Spider-Man: No Way Home Finally Reveals Peter Parker’s Biggest Strength

Warning: this article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

The latest MCU entry, Spider-Man: No Way Home, finally put Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) intelligence front and center after only hinting at it in previous films. No Way Home picked up right where Spider-Man: Far From Home left off as Peter deals with the exposure of his secret identity by Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). In an attempt to reverse that, he seeks the help of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who conjures a spell that goes disastrously wrong and tears the fabric of reality open as it brings in heroes and villains from other universes. Audiences finally got to see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men again on screen, as well as a whole slew of their respective villains.

Peter refuses to send the multiversal villains back to their respective realities where they will face imminent death and chooses to cure them instead, going against Strange’s plan. What ensues can only be described as a celebration of Spider-Man’s 20 years as the most popular superhero on the big screen. Tom Holland’s Peter enlists the help of Maguire and Garfield’s variants to create cures for the various villains, holding on to the belief that they are still good people at heart. However, a key point this film highlights for the first time in the MCU is Peter Parker’s intelligence, which aids him on more than one occasion throughout the film.

Peter Parker is known to comic book fans as one of the most intelligent people on earth, yet the MCU has only hinted at that and has not allowed Peter to showcase his biggest strength. No Way Home finally showed Peter’s proficiency in both Math and science in three key scenes in the movie. His fight against Doctor Strange, as well as the two scenes in which he devises cures to the villains, placed Peter’s intelligence front and center for the first time in the MCU, which could have huge implications on Spidey’s future in the second MCU Spider-Man trilogy.

Peter’s Intelligence Was Teased In The MCU, But Never Fully Explored

While No Way Home was the first film to allow Peter to fully show off his scientific chops, the previous MCU Spider-Man solo films did tease Parker’s scientific and mathematical expertise. 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming was Holland’s first solo film as the MCU’s web-head following his brief introduction in Captain America: Civil War. During one scene in Homecoming, Peter was seen developing his own web fluid for his web-shooters in the chemistry lab. Another scene showed him answering a physics question with ease even though he was not paying attention. Both of these scenes were hinting at Peter’s ability to understand scientific and mathematical concepts, which was essential to his triumph in No Way Home.

Far From Home also hinted towards Peter’s exceptional intelligence in two integral scenes. The first scene featured Spider-Man’s first meeting with Mysterio, where they delve into a brief discussion regarding the multiverse, in which Peter clearly shows his grasp on the advanced theoretical physics topic. Then later on in the film, Peter is granted access to a piece of Stark technology that allowed him to manufacture a new suit. The film made a point of comparing him to Tony Stark, as he seemed perfectly in his element while working with this advanced piece of machinery.

Why Peter’s Intelligence Is His Biggest Strength

While Peter Parker gained a great number of special abilities from getting bitten by a radioactive spider, his high intellect is not one of them. Peter’s Intelligence has always been one of the defining aspects of Spider-Man’s character, as it plays a role in helping him overcome problems in every aspect of his double life. His extraordinary aptitude for science and mathematics also gives him an edge over many of his fellow Marvel characters, since in the comics, his intelligence is on par with that of Tony Stark, T’Challa, and even Reed Richards, who could show up as part of the MCU’s Phase 4 Illuminati team.

Furthermore, the comic books place a big emphasis on Peter’s intelligence by putting him in situations, especially mid-combat, where he is forced to use scientific reasoning to come out on top. In the comics and almost every Spider-Man adaptation, Peter relies on his brains more than his brawn to achieve his goal or defeat an adversary. No Way Home gives audiences a taste of that when Spider-Man goes head to head with Doctor Strange and is forced to use math to combat Strange’s sorcery.

How Peter Was Able To Use Math To Beat Doctor Strange

The first impressive display of Peter’s intellect comes during his fight with Doctor Strange in the mirror dimension. When Peter finds out that Strange plans to send the villains back to their universes to die, he steals the magical box containing the spell and attempts to get away from Strange. While attempting to retrieve the box, Strange sends both Spider-Man and himself to the mirror dimension where the laws of physics do not seem to apply.

Strange, clearly being the more powerful of the two, almost succeeds at retrieving the cube, until Peter realizes that objects in the mirror dimension adhere to a specific geometric shape. He proceeds to use his knowledge of geometry to trap Strange in the mirror dimension by webbing certain objects together at certain points. Peter’s line to Strange, “You know what’s cooler than magic? Math,” reflects Peter’s background and interests, and more importantly, drives home the point that Peter just beat one of the most powerful characters in the MCU by outsmarting them.

Peter Put His Intelligence On Full Display When He Cured Three Out Of The Five Villains

When Peter first attempts to cure the villains in Happy’s apartment, he is interrupted by the Goblin taking over Norman Osborn. However, he had already managed to fix Doc Ock’s predicament by synthesizing a new inhibitor chip that gives Otto control over the arms again, rather than the arms controlling him. This proves that given enough time, he would’ve been able to cure all five villains of their various complications.

Later on in the film, when the three Peters are working together to develop cures for the remaining four villains, Tom Holland’s Peter develops the cures for Electro and Sandman, while Garfield’s handled the Lizard, and Maguire worked on the cure for the Goblin. All in all, the MCU’s Spider-Man managed to cure three of the five No Way Home villains, each of which faced a problem that required a solution stemming from a different scientific field. Peter’s intelligence was on full display while creating the cures, as the different problems he tackled showed the wide breadth of knowledge he possesses in various scientific fields, such as physics, biology, and electronics.

What This Means For Spider-Man’s Future In The MCU

The ending of No Way Home suggests that Peter Parker will be allowed to grow into his own identity, symbolized by the ending’s new suit. With a second trilogy confirmed for Holland’s Spider-Man, it seems as though he will be playing a more comic-accurate version of the character, one that utilizes his intelligence to get out of sticky situations. This opens up various possibilities for Peter, as he begins to roam New York City alone at the ending of No Way Home.

One possible direction Marvel Studios might decide to take Spider-Man in is the Future Foundation. With Fantastic Four film confirmed for Marvel’s Phase 4, it would make sense for Peter to team up with Reed Richards and the team to battle all sorts of villains. This creates various opportunities for Parker to show off his intelligence as he works with Mr. Fantatsic, who is believed to be the smartest individual in Marvel Comics. Another path Marvel Studios and Sony could elect to take is Parker Industries. Relatively recently in the comic books, Peter launched his own technological corporation under the name of Parker Industries. While the Parker audiences were left with at the end of No Way Home does not have the resources to become CEO just yet, this could be in Marvel’s plans for phase 5 or 6 when Spider-Man’s situation is entirely different.

Fans of the Spider-Man character in the comics are bound to be pleased to see one of Peter’s biggest strengths front and center in the MCU. After multiple teases in previous films, the creatives at both parent studios of the franchise finally decided to incorporate Parker’s intellect into this latest incarnation. While Spider-Man: No Way Home gave viewers their first glimpse at said intellect, Peter’s future is looking bright as he looks to let his true identity shine, free of all the influences that were watering it down.