Spider-Man 3is often considered a low point inSam Raimi’s trilogy of the titular superhero. Its failures with audiences and critics were the primary reason theTobey Maguire-led seriesnever became a tetralogy, and audiences have instead watched Sony reboot and reimagine the webslinger every few years over the past decade and a half. Still, the threequel has some high points:Thomas Haden Churchplays a stellar Sand-Man, the special effects are superb, and the action sequences are thrilling. One positive element ofSpider-Man 3that doesn’t get talked about as much is the ending, which distances itself from the previous two installments' finales for a poignant, emotional, and fitting conclusion to the film.
Spider-Man 3
A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge.
‘Spider-Man 3’s Final Fight Ends in Grief
BothSpider-ManandSpider-Man 2end with the hero donned in his costume, swinging through and above a packed Manhattan cityscape. They are victorious, optimistic, and visually engrossing sequences, emulative of the last panels from a comic book. In both, Peter has just defeated the villains, saved Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), and overcome his internal struggles for an overall happy ending.
InSpider-Man 3, the third act plays out similarly, with Peter once again fighting off the villains, rescuing a captive Mary Jane, and coming out triumphant. However,the aftermath does not share its predecessors’ same good cheer. In the final fight, Peter loses Harry (James Franco) just as they are making amends; he forgives the Sand-Man and lets him go; and while annihilating the Venom symbiote is intentional, the loss ofhost Eddie Brock (Topher Grace)is a collateral accident. It’s a victory, but unlike in Spidey’s previous climactic brawls with the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) orDoc Ock (Alfred Molina),the hero has to make a lot of sacrifices.
Hence, after the final fight, Harry’s funeral offers a scene of grief. Peter’s voiceover summarizes the lessons learned: “Whatever battle we have raging inside of us, we always have a choice… It’s the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what’s right.” ForSpider-Man 3, what’s right and fitting for Peter is not a final webswinging sequence around New York City, but something more intimate.
Why the Last Scene in ‘Spider-Man 3’ Is So Important
InSpider-Man 3’s dénouement, Peter returns to the jazz club where he confronted and assaulted Mary Jane earlier in the film. On stage, Mary Jane sings a rendition ofMarilyn Monroe’s “I’m Through With Love” fromSome Like It Hot. As its title suggests, the song is about liberating oneself from a past flame — appropriate for how Mary Jane must feel after everything her and Peter have endured throughout the film. However, when Peter meets her gaze, she stops singing. He stares at her with humility and sorrow, and Mary Jane comes down from the stage. As the ballad plays out andChristopher Young’s melancholic score takes over, Peter and Mary Jane embrace in a slow dance. Through teary eyes and somber faces, they are together again at last, and yet, as the scene fades out to a muted credits sequence,one gets the sense that their love will never be the same.
The Ending of ‘Spider-Man 3’ Nails Peter and MJ’s Rocky Love Story
The finale is a beautiful and sincere sequence that suits the overall morals ofSpider-Man 3. While the film sometimes receives flack for focusing too heavily on Peter and Mary Jane’s relationship,it tries its best to share a tragic romance story in tandem with the superhero action. Admittedly, several scenes fall short of the mark — everyone remembersPeter’s cringey dance numbers, his unbridled angst, andMary Jane being a passive-aggressive girlfriend. Nevertheless,the ending is an example of the film executing its intention with grace.
The somberness of Peter and Mary Jane’s dance is not just a response to the emotionally weighty final fight. It’s an appropriate atmosphere for the state of their overall relationship. ThroughoutSpider-Man 3, Peter and Mary Jane are on-again off-again as a couple, and as Peter gives into the darkness of the Venom symbiote, he becomes toxic, confrontational, and borderline abusive. It’s telling that the last scene shows him returning to the place where he hurt her, and offering a wordless apology that leads to similarly unstated acceptance.
What Peter Learns at the End of ‘Spider-Man 3’
Moreover,it provides fitting closure to Peter’s third-film arc as Spider-Man. Each of the Raimi films highlight a specific internal conflict between Peter and his alter ego. In the first movie, he had to learn how to become a hero and use his powers responsibly. In the second, he must deal with losing his powers, rejecting them, only to re-embrace them once he finds the proper motivation.Spider-Man 3offers a less conventional conflict. Juxtaposing Peter’s downtrodden state at the starts of bothSpider-ManandSpider-Man 2,Spider-Man 3opens with him on the top of the world, excelling in school, dating the woman of his dreams, and relishing in his secret identity as New York’s most beloved hero.
Spider-Man 3thus focuses on the dangers of Peter getting too comfortable with being Spider-Man. In the film, his complacence turns to arrogance, which then evolves into bitterness and rage when he does not get his way.The dark suit expedites this process, but it begins long beforehand,establishing a conflict where Peter musn’t lose sight of the sacrifices and responsibilities that come with being Spider-Man.
Through trial and loss, Peter learns this lesson by the end of the film. To demonstrate the growth, though, he can’t go back to swinging through the streets as Spidey. Instead,he must humbly present himself as Peter and return to Mary Jane, communicating that he will be there for her and not lose sight of her despite his superheroic duties. While he could be swinging anywhere with anyone, he’s here, at a sleepy jazz club, hoping that his beloved will take him back.
Unfortunately,Spider-Man 4never came to fruition, so audiences weren’t able to see the next steps in Peter and Mary Jane’s continuing, yet prospectively tenuous relationship. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe’sSpider-Man: No Way Home, though,Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker returned once more, describing his relationship status as “complicated,” but happily adding that “it took a while, but we made it work… me and MJ.” While we’d still love to see how that complication played out on screen, the final scene inSpider-Man 3leaves us with a telling taste of how it would ensue: with pain and trauma, but passion and tenderness all the same.
Spider-Man 3is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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