Complex webs

Director Sam Raimi creates a patriotic, morally serious superhero in Spider-Man 3 | Megan Basham

LOS ANGELES—Compared to the other superheros populating the big screen, Spider-Man has always seemed something of an anachronism. From his first late-night rendezvous with Vicki Vale, the billionaire Batman invited his love interests to stay the night. Along with Lex Luthor, the most recent incarnation of Superman had to grapple with his relationship with his illegitimate child and baby's-mama (to use the street vernacular). Even the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles featured a couple sharing an apartment without sharing a last name.

Then there is Spidey. He may be out of high school and in a relationship with the girl of his dreams, but his chaste, gee-whiz ethos remains firmly in place. As in the previous two films, he and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) never share more than a kiss in Spider-Man 3 (rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence). And the will-they-or-won't-they tension between them is predicated solely on the ring hidden in the pocket of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire).