To announce the arrival of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy on Netflix starting August 1, the Netflix social media team decided to go with the perfect meme. If you’re curious to see what it is, check out the tweet below:
— Netflix (@netflix) July 19, 2022 For context, the scene is taken from 2002’s Spider-Man where Peter Parker chances into his childhood friend and longtime crush, Mary Jane Watson. As the two try to catch up and ask how they’re doing, MJ’s boss interrupts the conversation from across the street by shouting at her that the drawer is short on cash. MJ initially tried to shrug him off but he continues to heckle her, to which MJ responds by saying, “Yes, Enrique, OK, I get you!” Hence, the meme was born. It’s a relatively forgettable scene that the internet immortalized and turned into an inside joke among people who look fondly over Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man outing. It’s like Bully Maguire from 2007’s Spider-Man 3 and how the internet loves to use him to mock others. Given how fans love obscure references, you can only imagine how quickly the image blew up. Many still consider Tobey Maguire as the quintessential Spider-Man. For most, his portrayal struck that perfect balance between the awkward and relatable Peter Parker and the friendly but sarcastic, Spider-Man. Maguire’s time as the so-called “Masked Menace” did not end on the best terms, but this has only made the internet love him even more. It also doesn’t hurt that he reappeared as a battle-hardened and more mature version of his former character in last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home alongside Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland. You could argue that the appearance of the former Spider-Man actors was a huge factor in No Way Home coming just nearly a hundred million dollars shy of making over a billion at the global box office. Ultimately, we should take Maguire’s time as Spider-Man as what it is: the launch pad for the modern era of superhero films. You can trace back the unprecedented success of Marvel Studios and even the DC Extended Universe, among others, from what Fox’s X-Men, Sony’s Spider-Man, and New Line Cinema’s Blade films, built in the late 90s and early 2000s. Speaking of Sam Raimi, the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director still thinks that a Spider-Man 4 film starring Tobey Maguire is possible. Raimi’s statement came as fans started asking for a fourth Maguire-led Spider-Man film following the success of No Way Home.
