Each new installment in any successful superhero franchise always updates the title hero’s costume, which is designed as a subtle reminder to the audience that they’re becoming increasingly comfortable in their role as a protector and the more experience they gain, the more they find the confidence to keep pushing the technological and physical limitations of their powers. Obviously, that statement is completely untrue, and it’s done exclusively to sell more toys.
No comic book character wears the same outfit two movies in a row, because then the marketing and merchandising team couldn’t generate hundreds of millions of dollars in supplementary income from the massive amount of tie-in products that accompany the release, based on the fancy new duds the hero in question is wearing.
As cynical as that sounds, it’s always the way Hollywood has operated, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to discover that Tom Holland is sporting a slightly different look in Spider-Man 3. It isn’t a drastic reinvention, but there are some subtle differences that eagle-eyed fans should be able to spot, as you can see below.
SPIDER-MAN 3 SET PHOTOS OH MY GOD pic.twitter.com/uAP7KXhNmw
— Luke (@qLxke_) January 17, 2021
The changes are far from groundbreaking and arguably barely even noticeable, but you exactly can’t have a big screen Spider-Man costume that strays too far from the classic design, either. If the seemingly inevitable happens, though, and both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield swing by for a cameo, then it’ll be interesting to see how different their respective spandex outfits are from the ones they originally wore in their own franchises.
After all, the 45 year-old Maguire is far from the sprightly high school student he played for Sam Raimi, and he’ll have his work cut out should he be forced to keep up with the 24 year-old Tom Holland and 37 year-old Garfield in Spider-Man 3, especially with his history of back issues.