The third movie in the Sony/Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man third movie. Tom Holland has starred as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Homecoming, Far From Home, and, now, No Way Home. This third outing may be the best Spider-Man movie to date.
No Way Home has everything a Spider-Man fan could want. Improved villains, a fantastic story, and tragedy. This was all packed into a two-and-a-half-hour movie.
This is a movie you will want to see in the theaters. It’s that good.
Be warned, as we dive into the leadership lessons in Spider-Man: No Way Home, I will be sharing spoilers from the movie. If you haven’t seen No Way Home and don’t want to know what happens, stop reading now.
If you don’t care about spoilers or have already seen No Way Home, continue reading. You’ll find lots of leadership lessons in No Way Home.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Spider-Man: No Way Home
1. Lies hurt multiple people:
Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio revealed Peter Parker’s secret identity to the world in Far From Home. He also lied that Peter Parker was responsible for all the carnage that happened.
No Way Home opens with scenes from Far From Home. Mysterio’s message, along with J. Jonah Jameson’s (J.K. Simmons) smearing of Spider-Man/Peter Parker’s names, creates chaos for the young Peter Parker. His life is flipped upside down.
Not only is Peter’s life impacted by the false narrative given by Mysterio, but Peter’s Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), MJ (Zendaya), and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) are also hurt.
These lies spread like wildfire. It stopped MJ and Ned from getting into college. It caused issues at Aunt May’s F.E.A.S.T. Center.
Lies go beyond the person telling them and the person or thing the lie is about. Let’s stop lying about things.
The lies will spread. They will infect those who hear them.
2. Aunt May:
It’s really about boundaries.
Aunt May and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) had been dating. Sometime between Far From Home and No Way Home, the duo split.
May said the reason was boundaries.
Every relationship has to have boundaries. This includes personal, dating relationships to business relationships.
Boundaries are important. Dr. Henry Cloud puts it simply as: “Boundaries help us keep the good in and the bad out.”
Set proper boundaries in your relationships.
3. Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox):
You may have dodged your legal troubles but things will get much worse. There’s still the court of public opinion.
Matt Murdock (yes, the Matt Murdock who is really Daredevil) made an appearance as Peter Parker’s lawyer. He let Peter know that while he avoided legal trouble, Peter would still face a more daunting fate. He would have to face the court of public opinion.
Trials will come. You will overcome them.
Sometimes these trials will be legal issues. You can win those. However, the real struggle is in winning the court of public opinion.
What people think is hard to change. You will have to work hard to overcome negative stereotypes, past transgressions, and more.
4. Roles change:
Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is usually known as the Sorcerer Supreme. In No Way Home, It wasn’t Dr. Strange who held this role.
Due to the Blip caused by Thanos, Dr. Strange had disappeared. During the five years he was away, Dr. Strange’s assistant Wong (Benedict Wong) took over the role.
Roles change. We have to be ready to roll with the changes.
Sometimes we get the better end of the change. Other times, we lose out.
It’ll all work out in the end.
5. Leaders have to clean up their mess:
Dr. Strange cast a forgetting spell. Parker kept interjecting objections and requests during the spell. This caused the spell to backfire.
The spell opened up access to other universes in the multiverse. These access points allowed former Spider-Man villains to cross over.
The villains include Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Max Dillon/Electro (Jamie Foxx), Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). There was also a brief appearance of Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy) in one of the No Way Home stingers.
Peter was tasked with finding the villains that crossed over. He needed to clean up the mess he create.
We’re going to make mistakes as we lead. We’re going to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, and make a mess.
When we make a mess, we have to clean up the mess.
6. You can change things:
Peter Parker and Aunt May were attacked by Norman Osborn. Norman wanted to kill Peter for all that he’s done.
Instead of killing Peter, Norman impales Aunt May with the Goblin Rider. Aunt May passes away but not before uttering a classic line.
Aunt May tells Peter: “You have a gift. You have power. And with great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
This line is normally attributed to Uncle Ben. In No Way Home, Peter hears this from his Aunt.
What has always been done the same way in your organization? Think deeply about this. There are things that haven’t been changed in a long time.
Look at the list you created. Begin giving small tweaks to the processes that have become stagnant.
You may find a new way of doing things. You may make something fresh.
It’s okay to change things.
7. Secrets are hard to keep:
Theories about No Way Home swirled around the internet. One of those theories was that Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire were going to show up. These two actors played Spider-Man in different Sony movies.
There was heavy denial that either actor would show up. Guess who showed up?
That’s right, both Spider-Man actors from previous movies showed up. And it drove the audience in the theater crazy.
Secrets are not easy to keep. The truth wants to be let out.
Know that your secrets will eventually be revealed. They will sneak out. People will find out.
8. Be careful of becoming bitter:
Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker became bitter after the death of his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. He let her death impact him in a negative way.
He went down a dark hole. Bitterness consumed him.
In a conversation with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, Andrew’s Peter Parker (confused yet?) told him not to become bitter.
Bitterness can ruin a great leader. Something goes wrong, you hold onto it, and it creates a stronghold in your life.
Be careful of bitterness. It will consume you.
9. Aunt May’s Tombstone:
When you help someone, you help everyone.
On Aunt May’s tombstone, there was an inscription. It said: “When you help someone, you help everyone.”
This was Aunt May’s life motto. It appears everything she did in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was to help someone, anyone…
Are you willing to live by Aunt May’s credo? Are you willing to help someone, anyone?
This credo reminds me of something Andy Stanley would often say. He says: “Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.”
Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone. pic.twitter.com/0RVpBonT4H
— Andy Stanley (@AndyStanley) March 11, 2019
By helping one person, you’re helping more than one person. The person you help gets help, so do the people in their lives.
The help you give spreads like a spiderweb.
Help one, help all.
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