Spider-Man, Sophocles, & How We Make Our Myths

Spider-Man: No Way Home was a worldwide phenomenon when it released in December 2021. But what made the film so impactful was much more than mere nostalgia-it was a storytelling technique that has been used for millennia.
Sources:
Barker, Elton T.E., and Joel P. Christensen. Homer's Thebes: Epic Rivalries and the Appropriation of Mythical Pasts. E-book ed., Washington D.C., Harvard, 2019. Hellenic Studies Series 84.
Jordan, Chuck. "One Thing I Love About Spider-Man: No Way Home." Spectre Collie, WordPress, 21 Dec. 2021. Accessed 28 Aug. 2022.
Film Credits:
Spider-Man: No Way Home. Directed by John Watts, performances by Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire, Columbia Pictures, 2021.
Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi, performances by Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe, Columbia Pictures, 2002.
Spider-Man 2. Directed by Sam Raimi, performances by Tobey Maguire and Alfred Molina, Columbia Pictures, 2004.
The Amazing Spider-Man. Directed by Marc Webb, performances by Andrew Garfield, Columbia Pictures, 2012.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Directed by Marc Webb, performances by Andrew Garfield, Columbia Pictures, 2014.
Oedipus Rex. Directed by Tyrone Guthrie, Motion Picture Distributors, 1957.
Oedipus. Directed by Steven Berkoff, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, 2011.
Twitter: / thought__word
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#spiderman #spidermannowayhome #sophocles

[@RosiYYAP]

This perfectly captures why I love seeing works and tropes of media revisited or even deconstructed. I love seeing familiar elements of a story taken, analyzed within the text, and then turned on their heads. Drives me crazy when callbacks, recurring characters, and storylines are dismissed as nostalgia-bait, because so often there's so much more to them than that

[@ThoughtWord]

Exactly! Basically everything the ancient Greek playwrights wrote was a "legacy sequel" in which they took creative liberties with the details while sticking to the overarching characters and structure.

[@RosiYYAP]

@@ThoughtWord the "legacy sequel" is such a fascinating and in-depth tool to use towards media
While I love seeing it done in superhero media (in both film and video games like Arkham and Spider-Man) I think my favorite use of it in modern media is in the Dark Souls trilogy. Despite being direct sequels, there are next to no recurring characters, but nearly every figure in, for example, DS3 is a reflection of a character from DS1, and takes their inspired characters' arcs in different thematic directions

[@Legendofzedia]

Unrelated love your videos but I still haven’t forgotten the ending song to your Toy Story 4 video

[@ThoughtWord]

"Walking to Do" by Stephen Gordon. Deep cut from my college days, oh so long ago. Still an all time favorite song.

[@Legendofzedia]

Is it on Spotify

[@paperchasindude6578]

This is actually a really good video essay. May I ask what do you use to make your videos? Software, Audio and finding footage? I want to start making my own

[@ThoughtWord]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Adobe Premiere Pro is my main tool. I usually end up using Photoshop, Illustrator, and Audition in some capacity as well. As far as finding footage is concerned, I'm mostly screen recording on Mac using SWB Audio App to capture internal audio. It might not be the most efficient approach, but I'm used to it now and it gets the job done. If you've got ideas that you're excited about you should totally go for it! I'll subscribe!

[@TheEpicureanStoic]

Such a great video, man, keep it up! I've just discovered your channel, and it's such a great find :)
I wish more people (audiences and studios alike) understood the position of films like those of the MCU creatively, as you said... I also used Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in my first video, which was about the difference between dramatic irony and tragic irony, connecting it to WandaVision.
It covers similar threads as yours, though my focus is even more on the ancient stuff! Here it is, if you're interested:
czcams.com/video/v_BPAMKEOH4/video.html

[@ThoughtWord]

Thanks! I checked out your video as well, great stuff! I especially liked your distinction of dramatic irony and tragic irony, something that could certainly be applied to Aunt May uttering the famous "with great power comes great responsibility" phrase. The discussion of anagnorisis was also on point. Thanks for sharing!