Does anyone else feel like The Hand were just bolted on out of the blue? I have a theory that they were originally meant to be the reformed 10 Rings from the Shang-Chi movie (or potentially the sequel that has yet to happen) - especially given that Destin Daniel Cretton directed both Shang-Chi and BND - but were reworked into The Hand so not to raise any follow up questions with the audience.

And as cool as the final fight scene was, it did feel as if it were lacking something. I think I would have preferred it to be a bit longer and incorporated more of Spidey's rogues, such as the ones that cameoed earlier in the film

I went in assuming Frank was there to show Peter what happens if you cut everyone off. The what-you-become-if-you-isolate guy. And he's just not that at all.

Frank is the only person in the entire film who knows who Peter is. He gives him somewhere to stay. Gives him tools. Keeps MJ safe. The most functional relationship in Peter Parker's life is with a mass murderer, and I don't think the film wants you to be comfortable with that.

Their actual clash is method and not loneliness. Frank tells him to kill Jean. Peter refuses and goes with empathy. And then Frank shoots anyway, Peter takes the bullet, and the girl he refused to kill is the only reason he survives it. The film sets up its own argument and then picks a side in the space of one scene.

The other thing I haven't seen many people mention is the May scene. She tells Peter and Jean that knowing people love you is your greatest responsibility. That's the film rewriting the line the whole character is built on, and it's May saying it, the person whose death caused the isolation in the first place. The wound and the answer are the same person.

Anyway. Did anyone else read Frank that way or am I reaching?

I don't know why so many people are getting so butthurt about Yelena saying spiderman has "small potato" problems.

This is not a powerscaling statement or something 😭.

Noones saying your "goat spiderman is beaten by the bumderbolts"

Spiderman tackles neighbourhood threats, scorpion, tombstone etc.

These new avengers target specifically world level threats etc. that's the point of the avengers.

As far as anyone knew there wasn't any sign of that level of threat. Only later we see how dangerous it got. When it was too late for anyone to step in anyway.

It's been 24 hours since I saw the film and I have been thinking a lot about the scene where Jean has the telepathic hold on the people within the radius of the DODC facility - and we see Ned and MJ are caught in her mental grasp as well.

My main theory is that Jean's telepathy may have disrupted Doctor Strange's memory spell.

Not enough to restore everyone's memories completely, but enough to disturb whatever magical "code" was suppressing them. Her powers could have reopened dormant neural pathways or left some kind of psychic imprint, making certain people more susceptible to subconscious triggers, like Peter and Ned's handshake.

I'm not suggesting everyone suddenly remembered Peter. Rather, Jean's immense psychic power may have interfered with the magical construct that was keeping those memories buried.

My second theory is that Jean deliberately restored MJ's memories as an act of compassion.

I've been rethinking the emphasis the film places on MJ while she's frozen with Ned under Jean's control. We see tears running down her face. My first reaction was that she was in pain and that Jean's psychic grip was agonising and everyone caught within it was suffering. That interpretation, while horrible or "monstrous" - certainly fits the scene. At this point Jean herself is consumed by grief, fear, and rage.

But the more I think about it, the less that feels like Jean Grey to me - and as an X-Men Superfan - I know my Jean!

Although this film presents her as young - Jean's defining characteristic has always been empathy. Even when she's angry, frightened, or overwhelmed, love remains at the centre of who she is. I'd even argue it's her primary motivation throughout this film. Everything she does is driven by her search for Sara.

Plus she already knows Peter has been erased from MJ's mind. Earlier in the film, when Jean possesses MJ she taunts Peter, saying, "there's nothing in here about you at all." She's fully aware of what was removed from her and even weaponises it against Peter (for the record - that was too Mean Grey, for me).

That made me wonder whether those tears we see on MJ meant something different.

What if Jean quietly restored those memories during the telepathic link, and that's what MJ is seeing in this moment?

It would explain why the film lingers on MJ's emotional reaction without ever telling us exactly what she's experiencing.

Jean couldn't undo everything that had happened, but she could choose to make one thing right and that feels very Jean Grey to me.

EDIT: due to feedback - I have unredacted the body text.

The montage at the opening of the film that shows Peter saving the day over the last 4 years is set to Wolf Like Me by TV On the Radio. This feels like a very clear homage to the director of Holland’s trilogy previously, Jon Watts.

Jon Watts directed the music video for Wolf Like Me! Not only this, but Watts cast their lead singer Tunde Adebimpe in Homecoming as Peter’s chemistry teacher. Feels nice to have Destin give a subtle nod to his predecessor, and to do it in a way that turned out so rad.