The first superhero film I ever watched was 2001’s Spider-Man, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire. It had such a profound effect on me as a youngster resulting in Spider-Man always being my favourite superhero. Come the dawn of the 2010’s Spider-Man was rebooted by director Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield, these films never really got off the ground because they were only created to fulfil contractual obligations, but even then I enjoyed them a lot, warts and all. But once Spidey was brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2015’s Captain America: Civil War with Tom Holland portraying the youngest live-action web head to date things seemed hopeful that we might have a Peter Parker that lasts more than just a couple of films. But following a troubled development following disputes between Marvel and Sony, the third Tom Holland MCU Spider-Man solo film has finally come to fruition. Does it recapture that childhood joy I have always had for the character, or is the film too concentrated on trying to truly establish the framework for Phase Four of the MCU?
Following Mysterio’s death at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, No Way Home opens with Peter’s (Tom Holland) identity revealed and him trying to protect his friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) from the public backlash he is facing. Stripped of the majority of the technology left to him by Tony Stark, and unable to live a normal life, Peter approaches Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to perform a spell that will make the world forget he is Spider-Man. But when Peter interferes with the spell, he cracks open the multi-verse and is faced with countless new foes who have fought him in other universes.
Following Mysterio’s death at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, No Way Home opens with Peter’s (Tom Holland) identity revealed and him trying to protect his friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) from the public backlash he is facing. Stripped of the majority of the technology left to him by Tony Stark, and unable to live a normal life, Peter approaches Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to perform a spell that will make the world forget he is Spider-Man. But when Peter interferes with the spell, he cracks open the multi-verse and is faced with countless new foes who have fought him in other universes.
That’s really all I can say about No Way Home without delving into what the film contains, but I think it’s safe to say that this is by far the most ambitious MCU solo film ever made. Discounting the Avengers films, No Way Home has arguably the most complex narrative of any MCU film, as well as having the broadest reaching implications.
What can I talk about without going into spoilers? Well Tom Holland is simply fantastic as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Whilst he has definitely proved in the likes of Homecoming & Far From Home that he is capable of being the leading man in a superhero film, No Way Home really allows him to flex those dramatic muscles he’s been building up outside of the MCU in the past few years. This story takes the character to some very dark places and Holland’s performance feels like a natural progression from where Far From Home left off, as well as giving the character a true origin story of sorts (strange to say I know as this marks the sixth film Holland has appeared as Spider-Man in, but believe me when I say come the end of this film he truly is Spider-MAN, and not just the friendly neighbourhood variety). Zendaya is also fantastic and the scenes she and Holland share are genuinely emotional as we finally get to see the two characters connect on a personal level.
But the star of the show is Willem Dafoe who reprises his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin from the 2001 Sam Raimi Spider-Man. As was showcased in the trailer, No Way Home’s villains are indeed from the previous Spider-Man films and whilst both Jamie Foxx and Alfred Molina as Electro & Doctor Octopus respectively are both good, Dafoe just knocks it out of the park. His performance as Goblin was always a bit campy, but when you think about the characters fragile mental state it totally makes sense and he just runs with it.
There are some things I wasn’t too keen on. Most notably I was disappointed with the films CGI special effects. I felt like there were numerous times where I could clearly see that the actor wasn’t attached to the ground on which they were standing, or the lighting on some objects didn’t look quite right. However, once the major CG set pieces kick in, like the sequence with a Doctor Strange and a train shown in the trailer (which is just one of many incredible action sequences), it can be really good so it’s more just inconsistent in quality than all bad.
Plus, then there’s the matter of that there are too many villains. This is a complaint that was levelled at both Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 and Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 (for having three villains each), so it’s a shame to see No Way Home also suffer the same fate (with this time having a whopping five villains)…however considering that all the villains have been introduced before (outside of the MCU) if you have seen those films then the film may not feel quite as crowded. Plus, unlike those films, these villains are (mostly) given ample screen time to actually add to their respective characters.
What can I talk about without going into spoilers? Well Tom Holland is simply fantastic as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Whilst he has definitely proved in the likes of Homecoming & Far From Home that he is capable of being the leading man in a superhero film, No Way Home really allows him to flex those dramatic muscles he’s been building up outside of the MCU in the past few years. This story takes the character to some very dark places and Holland’s performance feels like a natural progression from where Far From Home left off, as well as giving the character a true origin story of sorts (strange to say I know as this marks the sixth film Holland has appeared as Spider-Man in, but believe me when I say come the end of this film he truly is Spider-MAN, and not just the friendly neighbourhood variety). Zendaya is also fantastic and the scenes she and Holland share are genuinely emotional as we finally get to see the two characters connect on a personal level.
But the star of the show is Willem Dafoe who reprises his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin from the 2001 Sam Raimi Spider-Man. As was showcased in the trailer, No Way Home’s villains are indeed from the previous Spider-Man films and whilst both Jamie Foxx and Alfred Molina as Electro & Doctor Octopus respectively are both good, Dafoe just knocks it out of the park. His performance as Goblin was always a bit campy, but when you think about the characters fragile mental state it totally makes sense and he just runs with it.
There are some things I wasn’t too keen on. Most notably I was disappointed with the films CGI special effects. I felt like there were numerous times where I could clearly see that the actor wasn’t attached to the ground on which they were standing, or the lighting on some objects didn’t look quite right. However, once the major CG set pieces kick in, like the sequence with a Doctor Strange and a train shown in the trailer (which is just one of many incredible action sequences), it can be really good so it’s more just inconsistent in quality than all bad.
