We’ve seen quite a few powerful weapons throughout the Spider-Man trilogy.
Norman Osborn, as the Green Goblin, has his glider with the rockets and knives, and his bombs, and his little intelligent razor-bird things, and his green sleepy gas that comes out of his wrists.
Otto Octavius, as Doctor Octopus, has smart arms that basically give him powers similar to Spider-Man … plus, there are nifty knives tucked away in there.
Harry Osborn, as the New Goblin, has his hoverboard packed with bombs, rockets and knives (and those fire-jet things), and those same intelligent razor-bird things, and those sharp claws or whatever that come out of his forearms, and that green sword that does … something.
Flint Marko, as the Sandman, has a bunch of sand … which he creatively forms into a variety of weapons of the pummeling kind.
Eddie Brock, as Venom, has some pretty sharp teeth, and nails in need of a manicure, and all the nifty stuff Spider-Man can do.
And Peter Parker, as Spider-Man, has his super-powers—though his only real weapons are his fists, feet and those little batches of webbing he shoots.
So, yeah. Loads of weapons in the films. And that’s not counting the many found objects that are used as weapons (pipes, bank vault doors, water, subway trains … you get the idea).
But the most powerful weapon we see in the entire film series doesn’t show up until six hours into the trilogy, with about 10 minutes left in the whole shebang, including credits.
Before we get to it, let’s set the stage: Venom has just been finished off, when Eddie Brock jumps into the fray and is detonated like crazy. As the concussion of the blast wears off, Peter stands unmasked in his Spidey suit, taking it all in.
He drops the pipe to the ground with a clang, and hears a voice from behind him. It’s Flint Mark: “I didn’t want this … but I had no choice.”
“We always have a choice,” Peter says, his anger beginning to rise again. He’s been replaying that black and white movie in his head over and over for days, the one where he imagines how it went down when Flint shot Uncle Ben. In that movie, the one we see, Flint shoots Uncle Ben just for the heck of it. For no reason. Peter has convinced himself that this is how it happened. “You had a choice when you killed my uncle.”
“My daughter was dying,” Flint says, launching into what will become an explanation, not a defense, of what actually happened. “I needed money.” He thinks a moment. “I was scared.”
Then we see a black and white movie. Not the one Peter has been playing in his head, the one Peter invented, but the one that tells us what really happened. Uncle Ben, standing on the sidewalk, trying to convince Flint to give it up and go home … David Carradine running toward them with a satchel full of money, reaching out and grabbing Flint’s arm … the lightning flash of the gun’s report … Flint’s shocked reaction … Uncle Ben falling, falling to the ground … Carradine taking off to save his own skin … Flint immediately remorseful.
“I spent a lot of nights wishing I could take it back,” Flint says, back on the rooftop with Peter. He pauses, thinking for a moment, then says (in Thomas Haden Church’s gravelly voice—no wonder they cast him as the Sandman), “I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just want you to understand.”
Peter struggles to process all this information and his thoughts, finally, turn inward. “I’ve done terrible things, too,” he admits (not mentioning that one of those terrible things was, you know, trying to kill the person he’s talking to now). He looks up at Flint, and his expression seems to apologize for trying to take his life.
Flint turns to look down at the fracas below, with all the emergency vehicles and gathered crowds. “I didn’t choose to be this,” he says. He raises his hand and looks one more time at the locket with the photo of Penny. “The only thing left of me now is my daughter.”
Peter stares at him for a long time, then works up the courage to finally say it: “I forgive you.”
And there it is. The most powerful weapon in the series.
Spider-Man had tried a multitude of ways to defeat the Sandman. He tried to punch him out in that armored car. He tried to grind him down with a subway train. He tried to drown him. He and Harry tried to pound him into submission with punches, kicks, bombs and rockets. None of these attempts had worked.
The only thing that can end the fighting between Spider-Man and the Sandman is forgiveness.
Jesus had a lot to say about forgiveness. Take, for example, the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (or seventy times seven). Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown in prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said. ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:21-35).
Harsh, to say the least. But such is the nature of unforgiveness. If you’re going to withhold forgiveness from others when you, yourself, are in need of it, then you’re setting yourself up to live by a harsh standard. And if you’re going to withhold forgiveness from others, then God is going to withhold it from you. And you really do not want God withholding anything from you.
Forgiveness is hard. Especially when someone has really hurt you, as Flint hurt Peter. But if we learn anything from Spider-Man 3, it’s this: Vengeance offers no consolation, no victory. The only place where we find healing and peace is in a place of forgiveness.
Forgiveness. It’s the ultimate weapon.
Wield it well.