Spider-man: No Way Home Review

Spider-man is a character that needs little introduction. He is one of Marvel’s most famous characters and has been popular across many forms of media. His third film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe is his biggest yet.

Spider-man: No Way Home picks up where Spider-man: Far From Home left off with Spider-man’s identity being revealed to the world by J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons). Even worse for Peter Parker (Tom Holland), he has been accused of murdering Mysterio. Peter and his friends suffer from the consequences, leading to Peter asking Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell to erase the world’s memory of recent events. However, this action opens up the Multiverse and Spider-man has to hunt down villains from other universes who were teleported into New York.

Since Avengers: Endgame the big question has been how will the MCU continue? The Avengers were able to restore half the universe, Thanos was defeated and the Infinity Stones were destroyed, but at the cost of losing some important Avengers. It would have been a perfect conclusion to the franchise. However, Marvel has plans involving the Multiverse.

The Multiverse is nothing new to Marvel. There have been Multiverse stories in the comics and characters from alternative universes for a long time. The MCU has made references to the Multiverse in Endgame and Spider-man: Far From Home before fully exploring it in Loki. Spider-man himself has been in numerous Multiverse stories like the final arc of the ‘90s animated series, the video game Shattered Dimensions, and most obviously the excellent Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse. The success of Into the Spider-verse must have influenced this production.

The finale of Loki’s first season ended with the Multiverse being opened up. However, seeing Loki wasn’t a requirement to watch No Way Home. This film made it seem like Doctor Strange opened the Multiverse because of the spell Peter ruined. The events of Loki didn’t matter.

No Way Home leaned more on Spider-man films of the past. It brought back villains from the previous versions of the franchises. No Way Home brought back Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), The Green Goblin (Willem Defoe) and Electro (Jamie Foxx), villains who were confirmed in the trailers or press announcements. Other characters were brought but it can lead to spoilers so they won’t be mentioned in this review.

No Way Home requires knowledge of the Sam Raimi trilogy and The Amazing Spider-man series but it was done in the best way possible. There’s an emotional attachment to these characters, especially the Raimi villains. Sam Raimi liked to make his villains sympathetic, and this was true for Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. He was a Jekyll and Hyde-style character who was fighting the monster inside him. Norman was shown to be a decent man trying his best whilst The Green Goblin was at his evillest in the cinematic universe.

No Way Home had to combine different styles in one film. There is the light-hearted nature of the MCU that fans have come to know and the more emotional storytelling of the other cinematic Spider-man series. Emotion was lacking in the last Spider-man film and No Way Home brought Spider-man back to his roots. He has to work by himself for most of the film; he’s not working with The Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. and when Doctor Strange’s intentions were revealed he became more of a foe.

No Way Home brought back more of Peter Parker’s emotional trials. There was a focus on his relationships and his mission was more than just stopping the bad guys. He was trying to find a solution that was more than just violence. It had the best elements of the Spider-man character because it had personal struggles and having to find a scientific solution to defeat the villains. No Way Home had one of the most powerful endings in the MCU.

Because the film used elements of the previous versions of the franchise it had a nostalgic feel to it. Audiences got to meet some classic characters and feel memorable musical cues, especially Danny Elfman’s themes. No Way Home had fangasm moments that could match Endgame. It was enough to please me.

No Way Home was a love letter of all things Spider-man and it was a treat for comic book fans. It can stand with Spider-man 2 and Into the Spider-verse as one of the best Spider-man films. However, it’s so deep with lore that newcomers will be lost.