Spider-Man's Newest MCU Suit Is More Important Than You Might Think

Like most superheroes within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) has undergone some pretty radical costume changes since his first appearance in the franchise. Spider-Man's outfit has grown steadily more sophisticated since his cutoff sweatshirt and oversized goggles in "Captain America: Civil War." Holland's Spider-Man actually goes through four different costume changes during "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

In the film, we see him don the Iron Spider suit, a black and gold suit, a "combined" suit influenced by all his previous costumes, and another self-made suit in the final scene. In the behind-the-scenes book "Spider-Man: No Way Home — The Art Of The Movie," Marvel Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding revealed that the hand-sewn final suit is actually extremely important; it represents Spider-Man's journey throughout the MCU.

"It's a classic red-and-blue suit with a spider that feels more grown-up — a little bit influenced by the spiders that he saw on Tobey [Maguire] and Andrew [Garfield's] suits," said Meinerding. "The pain that he's been through losing both Tony and May and then losing his friends at the end has allowed him to get to a place where he is not just the friendly neighborhood kid Spider-Man." Meinerding went on to say that this more mature suit represents how Holland's Spider-Man has become a classic, fully-formed character in his own right and how his journey has helped him find this new identity.

As described by Ryan Meindering, the MCU's newest Spider-Man suit symbolizes Peter Parker's journey from plucky neighborhood vigilante to battle-hardened superhero — similar to the more mature costumes of previous live-action Spider-Men.

While this new look will likely be the one we see the web-slinger don in "Spider-Man 4," it's worth reflecting on the wide variety of suits that Spider-Man has used en route to this classic costume. After meeting with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in "Captain America: Civil War," Peter Parker is given an upgraded suit with a small spider in the middle and vibrant blue-red coloring. Parker wears this throughout "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (excluding a brief return to his homemade outfit) before being gifted the Iron Spider suit for "Avengers: Infinity War."

The Iron Spider suit effectively grants Parker the nanotech adaptability of Iron Man's armor, allowing him to sprout enormous metallic legs when necessary and use a variety of gadgets and special powers. "Spider-Man: Far From Home" introduced two more suits to Holland's Spider-Wardrobe: a black stealth suit designed by SHIELD and a self-designed suit that uses Stark's technology but adopts a red-black color scheme. Considering all of the dramatic costume changes that Spider-Man's had in the MCU so far, it'll be interesting to see how many more suits he gets in the franchise.