minor role in Spiderman 3 but is probably one of the most well-remembered parts of the initial Spiderman trilogy. We learn that Flint Marko was a small-time criminal who made mistakes and killed Ben in a moment of shock and fear. At the beginning of the third installment, he escapes prison so that he may see his wife and daughter again. While on the run from the feds he falls into a particle accelerator (don't question it) and fuses with the nearby sand. Hijinx ensue including a couple of battles, ultimately Marko and Parker hash it out with some good old-fashioned forgiveness. Marko does not die but goes away, alive but unlikely to ever return to normal life and human form where he can watch his daughter grow up. End of on-screen Peter Parker 1's story.

Amazing Spider-Man Universe: 4 & 5

Peter Parker 2 as portrayed by Alexander Garfield gets supernatural powers via spider bite, plus some of his own tech. Uncle Ben dies tragically but his killer isn't really important to the narrative beyond sacing uncle Ben. He dates Gwen Stacey in this version (who are super cute together but I digress) and is super smart with Oz Corp internships. I really like the performances in these movies and the Lizard Guy/Spidey fight in the school has my favorite Stan Lee cameo. Y'all can die mad about Amazing Spider-Man 2 but I ain't mad about it. Dumb fun.

Dr. Curt Connors/Lizard Guy: Dr. Curt Connors worked with Peter Parker's dad and serves as a minor mentor role to this Spiderman. He is notably missing an arm. Dr. Curt Connors specializes in cross-species genetics which in techno-babble means he works with superpower-giving animals. His work centers on regrowing limbs and organs like some reptiles do. Unfortunately, his work makes him rabid and believes that the lizard serum he devised which allowed him to regrow a limb but also turned him into a lizard man should be forced on everyone because it is (deep breath) THE NEXT STAGE IN HUMAN EVOLUTION. (He's really touchy about it, okay.) Several fights ensue but Gwen creates an antidote that Peter uses to restore Connors to his humanoid state. Connors does not die but is notably bitter about the whole situation. His lizard serum left him unfulfilled and still short an arm.

Electro/Max Dillon: I'll admit it was a weird choice to cast charismatic Jamie Foxx as an awkward electrical engineer but I'm just happy he's here. Awkward, shy, and underappreciated Max Dillion works at Ozcorp and tragically falls into a tank of electric eels which makes him a slightly less corporeal electric man. Feeling quite literally empowered Max Dillon stops being a shy guy and goes full Bowser, trying to discover the full range of his capabilities while endangering all of New York with blackouts. Gwen and Peter work together to stop him, sadly his body overflows with electricity killing the once sweet Max Dillon. This is not the tragic death that ends the second movie, Peter is unable to save Gwen Stacy from this universe's Green Goblin and she dies tragically in Peter's arms.

A Quick Background on Modern Spidey.

Here we are, at the MCU's official mainline Spiderman trilogy. Instead of going over the major villains we're gonna just quickly recap what this Spiderboy has been up to.

Genius (Jesus, can't one of these superheroes just have an average IQ?) Peter Parker 3 is a gifted high school student under the care of his Aunt May who helps the homeless and is notably played by the brilliant Marisa Tomei. He falls in love with Michelle Jones and hangs out with his best friend Ned a lot when not teaming up with the Avengers and having a surrogate dad in the problematic Tony Stark. This leads him into trouble, not once, but twice, with disgruntled former Stark employees. The first time he fights off Michael Keaton, I mean Birdman, wait no, I mean the Vulture so he doesn't keep dealing in illegal weapons manufacturing. The second time he fights off Mysterio who is leading a whole town of disgruntled Stark employees who felt they didn't get enough credit. Spidey fights off Mysterio but at great cost, lots of property damage, extraneous death, and with Mysterio leaving an incriminating (if misleading) video that reveals Peter Parker's identity.

Alright, folks, we've made it to the new one!

Spider-Man No Way Home.

Peter Parker 3 has his identity revealed and besmirched by J. Jonah Jamieson who is a conspiracy theorist Alex Jones type in this universe. This leads him and his friends to not get accepted into any colleges following the controversy. So, instead of giving the colleges a call to appeal the decision he has Dr. Strange cook up a spell that will make the world forget his identity. But because he is a picky boy he screws up the spell making little rifts in spacetime, which causes all of the previously mentioned villains in Sam Raimi and The Amazing Spider-Man to jump through. He gets into fights with Doc Ock, Electro and Sandman but quickly gets Norman Osborne who voluntarily went to Aunt May's homeless shelter to seek help from our Spiderman 3. After rounding these baddies up, Peter Parker 3 just doesn't have the heart to send them back to their inevitable deaths. Instead, he tries to save them all. First, he with the help of a temporarily sane and good Norman Osborne builds a chip that restores my fave, Doc Ock, to his normal self with full control over his body and his mechanical limbs. Doc Ock remarks after being cured how 'quiet' it is. Put a pin in that statement. As he's finishing off the serum to help cure Norman's evil green goblin side and drawing the volatile electricity away from Max, Norman suddenly turns and the green goblin and his tech is in control again. He convinces Sandman and Electro to abandon Peter Parker and incapacitates Doc Ock. Goblin and Spiderman 3 get into a fight that ultimately kills Aunt May who forgives the Green Goblin and wants to save him despite the pain and destruction he causes. Peter Parker temporarily abandons his quest following May's death.

