Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home! If you haven't already, be sure to check out IGN's review of the MCU sequel.
It wouldn't be a new MCU Spider-Man movie without at least one new costume. Spider-Man: No Way Home certainly doesn't disappoint. The latest MCU epic introduces multiple new looks for Tom Holland's hero, including a fusion of new and old dubbed the "Integrated Suit."
That said, with so much going on in the new movie, you can be forgiven for being confused about what exactly the Integrated Suit is and what sets it apart from previous MCU costumes. And that's to say nothing of the brand new costume teased at the very end of the film. Let's break down both of these new Spidey suits and why Peter Parker's wardrobe seems to keep changing.
Holland's Peter Parker cycles through several looks over the course of No Way Home, beginning with the red and black costume introduced in the climax of Far From Home. Peter then switches to a unique black and gold costume that turns out to have a surprisingly unglamorous origin. After the Far From Home suit is defaced by an angry New Yorker with some green paint, Peter turns the suit inside out and reveals the complex circuitry hidden beneath the surface. He then augments that reverse costume with a magical gauntlet designed by Doctor Strange.
Peter's high-tech Iron Spider costume also puts in a return appearance, which is where the Integrated Suit gets its origin story. Peter wears the Iron Spider in his battle with Doctor Octopus, but after Doc Ock rips off a chunk of the suit from Peter's chest, Peter is able to use its fluid nanotech to take control of Ock's tentacles. Later in the film, after Ock is turned "good," Peter reclaims the nanotech while wearing the freshly laundered Far From Home costume.
And that's how the Integrated Suit is born. The base of the costume is the same red and black suit, but the giant gold spider emblem represents the fusion of fabric and nanotech. The Integrated Suit is ostensibly the best of all worlds, combining Peter's personal design with the best gadgets the late Tony Stark could cook up. The catch is that we learn during the course of the film that the suits can no longer communicate with Stark's servers, so it stands to reason this suit was never able to live up to its full potential. Cue the movie's final costume change...
The final scenes in No Way Home show Peter embracing his new life of anonymity, moving into his own apartment and stitching together a homemade Spider-Man costume. Things move so quickly in the last moments of the film as Spidey is swinging through a snowy New York evening that we never get a proper look at the new suit. It plays more as a tease of things to come in future sequels (much like the Iron Spider cameo in Homecoming or that infamous deleted scene from The Wolverine).
Based on what we see of this costume, it appears to be more closely inspired by Spider-Man's classic comic book costume than any previous MCU suit. The bright blue and red colors are certainly a departure from the MCU Spidey norm, and it seems to lack the high-tech bells and whistles of its predecessors.
Why the downgrade? As we've already covered, Peter's Far From Home suit was running into issues communicating with Stark's servers. There's no telling what other problems Spidey might run into as the suit ages and breaks down. (The Iron Spider suit, meanwhile, had a big hole in its chest last time we saw it.) And because Peter is clearly operating on very limited resources, he has to make do with cloth and spandex rather than liquid armor.
It's also likely this new costume is meant to pay tribute to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men. Holland's Peter has seen how other versions of himself can save the day without fancy gadgets or armor, and he's ready to follow in their footsteps.
Most importantly, the new suit represents the completion of Peter's character arc in the MCU. In Homecoming, Tony Stark tells Peter, "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it." Peter had to learn the hard way that the costume doesn't make the hero.
Now that he's a little older and a little wiser, Peter no longer needs to lean on Tony's inventions as a crutch. He doesn't need a costume with a personal A.I. system or an insta-kill mode. He's ready to get back to basics as a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. At at least until the next time the Avengers come calling...
For more, check out our full breakdown of the No Way Home ending, see what that mid-credits scene means for Venom's future and learn how the Spider-Man comics have handled Aunt May's death.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Continue reading...
It wouldn't be a new MCU Spider-Man movie without at least one new costume. Spider-Man: No Way Home certainly doesn't disappoint. The latest MCU epic introduces multiple new looks for Tom Holland's hero, including a fusion of new and old dubbed the "Integrated Suit."
That said, with so much going on in the new movie, you can be forgiven for being confused about what exactly the Integrated Suit is and what sets it apart from previous MCU costumes. And that's to say nothing of the brand new costume teased at the very end of the film. Let's break down both of these new Spidey suits and why Peter Parker's wardrobe seems to keep changing.
What Is Spider-Man's Integrated Suit?
Holland's Peter Parker cycles through several looks over the course of No Way Home, beginning with the red and black costume introduced in the climax of Far From Home. Peter then switches to a unique black and gold costume that turns out to have a surprisingly unglamorous origin. After the Far From Home suit is defaced by an angry New Yorker with some green paint, Peter turns the suit inside out and reveals the complex circuitry hidden beneath the surface. He then augments that reverse costume with a magical gauntlet designed by Doctor Strange.
Peter's high-tech Iron Spider costume also puts in a return appearance, which is where the Integrated Suit gets its origin story. Peter wears the Iron Spider in his battle with Doctor Octopus, but after Doc Ock rips off a chunk of the suit from Peter's chest, Peter is able to use its fluid nanotech to take control of Ock's tentacles. Later in the film, after Ock is turned "good," Peter reclaims the nanotech while wearing the freshly laundered Far From Home costume.
And that's how the Integrated Suit is born. The base of the costume is the same red and black suit, but the giant gold spider emblem represents the fusion of fabric and nanotech. The Integrated Suit is ostensibly the best of all worlds, combining Peter's personal design with the best gadgets the late Tony Stark could cook up. The catch is that we learn during the course of the film that the suits can no longer communicate with Stark's servers, so it stands to reason this suit was never able to live up to its full potential. Cue the movie's final costume change...
Spider-Man's Red and Blue Costume
The final scenes in No Way Home show Peter embracing his new life of anonymity, moving into his own apartment and stitching together a homemade Spider-Man costume. Things move so quickly in the last moments of the film as Spidey is swinging through a snowy New York evening that we never get a proper look at the new suit. It plays more as a tease of things to come in future sequels (much like the Iron Spider cameo in Homecoming or that infamous deleted scene from The Wolverine).
Based on what we see of this costume, it appears to be more closely inspired by Spider-Man's classic comic book costume than any previous MCU suit. The bright blue and red colors are certainly a departure from the MCU Spidey norm, and it seems to lack the high-tech bells and whistles of its predecessors.
Why the downgrade? As we've already covered, Peter's Far From Home suit was running into issues communicating with Stark's servers. There's no telling what other problems Spidey might run into as the suit ages and breaks down. (The Iron Spider suit, meanwhile, had a big hole in its chest last time we saw it.) And because Peter is clearly operating on very limited resources, he has to make do with cloth and spandex rather than liquid armor.
It's also likely this new costume is meant to pay tribute to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men. Holland's Peter has seen how other versions of himself can save the day without fancy gadgets or armor, and he's ready to follow in their footsteps.
Most importantly, the new suit represents the completion of Peter's character arc in the MCU. In Homecoming, Tony Stark tells Peter, "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it." Peter had to learn the hard way that the costume doesn't make the hero.
Now that he's a little older and a little wiser, Peter no longer needs to lean on Tony's inventions as a crutch. He doesn't need a costume with a personal A.I. system or an insta-kill mode. He's ready to get back to basics as a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. At at least until the next time the Avengers come calling...
For more, check out our full breakdown of the No Way Home ending, see what that mid-credits scene means for Venom's future and learn how the Spider-Man comics have handled Aunt May's death.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Continue reading...