Spoilers Ahead!
For anyone who has talked to me for more than four minutes, knows that the Marvel universe is my universe. More than anyone, I was super excited to watch the new Spider-man movie, No Way Home, starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jacob Batalon. (Spoiler: also, TOBEY MAGUIRE AND ANDREW GARFIELD!). I prepared myself by watching the entire Spider-man trilogies and ate up every fact that I needed to know to fully experience the movie.
Indeed, this movie was worth the wait and I could not have imagined a better storyline for Tom’s Spider-man. So, obviously, I had to sit down and write all the takeaways that the Spider-man series have to offer.
For better understanding, I will be referring to all Spider-mans as their real names instead of Peter Parker or Spider-man.
Main villains will always circle back
Okay. What? Were you prepared for this? Because I was not! Nothing could have prepared me to watch the classic Green Goblin back on screen again. Without giving too much away from the plot, I can say that nothing goes under your skin like an old-time villain. And just like the Green Goblin in the new movie does not fail from being the best at the worst, so do most of our weaknesses that we shove into the closet until they decide to crawl back out. Tobey decided to get rid of this weakness by approaching it head-on, but Tom makes effort to understand it first. And somewhere down the line, that is what we all need to do with our weaknesses as well. Instead of trying to kill them off, we need to understand them.
Always have a place to get into your thinking-zone
This one is quite simple. Tobey finds peace on top of the Chrysler Building, Andrew finds it on the Empire State Building, and Tom on the roof of his high school in Queens. They all go there to rewind, cope with everything they are going through — the death of an uncle, girlfriend, and aunt. And just like that, we all have to find that one place, where we can go and relax and simply process a day’s worth of work. P.S. This place can be your bed too!
“With great power, comes great responsibility”
Uncle Ben said it to Tobey, Gwen said it to Andrew, and Aunt May to Tom. Just because they have a responsibility to save the world does make our responsibilities any lighter. We all have mountains of work and assignments, yet we all, just like the three, persevere. We are all gifted with a power that the other does not possess. We all have qualities that others do not, so to successfully maneuver our capabilities, we have to lock heads with the responsibility to never let that power die out or take over good intentions.
The multiverse does exist
You are telling me that three Spider-mans can exist but not three me’s? You are saying that there can be thousands of worlds where someone is going through the same things as you, fighting the same villains? Well, let me tell you that finding a multiverse is much harder than simply looking right next to you. In this movie, Tom, and the other two Spider-mans go through eternities trying to find a companion. But, when I tell you that all you need to do is look a little closer in your surroundings, you will find an alternative universe, where someone is living the same life as you, would you believe me?
Your kindness is a reflection of you, not others
Spider-man: No Way Home breaks your heart when you see Tom lose faith in his power to do the right thing and set the villains from the multiverse free from their fate (to die). As things keep getting out of control of Tom’s hands, he loses sense of what is right or wrong. But that is when he remembers Aunt May’s last words. He remembers that it is really up to him to decide what type of person he wants to be and not in the hands of the villains that surround him. And just like Tom, we all need to find that one good thing to grab on to and just hold on to it tight. Circumstances and life will try to Green-Goblin their way into our lives, but we need to reach for the spidey sense of staying true to ourselves.
Your Ned and MJ will always find their way to you
Ned and MJ were my favorite characters from this movie. While we get the corner-of-our-seat action scenes from Spidey and the villains, Ned and MJ truly serve the nerd in me. I loved to see Tom’s Peter having a solid support system and, believe it or not, actually smarter than his friends. In life too, I think we are always looking for our Neds and MJs. All we want is people who understand us and will help us hunt down Electro. And just like the movie ends with MJ left with a tingling sense of recognition of Tom, you will too cross paths with a Ned and an MJ, who will grab onto you as you fly across New York City!
Marvel has accounted for a huge amount of my childhood, well, also even now, but I think watching their movies teaches more about life than any other movie. Even though it is always fun to sit back and watch the action-packed Marvel movies, watching them for the easy life lessons, is officially my new hobby.