Spider-Man: Far From Home: Use the Power of Contrast

Stories are powerful. They can make someone cry, repent, laugh, and even skip for joy. So it’s a shame when a story doesn’t reach its full potential and neglects to make their reader feel anything. Even stories that have loveable characters and a varied plotline, or even have a strong, wholesome theme, can still fail to have an emotional resonance with their reader. Many writers tend to dig into the gritty details of writing, making sure their plot and characters perfectly align with their theme, making sure their prose is written well, etc. And these are all important things, but they can make you forget the passion that’s driving the story in the first place. It’s all too easy to neglect the emotional core that’s fueling the story and making the story mean something to its recipients. 

So how can you make sure your reader is emotionally connected? How do you ensure that your interesting plotline, important theme, and conflicted characters are more than just intellectually stimulating? How can you leave them feeling something by the end of the day? 

The answer lies in the heartfelt Marvel movie Spiderman: No Way Home.

Spiderman: No Way Home

With all of their explosions, car-flips, and insane use of weaponry, action movies have the reputation of creating incredible, exciting action scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat. However, they often forget to work on any other emotion than fear or thrill. However, Spiderman: No Way Home, along with many other Marvel movies, is the exception.

No Way Home starts right where the previous Spiderman film left off. Peter Parker’s identity has just been revealed, and now he’s public enemy #1. Suddenly, his bright future is destroyed and it seems he’ll never be able to get into a good college, let alone find a way for his friends to get in somewhere. So Peter comes up with a plan and asks his powerful magician friend, Dr. Strange, to brainwash the whole world so it’ll be like nothing ever happened. 

But the spell doesn’t go as planned, and a misunderstanding causes different realities to begin colliding into Peter’s. Now it’s up to him and his two best friends to round up and return the alternate villains that have arrived on their doorstep. The three of them constantly poke fun at the various characters from other Spiderman franchises and always find reasons to laugh despite the collapsing universe around them. Witty jokes are exchanged, thrilling chase scenes ensue, and soon enough two-thirds of the movie have flown by.

But just when things seem to be getting back to normal, the trio is attacked and Peter’s aunt dies in his arms. The last section of the movie deals with grief, guilt, and revenge. Although there’s still plenty of action and a handful of humor, the mood isn’t the same. The world is a bit darker than before.

And soon enough, reality is on the very edge of collapsing for good. All because of Peter. Now he’s forced to make a decision: He could either keep trying to find other ways to fix the problems he’s caused, or face them head on, save countless lives, but also make all his loved ones forget him in the process. 

As you can imagine, Peter makes the right decision. However, it means that both his best friend and his girlfriend will forget that he ever existed. As he says goodbye, he promises that he’ll find them again and make them remember him. His girlfriend tells him that she loves him, but when he tries to say it back, she whispers: “No, not yet. Tell it to me when you find me again.” 

The Magical Technique of Contrast

And just like that, this witty action movie has moved its audience to tears. Despite all the destroyed buildings, the damaged cars, and all the crazy superpowers in between, despite all the hilarious moments in this film, the ending is still heartbreaking. 

Why? Because it used contrasting moods. The premise of the movie itself is fairly innocent and simple: Peter just wants to get into a college with his friends, so he tries to use magic to fix all his problems and things go wrong. Even when they’re staring at a bunch of scary villains in the face, Peter and his friends exchange witty jokes with each other. The movie is fun and lighthearted, with a bit of fast-paced action to boot. 

However, when Peter sacrifices his last hope of a normal life in the end, the audience is hit hard. Everything had been so cheery and hopeful in the beginning, but now that things have completely changed, watching Peter lose his friends hurts so much more. 

Contrast is why Marvel productions like Endgame and Agents of Shield are such a huge success, while other films seem to fail. Even the MCU has made its mistakes. Captain Marvel was all action with no strength and Guardians of the Galaxy was only pure comedy. No Way Home hits so hard because of this simple rule: The dark parts of your story make the light parts shine brighter and vice versa. 

If this whole movie was nothing but gritty gore, meaningful interactions, and emotional character moments, the last scene wouldn’t have meant as much. It was because the rest of the movie was so pure that the ending was so sad. 

And you don’t just have to contrast light and dark to make an impact. If you have a stressful climax coming up, contrast it with a moment to relax. If you have an optimistic character, give them depressed parents or siblings. 

Contrast generates emotional reactions. Write a book against a dark night sky so that the firework-moments of your book shine even brighter. Make your readers laugh before turning them right back around and forcing them to their knees. Craft a story with a wide range of emotions, and each one will create an impact that your readers will never forget!

Let us know in the comments:

What movies have you seen use contrasting concepts to create a strong emotional impact? What elements do you plan to contrast in your WIP?