Yeah he goes to Curt to ask about catching reptiles and is clearly sussed out by him. He puts things together when he sees the giant mouse lizard eating the other mouse. That wasn’t something that occurred in any of their trials either, so there really isn’t any reason for Peter to think the giant lizard was a Curt hybrid.
And beyond a moment or two that don’t hold up as well now, Peter and Gwen are the best pairing to me in these movies so far. They actually acted like young people falling in love at that time. The awkward stammering and playful teasing is what made it feel real. I had actual conversations like that back then.
The teens in TASM were just generally way more representative of the time. Maybe the MCU version are too but I feel like they’d have to be on way more drugs lol.
In TASM21 just about everyone comes off "real" as does the world.
HC also took some stabs at saying what a modern Parker in high school in the 21st century in NYC would be in regards to school and friends and the baked in MCU humor doesn't overwhelm everything and anything the rest of the film is trying to do. I enjoy the hell out of HC on so many levels and the humor and characters are not insignificant factors.
But then FHH hits and his supporting characters all, every goddamned one of them become ****ing cartoon characters up to and including Ned and Aunt May.
MJ might escape this but the relationship she and Peter have is just sprung on us out of nowhere because last shot of MJ in HC notwithstanding where it's hinted at her feelings for Peter, there is nothing else in that movie telling us this is a mutual attraction. Then come FFH and Peter and her have connected in some meaningful way... OFF CAMERA.
But... I digress...
I get mining the cast for comedy since Tom is this super cute and cuddly version who isn't allowed to be a sarcastic smart ass in or out of costume. (And it's also apparent among fans that they're resistant to showing Peter as being anything more than Mister Golly Gee Whiz given how much push back the Garfield version got for supposedly being this immoral jerk of epic proportions for the mildest of character flaws. )
But they gotta balance that out with some kinda grounding and from friends to teachers they just do what the MCU does and turn the mediocre comedy knob to 11 and then rip it off for two hours.
Actually getting back to Peter and MJ... Given how they portray MJ and her world view wouldn't it have been something if she had rubbed off on Peter in some way or brought something out of him that was always there or at least was there before Ben died? Make part of their relationship that she sees through a big part of that "Golly gee whiz" smoke screen and brings out more of Peter's true self in the form of a more acerbic and sarcastic sense of humor? Like how do we know Peter was like this before the death of Ben? Peter could have been a bit of a sarcastic nerd *****e or had leanings towards that in his personality and this current Golly Gee Whiz thing is him overcompensating after he learns what Ben had always tried to tell him about personal responsibility and power. He suppressed his more A-Hole leanings but that comes out a little with MJ and they bond over this shared aspect they both have. At least THAT would be a deeper connection to what we've gotten which feels far too much like teenaged puppy love right now at least after two films with our love interests.
