WARNING: CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS
Like every other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fanatic out there, I was so excited to see the new Spider-Man movie, “No Way Home.” I even re-watched all the different Spider-Man films in order to prepare (yes, even Andrew Garfield’s). I am no professional film critic, but as someone who has seen all of these movies, my thoughts are as follows:
First of all, this is one of the only times that I have avoided all, and I mean ALL, spoilers, by any means necessary. I don’t really like to be surprised, so usually when I can’t see an MCU film the night it comes out, I don’t actively ignore seeing everything. For some reason, that was not the case this time. I muted words on Twitter, I didn’t use TikTok and I tried not to read any tabloids. I genuinely had no idea what to expect… other than the common theory that the other Spider-Mans would make an appearance.
Let me back up for a second. I assume that if you are reading this, you have some idea of the MCU and the past Spider-Mans, but just in case you don’t, let me provide a short summary:
Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man is what most consider the original. With three movies released from 2002 to 2007, he plays Peter Parker, and the villains he faces are the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and the Sandman. Other supporting characters in the films are Mary-Jane (his love interest), played by Kirsten Dunst, and Harry (his best friend turned villain), played by James Franco.
Andrew Garfield’s “The Amazing” Spider-Man was a little different of a take, with two films released in 2012 and 2014. His love interest was Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, and he didn’t really have a best friend. The villains he defeated were Lizard, Electro and another Green Goblin.
Finally, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is the most recent rendition. His character is a young high school student who is recruited by the Avengers. He is supported by his girlfriend MJ, played by Zendaya, and his best friend Ned, played by Jacob Batalon. His character has fought multiple villains with the avengers, but on his own, we have seen him face the Vulture and Mysterio.
Okay, now that we are all caught up, let’s get to the review.
First of all, amazing movie. In addition to the usual MCU humor, I found it to be thought- and emotion-provoking, and well done by all the actors involved. The plot revolves around the multi-verse and how the other two Spider-Man universes begin to converge with Tom Holland’s. Thus, he ends up in a tangle with the previous antagonists, so we see (almost) all the villains from the other Spider-Mans. It was very exciting stuff.
This movie was stuck in my head like a song for two weeks after I saw it … I could not stop thinking about it.
Maybe I’m over-emotional, but it’s the truth. There were two things that had me actually (and embarrassingly) silent-sobbing in the theatre. One, obviously, was the death of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). When I tell you, I had not even an inkling that this was going to happen … and that’s coming from someone who is usually good at predicting plots. I was so shocked; I could not believe my eyes. They really convinced me she’d be okay for a second when she got up and was talking to Peter. But, as soon as she said the words “with great power…” I knew she was done for. So yeah, that tugged on the heartstrings. Number two was just the end in general. The fact that everyone in the world was made to forget about Peter Parker (for those who haven’t seen it, I mean literally memory erased), got me good. Something about the fact that he went from a fairly normal kid, to completely alone, broke my heart. But, I can’t deny that this was good writing and an engaging plotline. I guess I will just have to reason that his character needed this to grow … I hope.
I don’t want to end on a sad note though, so let’s get back to the actors. I was excited to see not only Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus) and Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin) reprise their roles, but yes, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were involved too. It was quite adorable to see the three Spider-Man’s interacting and comparing their different, albeit similar, life stories. Also, of course, I love to see Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon as their iconic trio, “Friends of Spiderman.” I think enjoying their characters is part of what made the whole everyone-forgetting-Peter thing so sad.
I don’t know, it was just a good movie. I highly recommend everyone to watch it, and I will say, it does help to brush up on all of the prior Spider-Man films. It may not be completely necessary, but I definitely would have been a little lost if I hadn’t.
I’m no professional, but 10/10 for me!