Empathy For The Villain: Why Spider-Man No Way Home Is Great
Today, my wife and I watched Spider-Man: No Way Home.
It was fantastic!
Possibly, one of my favorite movies of all time.
For anyone who hasn't seen it, one go watch it now, and two, if you didn't, that's okay, this will be a pretty much spoiler free article.
There were two things I really liked about it. First, was all of the referential humor. It's cheap and entirely nostalgia dependent, but I really liked it.
What got me the most, though, was the trope of what I'll call, 'Empathy for the Villain'.
It is my favorite thing in all of media.
A true hero is not merely one who saves others from evil. A true hero is someone who seeks to save the perpetrators of evil from their evils.
Our world could use more empathy for our villains. Our world could use more true heroes.
We need more Spider-Man.