If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving movie to watch with your family this weekend, you could do a lot worse than Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002). The movie may not be all about American history or reflections on gratitude, but the story really hinges on the Thanksgiving dinner scene. This is a great fit for Spider-Man, and in turn that makes Spider-Man a great fit for Thanksgiving.
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Fair warning: there are spoilers ahead! For a movie with so many different character arcs playing out, Spider-Man follows the three-act structure pretty closely. Both Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) develop superpowers early in the movie – the former by accident, the latter through hubris when he conducts a premature experiment on himself. Both then learn to use their powers and try to decide their abilities should be applied, though Peter is guided by his family while Norman is afflicted with an alter ego, apparently as a side effect of his experiment. In the second act, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin become public figures with their actions speaking for themselves.
The Thanksgiving dinner scene is the all-important climax of the movie, and the transition between act two and act three. The scene is incredibly tense for the viewer, who knows far more about all the conflicts at play than the characters themselves do. Both Peter and Norman arrive late to dinner due to their last fight, and Norman can hardly contain his increasingly violent urges. Shortly after sitting down, Norman recognizes the cut on Peter’s arm and realizes that he is Spider-Man, though Peter still doesn’t know the Green Goblin’s identity. He rushes out in a rage.
While there may not be any webs slung or glider shots here, this is the lynchpin of the movie because of what it means for Peter and Norman’s struggle as superhero and supervillain. Identifying his enemy gives the Green Goblin newfound direction in his actions, and gives Peter a new challenge to rise to. This is also when Peter realizes that there are consequences to all of his actions, even if he is trying to use his power for good. Thanks to this revelation, Norman attacks Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), then goes after Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst).
This dinner scene is also the climax of this movie’s B-plot – the love triangle between Peter, MJ and Harry Osborn (James Franco). Harry is nervous to introduce his father to his girlfriend for the very first time, and is frustrated when it doesn’t go well. Norman cruelly insinuates that MJ is only with Harry because of his money, and everyone hears him. Peter’s position becomes even more awkward – not only is he repressing his own love for MJ, he’s resisting the urge to exploit a weakness in her current relationship. After this dinner goes poorly, MJ begins yearning for Spider-Man instead, and Harry is overcome with jealousy. He unknowingly sics his father on his girlfriend and his best friend, directly causing the final showdown.
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What Makes This Scene Great
One of the many reasons this movie works so well and is still beloved after all these years is because of how these two complimentary stories were intertwined. It’s planning like that – by screenwriter David Koepp – that allows the mundane drama of an awkward Thanksgiving dinner to be the climax of a superhero action movie. It adds to the impact of all the action to come, knowing that these two characters were sitting across from each other just a few scenes earlier.
Of course, no movie is perfect, and there are valid reasons you may not want to screen this one in your house on Thanksgiving – for one thing, Peter serves his loved ones canned cranberry sauce rather than the real deal. Still, if you want something on that can keep audiences of all ages engaged without traumatizing the kids, Spider-Man is an excellent choice. It harkens back to a time when the melodrama of superhero movies was handled differently, without being constrained by an all-encompassing franchise. Best of all, it may be the first time younger fans are seeing the origin of Maguire’s Spider-Man, giving them new insight on a movie like No Way Home.
Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is streaming now on Disney+ in the U.S. The service also has Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man movies and the first two Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland, but at the time of this writing, Spider-Man: No Way Home is only available to rent or purchase on PVOD stores like Prime Video and Apple TV.