The Effects of Social Anxiety Disorder on the final spell in Spiderman No Way Home

Spiderman’s Latest Go

In Spiderman No Way Home, we see an insanely powerful spell from Dr. Strange which would be severely amplified if Spidey had Social Anxiety Disorder.

There aren’t too many solo superhero movies that can generate the level of enthusiasm and emotion as Spidey films. The latest installment of Spiderman had some of the most eventful and surprising scenes ever seen in the MCU.

Dealing with the effects of having his identity revealed by Mysterio, Peter Parker went through a whirlwind of sequences. He experienced trauma, sadness, shock, and eventually loneliness in this rollercoaster ride of a movie. The surprise appearance of characters from past years reprised by the original actors made this film even more exciting. Then throw in some familiar fan favorites, like Dr. Strange and Wong, and even introduce a new hero, Daredevil, and the bar becomes that much higher. Perfectly designed and highly rated, Spiderman: No Way Home has entered the MCU as an instant classic. It’s right up there with Avengers Infinity War, Avengers End Game, and Captain America Civil War.

Background

In an attempt to stave off villains from other universe’s, we see an amazing sacrifice made by Peter Parker. One of the last scenes that occurred in this latest Spiderman thriller was when Parker asked Dr. Strange to perform a spell which would cause everyone in the world to forget that Peter Parker was Spiderman. In fact, the spell would cause everyone in the world to forget that Peter even existed. That’s like the most awful thing ever.

Although this was a super gutsy sacrifice that Parker would make, he would be left with no friends (goodbye Ned, Flash, and Happy), no girlfriend (so long MJ), and no family (no one left there anyway). Losing your entire social life in one fell swoop is an absolute devastation to anyone and everyone. As human beings, we are all social creatures by nature and we want to be seen, to be heard, and to be loved. Without his best friend and “guy in the chair”, Peter loses the closest thing he has to a brother. Removing the woman that he loves, MJ, from his life, Peter will feel a heartbreaking emptiness inside that cannot be easily filled. Not to mention, his classmates, his teachers, and the deli owner from Queens (Mr. Delmar) will all forget him. It’s going to be a tough go for Parker moving forward.

The effect of Social Anxiety Disorder with the final spell in Spiderman No Way Home

If Peter Parker had Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), then his request to have everyone forget him could be considered bittersweet (to a degree at least). Someone with SAD does not feel comfortable being known and seen by everyone. Being famous leads to being watched and observed by everyone, everywhere you go. People taking photo’s and video’s of you while you’re just trying to go to class or walk down the street isn’t a pleasant feeling for someone with SAD. So to have everyone forget the identity of Spiderman as Peter Parker would be a great relief. It would have been a relief anyway because Peter’s life became quite hectic once his identity was revealed. But in the context of social anxiety, this was a huge help for him.

The 2 Downsides of the spell with Social Anxiety Disorder

Downside #1

The first major downside to Dr. Strange’s spell is that Peter loses his love, MJ. The final spell performed by Dr. Strange which caused everyone to forget Peter Parker exists causes an emptiness and void left behind by MJ as she was removed from his life. Losing someone special is always very difficult and heartbreaking. It creates a void inside your heart that needs to be filled. The heart craves love and when you lose it (like Parker lost MJ), you want to eventually replace it relieve the pain of emptiness inside.

Someone with SAD has an incredibly difficult time meeting someone new and, even more so, dating. If Peter Parker had SAD, he would have a very difficult time meeting another woman. SAD sufferers have trouble meeting new people, particularly in a romantic sense. The feeling of anxiety and fear of embarrassing oneself becomes too difficult to handle and they just end up avoiding the idea entirely. It would take a lot of time for Peter to fill the hole in his heart that was left behind by losing MJ. Not only because he wouldn’t be ready to move on from her for a long time, but also because Social Anxiety Disorder would prevent him from meeting/dating another woman. That is not an easy thing to live with.

Downside #2

The second downside to the spell performed by Dr. Strange is to have everyone forget that Peter Parker even existed. This would be pushing it, even for someone with Social Anxiety Disorder. Although people with SAD prefer to be seen less, they don’t want to be completely unnoticed by their friends and family. As I mentioned above, humans are social creatures and want to have closeness with some people. Parker loses that closeness, thus creating a bigger emptiness for him. And since SAD makes it very difficult to meet new people/new friends, Peter would be living with that emptiness for longer than he should. That is what makes SAD so awful for people. It takes away the basic human nature of being social and interacting with others.

The point

In Spiderman No Way Home, Social Anxiety Disorder will just amplify the effects of Dr. Strange’s spell on Peter Parker. It makes it so much more difficult to fill the void of being loved which is craved so often by the heart. Additionally, since SAD makes it hard to meet and interact with new people, you end up feeling lonely for a much longer time than if you didn’t have SAD. Thankfully Peter Parker doesn’t have SAD, but if he did then he’d have to endure the difficulties of extended loneliness.