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After his excellent debut in Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming, how would Spider-Man fare in Infinity War? Peter Parker proved to be one of the most heroic and noble heroes in the film, consistently putting himself first to protect his friends and family from the apocalyptic onslaught of the Cult of Thanos. From the second he saw the doughnut ship go over New York he sprung into action to protect his city from a gargantuan force he had never dealt with before. In his sincere desire to protect his city, he incurred extraordinary risk onto himself.
When we meet Peter in his debut film, he is a teenager enamored with becoming a famous Avenger, but the core of why he wants to be a hero is to protect his friends, family, and neighborhood. as he fully acknowledges in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Even though he vocally desires to become an Avenger throughout the film, the underlying motivation for his actions is sincere.
Granted, we don’t get the traditional Uncle Ben tragic origin for Peter in the film (at least not yet in the MCU) but there is a heavy implication of this event when he mentions that Aunt May has recently been through something awful. His desire to be a hero likely comes from a place of wanting to protect her as well. Having the Vulture threaten everyone he loves directly reminded him of his fundamental motivation and spurred him to put responsibility before any notion of glory.
In Infinity War, this steely resolution was on full display. Was Peter over his head staying on the ship going into space? Most definitely. But he was sincere in his motivation to protect the neighborhood from cosmic destruction: “I did think this through. You can’t be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there’s no neighborhood in Infinity War. Okay, that didn’t make sense but you know what I’m trying to say.” Ok, he didn’t ACTUALLY think through getting on the doughnut ship. But it was borne out of a sincere desire to help save the world. Peter got what was asking for initially to be a big-time hero, but this time, for the right reasons.
Peter Parker was one of the only heroes to keep his eye on the ball consistently throughout Infinity War. While Tony and Dr. Strange were arguing he was the one formulating smart tactics against Thanos. He was the one who saved the Guardians and Avengers when Thanos hurled Titan’s moon at them. He kept focus when he and the team were getting the gauntlet off of Thanos (for the record, I do not blame Peter Quill for having a sincere reaction of grief at that moment that unfortunately messed up the plan). Despite this, he was one of the half of the universe killed off into dust at the end of the film. I do hope he does have a major role in Avengers 4, as he does, in my humble opinion, deserves to be a crucial part of the effort to finally defeat Thanos, whatever that effort will be.
Peter Parker is one of my favorite characters of all time and the one I relate most to in the MCU. He’s an optimistic, spunky, smart, and dedicated individual who kept his eye on the ball consistently throughout the game. This is not to undermine any other hero in Infinity War, but to shine the spotlight on my personal hero that has inspired me since I saw him first in Civil War. I loved his journey in Homecoming and I was more than pleased as a lifetime Spider-Man fan. While I had issues with Infinity War and it wasn’t my favorite MCU film, Spider-Man ‘s journey was absolutely not one of them. His death at the end was beyond heartbreaking and the one that struck me the most emotionally. I do hope there’s a plan to do him justice again in Avengers 4.
Swara is a data scientist and a co-host of Into the Spider-Cast and The Middle Geeks. He loves talking about politics, animals, nature, and all things Star Trek, DC, Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, and Steven Universe.