Let’s be honest, Spider-Man: No Way Home definitely took the world by storm when it came out in December. It was arguably one of the most anticipated movies of the year. I know it was for me! And I am so happy to say that it lived up to the hype. Now that the movie has been out for a few weeks, and I think most people know the major spoilers, I’m finally writing my review. I know I don’t review movies often, but occasionally! The last one I probably reviewed was Spider-Man: Far From Home.
My playlist for this month was also dedicated to Spider-Man: No Way Home. There’s so much to love about this movie! Be warned, if you haven’t seen it yet, there will be spoilers galore in this review. Bookmark my review and come back later and see if you agree! Honestly, I’ve watched a lot of video reviews on TikTok and am planning on seeing the movie again shortly. I don’t think that will change any of my opinions, though!
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man
I’m not sure if I’ve talked about it here before, but Tom Holland is probably my favorite Spider-Man. He was young enough, and he just embodies both Peter Parker and Spider-Man so well. I enjoyed the fact that they really focused on Peter as a teenager because I felt that was something the previous movies were lacking. Looking across the three movies, I loved the arc they took for Peter in the MCU. He starts out just wanted to be a hero, and then Infinity War happens. Then he just wants to be a normal kid, struggling to balance his identity and his personal life. In this movie? He finally gets the darker, gritty side that’s generally associated with Spider-Man.
In the MCU, a lot of people thought Iron Man was a replacement for Uncle Ben. Boy, were we wrong. Aunt May’s death is almost more impactful in this instance because we had an emotional connection to her. With her gone, Peter is truly alone in the world. And it’s her death that sparks his larger sacrifice at the end, to protect those he loves. Let me just say, Tom Holland’s acting here was also pure gold. You can feel his emotions on the screen, you can feel the inner turmoil. That man can seriously act!
This movie also allows his character to go back to his roots, which is part of the reason why I want to at least see him in one more movie. To be able to see the reprecussions of what happened after No Way Home, to see where Tom Holland can go with this character that basically has a clean slate. While this story arc is complete, I don’t think his journey is quite complete yet.
Mutliversal Fun
One thing MCU movies have consistently been criticized for is their villain problem. Villains are never fleshed out enough, they aren’t complex enough. Aside from a few exceptions, they not usually memorable. In this movie, we get villains that we’ve seen before. So, there was no need to spend movie time giving them characterization. The audience is already familiar with them. The fact that Peter is going to try to save all of them? Classic Spider-Man move.
Also we’ve gotten this far and I haven’t mentioned that TobeyMaguire and Andrew Garfield are in the movie! It was like a secret that wasn’t really a secret. Like, I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much, but when they showed up. Man, that was a moment. Both of them did a great job, with Andrew Garfield getting a slight edge over Tobey Maguire. Mostly because he never really got closure for his character. That moment where he saved MJ? So emotional.
Willem DaFoe also did a fantastic job as the Goblin, as we knew he would. Honestly, this whole cast just made the moive. The writing, the cinematography, the music. Absolutely one of Marvel’s best movies to date. If not the best movie.
Other Cameos
We got a Daredevil cameo as well! Hopefully this means that there will be more Charlie Cox/Matt Murdock in the future. Also makes me want to re-watch the show on Netflix. I actually might do that sometime in the near future because it’s probably the best Marvel Netflix show. At least, looking over all three seasons.
There’s also a tease of Venom at the end of this movie, and I’m definitely interested in seeing where Marvel and Sony go next. I think they have a lot of potential with what they’ve done with this movie, and I can’t wait to see it. Plus, we still get Spider-Verse movies with Miles, and I’m excited for those, too. So much Spider-Man stuff; what a time to be alive.
Final Thoughts
If you can’t tell, I absolutely loved this movie. It just worked well on so many levels. And creates an interesting new direction for Spider-Man in future MCU appearances. Seriousy, I can’t wait to see where they go with it. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is completely alone, going back to Spider-Man’s original roots. If that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will.
I feel like this whole thing could have been avoided if he got in touch with the skrull and have one of them go around as “peter parker” like they did for nick fury since age of ultron
Hmmm maybe. Not quite sure how that would work, but part of the point of Peter’s character in the MCU up until now was that he’s a teenager who doesn’t always think through their choices and the consequences. And they definitely did that brilliantly. Across the three movies we get a beautiful coming of age arc, and it works so well in bringing Peter/Spider-Man back to his roots.