Warning: Contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home.
the final fight against Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his drone army in London. Spider-Man’s assault begins successfully, with him snagging and destroying the machines (and the illusions) with his web lines. However, when Spider-Man attempts to ascend Tower Bridge and confront Beck, Peter realizes that he’s completely run out of webbing, and he is forced to improvise another route upwards.
This may seem like a small detail, but fans will immediately recognize this as a classic Spidey problem. Moreover, the wall-crawler has used up his webbing on many occasions during his extensive canon, typically mid-swing or, as in his animated series, mid-battle, so that he is unable to pursue or restrain bad guys. But Spidey enthusiasts may not have realized that Far From Home is the first movie to showcase this trope.
As Spider-Man and his world have changed for each of his three live-action franchises, so has the way in which he produces his webbing. Sam Raimi’s trilogy marked a change from Spidey tradition, with the spider-bite granting Peter (Tobey Maguire) the ability to produce strands organically from his wrists. Marc Webb’s subsequent, short-lived duology hewed closer to the comics and saw Peter (Andrew Garfield) purchasing Oscorp’s Biocable to fire through devices of his own design. But the MCU’s iteration is undoubtedly the truest to the character, with Peter inventing both the substance and the web-shooters themselves.
Indeed, whilst Spider-Man’s webs have failed five times across these five films, none of these cases were due to this classic problem of simply using all his webs up. The three times that Peter failed to produce webbing in Spider-Man 2 were due to the fact that his growing depression was adversely affecting his powers. The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Whether Spider-Man's empty web cartridges occurred naturally in the making of the film – or it was included to directly reference the common comic problem – Spidey’s oversight in Spider-Man: Far From Home is nevertheless a great link to his massive mythos. Peter’s mistake in Far From Home means that the subsequent fight with Mysterio is much harder without his signature webs. Certainly, it also humanizes an already relatable hero, with Spider-Man being unable to catch a break, even though he’s trying to do the right thing by stopping Mysterio.
Moreover, from the movie’s shocking post-credit scene ushering in a new, distinct era for Spider-Man’s crime fighting, it’s likely that other Spidey tropes will emerge – alongside his penchant for running out of webs. Let’s hope that the films continue to mimic Spider-Man’s past, with him stocking up on cartridges or installing indicators to prevent this from happening in future adventures.