Plus, then there’s the matter of that there are too many villains. This is a complaint that was levelled at both Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 and Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 (for having three villains each), so it’s a shame to see No Way Home also suffer the same fate (with this time having a whopping five villains)…however considering that all the villains have been introduced before (outside of the MCU) if you have seen those films then the film may not feel quite as crowded. Plus, unlike those films, these villains are (mostly) given ample screen time to actually add to their respective characters.
From here on out I’m going full spoilers though, so you have been warned. So, I expected No Way Home to act as a pseudo-Sinister Six film considering Sony never managed to make that film see the light of day despite being reasonably far into planning. However, No Way Home instead takes an interesting turn in that Peter banishes Doctor Strange to a magical realm near the start of the second act and rather than sending the villains back home he wants to help them become better people in the hope that when they do return to their own universes they may survive their encounters with their respective Spider-Man. It’s a very clever way to allow these villains to have considerably more screen time than they otherwise normally would and allows many of them to get closure where their film didn’t allow for it.
Then there is the elephant (or elephants) in the room. For months there had been speculation as to whether Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would reprise their roles as the previous big screen iterations of Peter Parker for this film, and the answer is a definitive yes, they do. I have to say when they appeared I was initially a little apprehensive about how it would all go. But I’m thrilled to say that for both actors it worked excellently, and what they do within the context of the story also works fantastically. I do however wish they had been brought in slightly earlier, they don’t appear until the beginning of act three and by that point the film is already starting to wrap up.
I loved how elements of both previous Spider-Men’s stories were revisited for this final act and were used to develop Holland’s Spider-Man without the need to revisit those kinds of storylines in the future. It also allowed, particularly for Garfield’s iteration of Spider-Man, for some much-needed closure on the characters. With Raimi having envisioned making a Spider-Man 4, and Webb an Amazing Spider-Man 3, both of which never happened, both characters were left with room to develop their characters. But No Way Home allows those plot threads that were left loose to be neatly tied up in a way that fans of those films will most certainly appreciate, and that ultimately develop Holland’s Parker too.
No Way Home is, without a doubt, the superhero film equivalent to a greatest hits’ album. Every few minutes the film was calling back to Spider-Man films of old and all of it was fan service and designed to get a roaring reaction out of you. This kind of filmmaking I have drew issue with before, most recently with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but the way No Way Home handles this is by making the throwbacks an integral part of the story and not just a reference for the sake of it. The returning characters are not just cameos, they are fully fledged characters that pick up where they left off a decade or more ago; and the way they shape Holland’s Peter to not only grow within the remits of his own established character arc, but also adopt a lot of the development seen in the previous film franchises makes Holland’s Peter the most emotionally diverse and experienced Spider-Man we have ever seen in live action.
Spider-Man: No Way Home takes a lot of cues from the animated Into the Spider-Verse and that’s no bad thing. However, much like 2012’s Avengers Assemble, this Spider-Man film ultimately only succeeds on the strength of every previous live action Spider-Man film before it. The reason why this film is great, is because the other Spider-Man films are great, and if you don’t enjoy Spider-Man then this will be a total waste of time for you. But if like me you adore Spider-Man and have done for years, then No Way Home is everything you could want from a Spider-Man film.
This is exactly the kind of film that Phase Four of the MCU needed. Following a string of underwhelming and mostly isolated adventures, Spider-Man: No Way Home brings the MCU back with a bang and sets the stage for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to truly blow the proverbial lid off the multi-verse box.
Then there is the elephant (or elephants) in the room. For months there had been speculation as to whether Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would reprise their roles as the previous big screen iterations of Peter Parker for this film, and the answer is a definitive yes, they do. I have to say when they appeared I was initially a little apprehensive about how it would all go. But I’m thrilled to say that for both actors it worked excellently, and what they do within the context of the story also works fantastically. I do however wish they had been brought in slightly earlier, they don’t appear until the beginning of act three and by that point the film is already starting to wrap up.
I loved how elements of both previous Spider-Men’s stories were revisited for this final act and were used to develop Holland’s Spider-Man without the need to revisit those kinds of storylines in the future. It also allowed, particularly for Garfield’s iteration of Spider-Man, for some much-needed closure on the characters. With Raimi having envisioned making a Spider-Man 4, and Webb an Amazing Spider-Man 3, both of which never happened, both characters were left with room to develop their characters. But No Way Home allows those plot threads that were left loose to be neatly tied up in a way that fans of those films will most certainly appreciate, and that ultimately develop Holland’s Parker too.
No Way Home is, without a doubt, the superhero film equivalent to a greatest hits’ album. Every few minutes the film was calling back to Spider-Man films of old and all of it was fan service and designed to get a roaring reaction out of you. This kind of filmmaking I have drew issue with before, most recently with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but the way No Way Home handles this is by making the throwbacks an integral part of the story and not just a reference for the sake of it. The returning characters are not just cameos, they are fully fledged characters that pick up where they left off a decade or more ago; and the way they shape Holland’s Peter to not only grow within the remits of his own established character arc, but also adopt a lot of the development seen in the previous film franchises makes Holland’s Peter the most emotionally diverse and experienced Spider-Man we have ever seen in live action.
Spider-Man: No Way Home takes a lot of cues from the animated Into the Spider-Verse and that’s no bad thing. However, much like 2012’s Avengers Assemble, this Spider-Man film ultimately only succeeds on the strength of every previous live action Spider-Man film before it. The reason why this film is great, is because the other Spider-Man films are great, and if you don’t enjoy Spider-Man then this will be a total waste of time for you. But if like me you adore Spider-Man and have done for years, then No Way Home is everything you could want from a Spider-Man film.
This is exactly the kind of film that Phase Four of the MCU needed. Following a string of underwhelming and mostly isolated adventures, Spider-Man: No Way Home brings the MCU back with a bang and sets the stage for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to truly blow the proverbial lid off the multi-verse box.