SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME Storyboards Reveal Returning Mysterio Once Killed Aunt May

@ObserverIO - It's crazy thinking about how those two issues have impacted so many live action Spidey flicks.

@SethBullock - Her death isn't a replacement for Ben's death. It serves a different purpose.

They've already addressed Ben's death being the reason he becomes a hero.

@HOTSHOT - Copied and got screenshots of my original message that I can't publish here for some reason:

@HOTSHOT - Yeah, I know that, it was also discussed many times here in the comments for some NWH articles, and I'm not talking about what those deaths taught him, I'm talking about how absurd it's to kill both his uncle and his aunt basically the same way, both died because Peter was an idiot, and I guess both gave him the same speech, but if that's the case, we never saw Ben's death and we never saw him giving Peter the "responsability" speech, and since that scene was never given to us in the MCU because Marvel Studios just didn't want to repeat the famous origin story and it wasn't really necessary like it wasn't needed in The Batman, then this ridiculous aunt May death scene served as a replacement, because it was basically the same no matter what it taught to Peter, and it's evidenced when Holland tells what happened to his aunt and Maguire knows the words she said because they were the same words Ben gave him, like I said they could have added a wink to the camera in that scene from one of the Peters to make it even more blatantly obvious.

@SethBullock - Most people that die in Peter's life end up dying as a result of the choices he made, directly or indirectly. So this fits.

In this universe, Ben prolly didn't give him the speech. May did. Ben's death just got Peter started fighting crime out of guilt (like in the original Lee/Ditko era. May gave the speech and taught Peter how to move forward when doing the right thing causes bad things to happen. It works beautifully because a major complaint in the comics has been that they rarely do anything interesting with May and that her timely death should've happened in OMD.

Both this film and the Insomniac game feel like they address that well.

You keep saying it's a replacement when I've already explained that it's not. It would only be a replacement if her death is what got Peter started fighting crime. That is not the case. Plain and simple.

The point of the scene with the three Peters is that all of them received validation in knowing that they hear those words at some point after a loved one dies.

@SethBullock - In that sense, you could consider it a replacement sort of yeah. But I'd say it fits more her multiple deaths in the comics or George Stacy's death. Do I think they could've done more with her? Sure. But I like the way her death was used. It makes the MCU Spidey feel more unique.


May didn't die because Peter was a brainless child. She died because she decided to try and save his life by battling an opponent stronger than her rather than hiding or getting out. How is May giving the responsibility speech ridiculous? The quote had already been retconned to be a speech from someone before. They just did it again in a way that gives it new context.

Uncle Ben died in the MCU. He just didn't give the speech. Ben was someone whose death made Peter feel guilty. May was his moral center. I think that's a great spin on the Spidey mythos that gives May more character than before.


The film had other things going on aside from nostalgia that made it great. Which is why it's considered one of the best MCU films and best Marvel films. I'd argue it's the best Spidey film in live action.

It's not perfect. It has flaws. But it has many merits that are lacking in other Spidey films, and many of its flaws can also be found in the other live action Spider-Man movies that were also considered the best.

@SethBullock - It wasn't her house. It was Happy's apartment. The only place where they had the fabricator needed to work on the cures. There wasn't much else of a choice there. May could've survived if she left or hid. She made her choice. That had nothing to do with Peter not using his brain.


Strange using the spell works fine because it would've been a harmless spell if not for the events of the Loki disney+ series. In that show, we found out that the multiverse is kept seperate from the sacred timeline so that other universes don't creep into the main MCU. Thus, they've used that spell before without anything bad happening. Since Strange had no way of knowing that things have now changed because of the ending of that show, him using the spell makes sense since he had no reason to assume a different outcome would occur.

The only issue I have is that he didn't discuss the parameters of the spell with Peter beforehand. But aside from that, it makes sense for the reasons I gave.

While nostalgia definitely plays a part in people's enjoyment, the film wouldn't be as beloved as it is if that was the only thing of merit. Movies like Space Jam 2 and Ready Player One also exploit nostalgia but people don't like them.

The reason is that those films have terrible writing, and don't do anything with the characters they bring back. No Way Home has good writing and takes the returning characters in new directions with new contexts that adds to their story.

It balances that perfectly along with making sure MCU Peter's character arc is completed (making him my favorite live action Spidey). Many other Spidey films struggle to balance subplots, so this film pulling that off is even more impressive.

That's why I consider it the best live action Spidey film. But yeah, it's okay if you don't like it. We can agree to disageee. I just feel like you're misrepresenting the events of the film.

@Dredd97 - I mean they also established a relationship with between that villain and this Peter for the same amount of time as Mysterio.

They already paid off his beef with Mysterio in their final confrontation where Peter kicks his ass.