Ned and MJ round-up Peter Parker 1 and 2 (not in that order) and bring them to an understandably grief-struck Spiderman 3. The three of them have a bit of a group therapy session before deciding to get back to work saving their respective villains before saying aloha and heading back to their world. At the Statue of Liberty the three do some Spider-bonding before fighting, and eventually curing all five of their villains. They are sent home with a spell that also makes everyone forget Peter Parker 3 existed.

One of the most quietly heartwrenching scenes in any superhero movie is the one where Sandman realizes he is being turned into something else. He looks at what once were human hands flowing in and out of shape as particles of sand. The physical transformation also represents the emotional fragility and wavering of the character. When Flint is restored to human form in the most recent film he holds his hand in almost the same way, except instead of disintegrating into sand it is integrating into human form again. We knew all he wanted was to leave his life of crime behind and start again with his daughter, he may finally get the chance to do that again.

I can't speak from the perspective of an incarcerated individual, but I can say with certainty that our US criminal justice system focuses largely on punishment over rehabilitation. But behind every murderer, common thief, drug dealer, and drug addict, there is a person. A person who has people they love, goals they may have abandoned, and mistakes they made. Perhaps if we focused on rehabilitation more than punishment, we could make some of those sandmen whole again.

Remember how I asked you to put a pin in what Doc Ock said upon being given control again. How 'quiet' he thought things were? Well, this one hit me quite hard. I've spoken at length about my personal battle with OCD that made me fear myself and those around me. But to cut a long story short, I understand what it feels like to feel you aren't in control, to be like someone you're not for an extended period of time. Moreover, I understand some of the poetic language that those of us with mental illnesses speak in. It's a language filled with metaphor and pain that attempts to communicate an invisible anguish to those around us. I've often heard the term 'heavy' used to describe depression, but for my OCD and depression I preferred the term 'loud.'

So how do you think it felt to have a self-sacrificing genius who was locked out of control for so long finally feel 'quiet' again? Heartbreaking was what it was. I'll admit I shed more than a few tears after the movie ended about this. In fact, it's what inspired me to write a whole goddamn article about it. It was representation in a comic book movie that didn't feel forced, or out of place but natural. It was the most authentic experience I've had watching a comic book movie.

The rescuing of Dr. Connors and Electro aren't as emotionally stirring, I suspect this was a trade-off for time management and just the general pacing of the movie. But Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin had arguably the most important transformation.

After the Green Goblin, arrives in Peter Parker 3's New York we find him discarding his suit in a dumpster, hearing the Green Goblin speaking to him as a disembodied voice telling him that he is a terrible person and attempting to lure him back to his criminal ways. He runs off, terrified of himself and the Goblin, to find Aunt May. We see him vulnerable, lost, severely mentally ill, and on the streets as many homeless individuals are. This means May is inclined to help him and encourages Peter to not immediately send off our villains to their deaths but to save them.

Even after the Goblin reemerges, destroying an entire condominium and ultimately mortally wounding Aunt May, she still forgives him, does not regret helping him, and encourages Peter to continue trying to save them.

That's what radical acceptance and radical love look like.

In mental health spaces, you'll often find people talking freely about depression and anxiety but not as frequently psychotic disorders, drug addictions, or other afflictions that can sometimes cause violent behaviors and erratic behaviors to emerge. This is partially because we've spent so long dispelling the myth that mentally ill individuals are inherently violent, or even more violent than the general population. However, I believe this does a disservice to the many mentally ill people who struggle with a violent past or behaviors caused by their affliction and do need our forgiveness and assistance. We must love and accept them even when they've done awful things, in order to help them and heal the wounds of our society.

A Venomous Detour.

I left out two movies from our previous round-up because Venom largely isn't in No Way Home. While the obvious reason he only appears in a cheeky drunk end-credits scene is some combination of contract overlap, time management, and script concerns, I'd argue that following Eddy's story, he doesn't need to be in this film because he's already been saved.

Here's a largely spoiler-free summation of Venom's journey in the 2 recent Sony movies.

In movie 1, which is a kind of poorly done antihero action/horror flick (that I feel didn't personally do the character justice) Eddy is infected with the symbiote and struggles to manage life as a reporter and the violent tendencies of Venom. They do some typical hero-ing stuff though.

Movie 2 is a lot different and is frankly more important to our discussion. In Venom 2: Let There be Carnage directed by Andy Serkis Eddy and the Symbiote have a bit of a gay rom-com relationship dynamic. They still get on each other's nerves and living together 24/7 has its ups and downs, but ultimately Eddy accepts the symbiote as part of his life now and they get up to reporter/anti-hero hijinx.

Venom doesn't need to be saved from being a monster in No Way Home because he has already put in the work to love and accept all parts of himself, even the violently inclined symbiote version of himself. This is why he isn't a villain, he's already saved himself, now he and Venom just want to get hammered in Mexico before going back to the single lifestyle.

Final Thoughts.

Thank you for bearing with me through this highly emotional review of SpiderMan No Way Home. If you haven't seen the movie already, go watch it! It's great. If you have I hope this article resonated with you.

In a world filled with supposed heroes who kill villains without trying to save them, or simply lock them up in a torturous, underfunded asylum rather than assisting them, or where villains are simply evil for no reason and are beyond hope, this rendition of SpiderMan flips the script. Giving hope to the ones considered hopeless, and love to those of us who need it most. We don't kill monsters around here, we save them. And by saving them, we make a better world for all of us.

When you help someone, you help everyone. - Aunt May