Just watched the whole Raimi Trilogy. I have some thoughts, mainly as it pertains to one Norman Osborn, in comparison with the MCU version of Tony Stark.
While Peter Parker being buddies with billionaires, at least to the extent he is with Stark in the MCU, is dumb no matter how you look at it, (Raimi) Osborn and (MCU) Stark couldn’t be less alike.
It’s a comparison that has always felt off for me, and the reason is that, at least for the MCU version of Stark, they have polar opposite philosophies. Norman believes that if you help people, those people will eventually turn on you, like how he got pushed from his own company.
Stark, despite being an egotistical douchenozzle who loves attention and ass-kissing, is quite the opposite. Stark has a philosophy that is, when you break it down, similar to Spider-Man’s, in theory anyways. Great power (billionaire) = great responsibility (Iron Man).
Now, the way Iron Man and Spider-Man handle that responsibility couldn’t be more different, due to their very different places in the world and forms of power (Stark having financial power and Parker having literal superhuman power), but ostensibly, it’s the same overarching theme.
Sidenote, in real life, pretty much anybody who is a billionaire is like Osborn rather than Stark, and if they REALLY DO change, they wouldn’t be a billionaire much longer, but this is definitely in the realm of suspending disbelief.
All of this is especially relevant during the point in the MCU timeline where Stark recruits Peter. All he is doing by that point is attempting to take responsibility. He absolutely took it too far (hashtag Team Cap), but that’s besides the point.
Honestly, I think this is something that the MCU has a lot of room to explore, assuming they introduce a new version of Osborn beyond Dafoe’s multiversal role in No Way Home. Stark and Osborn are really fascinating to compare and contrast, because there ARE some similarities. It’s just that any similarities that matter as it pertains to morality are surface level, really. Especially for the MCU version of Stark, who is significantly less of a dickwaffle than his 616 counterpart (albeit still a bit of a dickwaffle). At least from what I have seen, as I haven’t read very much of 616 Stark. He definitely SEEMS to be more of a jerk than MCU Iron Man from what I’ve seen. Maybe I just haven’t read all the bits that humanize him more. That said, I’ve heard from others that 616 Stark and 616 Osborn are pretty antithetical to each other too, but don’t take my word for it.
Now, this is a good time to reiterate that this does not mean Stark and Parker should be buddies, much less father and son figures. Endgame and especially Far From Home took it too far. Homecoming had a good amount of tension between the two, but the later movies dropped that entirely. That said, the comparison between Osborn and MCU Stark is really surface level, based purely on their being rich and very little beyond that.
