Why That Big MJ Moment In Spider-Man: No Way Home Means More Than You Think
The following article contains major spoilers for "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
Of all the moments to tug on moviegoers' heartstrings in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," it was Andrew Garfield's amazing on-screen save of Zendaya's Michelle Jones character — aka MJ — that had many fans weeping the hardest. But there's something about it that countless people likely missed.
In the scene, Garfield's Spider-Man snatches MJ out of the air following a fall off some scaffolding during the final battle in "No Way Home." It's basically the character's cinematic chance for redemption. In 2014's "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Garfield's version of the web-slinger suffered a tragic loss when he was unable to save Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) from a deadly fall in the film's final moments. In "No Way Home," however, his Peter Parker manages to make things right.
"When Andrew's Spidey caught MJ, I was a WRECK," admitted Redditor u/returnofthemoth in the "No Way Home" discussion thread, garnering hundreds of upvotes. But one thing that many fans haven't noticed about the scene is what Garfield's character did exactly to make sure he didn't botch things up for a second time.
Garfield's Spidey forgoes using web shooters to save MJ
In "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Peter Parker's fatal error in saving Gwen Stacy came when he tried to use his webbing to grab her body just before hitting the ground. This actually caused a whiplash effect that wound up leading to Stacy's death. But in "No Way Home," as NewMediaRockstars points out in a recent YouTube video, Garfield's Spidey doesn't make this same mistake twice.
Instead of using his web-shooters, the character focuses more on his jump and instead dives down toward MJ to grab her with his arms rather than his webbing. It's a moment that bears a lot of weight for Garfield's Peter Parker, who has obviously been replaying the Stacy death in his head for quite some time now — even going so far as to reveal how it's made him "bitter" and caused him to "pull [his] punches. Like with much of "No Way Home," viewers got the Spider-Man fan service they deserved after so many years, as did Garfield's version of the web-slinger.
"Oh my god I just realized garfield's spidey doesn't latch his web onto mj but he dives towards her instead! redemption!!" tweeted @anxioushido.