Spider-man is one of the most loved Marvel comic book characters, with three different movie franchises portraying three different iterations of Spider-man. The latest Spider-man trilogy focuses on Peter Parker, portrayed by Tom Holland, exploring high school problems while trying to stop local crime as well as fighting alongside Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers while they tackle universal threats.
The latest film in Tom Holland’s Spider-man trilogy, “Spider-man: No Way Home,” follows Peter Parker in his struggles to keep his superhero identity and personal life separate, while also coping with extreme changes to his life. With his identity revealed at the end of the previous Spider-man film, “Spider-man: Far From Home,” Parker faces extreme backlash from the public over allegedly killing Mysterio, portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal. With tabloid newspaper The Daily Bugle and host J Jonah Jameson stoking the flames, what the public doesn’t realize is that Mysterio was not the people’s hero that they thought he was, but rather a villain trying to get revenge on Stark Industries.
With his identity as Spider-man revealed, Parker and his friends face new struggles with fame and controversy while also day-to-day issues, like getting into college and exploring newfound relationships. To try to return to a semi-normal life, Parker goes to see Dr. Strange, a sorcerer who he fought alongside in the “Avengers: Infinity War” franchise, to see if he could cast a spell to return his life to normal. As a compromise, Dr. Strange casts a spell to make everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-man, but the spell becomes unstable due to Parker’s accidental meddling and nearly breaks the universe. While the spell is contained, villains from other Spider-man universes begin to leak into Tom Holland’s Spider-man universe.
“Spider-man: No Way Home” may have been the most anticipated Spider-man movie yet, if not the most anticipated Marvel film. Fans crashed ticket sale websites worldwide as theaters began selling seats for opening night. Sites like Fandango, AMC and Regal, as well as smaller movie theater chains, succumbed to the massive demand of fans that had not been seen since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. This movie’s huge buildup is in part due to the character’s massive cinematic success over the course of decades, but also because actors from other Spider-man franchises were confirmed to be returning to reprise their roles.
I was lucky enough to get opening night tickets to see this film, and I’m glad I did, as spoilers were rampant on the internet the following day. Seeing the movie in the theater was as much of an experience as just watching the movie was. Fans screamed, cried, clapped and laughed together. It was truly cathartic watching the film tie together all of fans’ many questions surrounding the multiverse and how it concerned Spider-man’s character, as Spider-man has been through many different cinematic changes over the years.
It was great seeing some previous actors return to reprise their roles from different Spider-man franchises, such as Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin, Alfred Molina as Doc Ock and Jamie Foxx as Electro, among others. While rumors swirled about other special appearances and even other Spider-mans, to remain spoiler free and from my own personal recommendation, you’ll have to see the movie yourself to find out.
