Spider-Man: No Way Home

After his identity is exposed, and the world turns against him, Peter Parker turns to Doctor Strange for help. Unfotunately, the spell cracks the multiverse, pulling muliple villains, as well as other versions of Spider-Man, into Peter’s world.

First off, just to get it out of the way...

Anyone who is still complaining, in the year 2026, that the films of the MCU crosses-over with itself is a stupid asshole. It’s been nearly 20 years at this point, you fucking dummy, when are you going to admit that this is a feature, not a bug? If you really don't like it that much, then you should either stop watching, or start shutting the fuck up.

I bring this up right away at the start because A. Fuck you. Obviously. And B. Spider-man: No Way Home is definition of an MCU meta-multiversal-crossover movie. The definition of one. It's the entire film. If Spider-man isn't hanging out with other MCU characters in this movie, he's hanging out with Marvel characters from other Spider-man movies. So that means, if crossovers and multiverses and meta-commentary are your personal bugaboo, you should go do something else. Seriously. It's fine. I'm not going to claim I'll miss you, but seriously, it's totally fine if this shit isn't up your alley and you'd rather not, so you decide to go do something else. It's fine. It’s more than fine.

But with that having now been said, if you're still here later on, and you’re still complaining that water is wet, it's because you're dumb.

Don’t be dumb.

Now, with that out of the way, in preparation for watching Spider-Man: Brand New Day, I decided to revisit this film. Let's talk about it.

The Various Characters, And From Whence They Come

Damage Control

In the wake of the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, following the events of the film The Winter Soldier, The Department of Damage Control, AKA the DODC, or simply Damage Control, is the federal agency that is responsible for dealing with enhanced conflicts. Initially tasked with cleaning up super-powered fights, as well as confiscating and securing any and all advanced or alien technology, artifacts, or biological matter left on the battlefield, recently their jurisdiction was expanded to include the apprehending and/or neutralizing of any rogue enhanced individuals. In a nutshell, they're the federal cops that deal with anything that involves superheroes and supervillains.

They're usually big d-bags too.

Doctor Octopus

Doctor Otto Octavius is a brilliant scientist, a hopeless romantic, a lover of poetry, and the inventor of an experimental reactor that would place the power of the sun in the palm of his hand. He also invented a set of mechanical limbs in order to aid him in his experiments. Unfortunately, as a result of a lab accident, the tentacles fused to his body and the A.I. running the tentacles corrupted his brain, which can happen. Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock, clashed with Spider-Man 2 multiple times before a final climatic battle where he drowned with his experimental reactor.

More recently, Doctor Octopus was accidentally pulled through the Multiverse, and into Peter 1's universe, due to Doctor Strange's failed spell, where the various Spider-men attempt to free him from his AI shackles.

He's the best cinematic spider-villain.

Green Goblin

Doctor Norman Osborn is somewhat of a scientist himself, as well as the CEO of Oscorp, which makes advanced weapons for the military in his universe, much like Tony Stark does in the main one. But frustrated by a lack of governement support, Osborn decided to experiment on himself with an untested enhancement serum he was developing, which caused him to develop an psychotic alter ego known as The Green Goblin. With the Goblin in control, he took a bunch of weapons, like a weird suit of armor, a flying platform, and bombs in the shape of pumpkins, and went on a murderous rampage, which led to him not only fighting Spider-Man 2, but trying to kill Spidey's loved ones as well, and their resulting climactic battle ended with Osborn's death.

Like Doctor Octopus, Osborn was recently resurrected and pulled across the Multiverse into Peter 1's universe, due to Doctor Strange's failed spell, where the various Spider-men decide to try to cure him of the cruel yoke of the Goblin.

But the Goblin is an evil snake...

The Lizard

Doctor Curtis "Curt" Connors is yet another brilliant scientist who decided to experiment on himself using an untested serum, with similarly disasterous results. In Dr. Connors' case, he was obsessed with growing a new arm in order to replace his missing one, and ended up turning into a lizard-person after injecting himself with a lizard DNA-based serum, which was clearly a risk from the start. He became known as Lizard, perhaps unsurprisingly, and then, upon realizing how awesome it is to be a lizard-guy is, he decided to try to turn the rest of the human race into lizard-people too.

But then Spider-man 3 beat him up and cured him.

Like the previously mentioned villains, Dr. Connors was pulled through the Multiverse to Peter 1's universe by Doctor Strange's failed spell, where the various Spider-men decided to cure him... again.

Lizard is the least interesting of all the Spider-villains from these movies, which is why this movie doesn't even bother to show him getting captured.

Electro

Maxwell "Max" Dillon is a creepy nerd and former electrical engineer at Oscorp, who gained the ability to manipulate electricity after he fell into a tank of electric eels, which–as is wont to do in comic book worlds–then turned him into a living electric generator. Naming himself Electro, he fought Spider-Man 3, until finally, while attempting to take over the power grid, he overloaded and died.

Dillon was also pulled through the Multiverse to Peter 1's universe by Doctor Strange's failed spell, where the various Spider-men decided to try to cure him, but instead gave him access to one of Iron Man's arc reactors, which was a bad idea.

The film also gave Dillon a bit of a glow-up this time out, both in powers and looks, and basically just hand-waved away the explanation why, but it was obviously due to the fact that in his original appearance, Max Dillon was... off-putting.

Sandman 

Much like Max Dillon, Flint Marko is a crook who gained his powers after he fell into something. In Marko's case, he gained the ability to control and morph into sand after falling into a supercollider. Naturally, he named himself Sandman, and he fought Spider-man 2 multiple times before they reached an understanding.

Marko was also pulled through the Multiverse to Peter 1's universe by Doctor Strange's failed spell, where the various Spider-men decided to try to cure him. He's not all that much of a bad a guy, and mostly just wants to get home to his universe and his daughter. But then, when the shit hits the fan, he sides with the other bad guys against the Spider-men, and the film doesn't really dwell on the why exactly, because his motivations are a bit murky.

Not that it really matters in the end, because the only reason that Flint Marko can say that he’s not the least interesting spider-villain here is because he looks cooler than the Lizard does.

Venom

Venom is a black tar-like alien symbiote, bonded to a man named Eddie Brock, and together, the pair are known as the Lethal Protector. Unlike the others, this version of Venom has never met Spider-man, and until now, was never actually in a Spider-man movie. Like the others, they were pulled through the Multiverse to Peter 1's universe by Doctor Strange's failed spell, but they ended up somewhere in Mexico, and mostly just sat at a bar, confused and drinking, learning about Spider-Man, the Avengers, and Thanos, before they were eventually returned home.

If you're like me, and you have never seen any of the Venom movies, partially because they sound dumb, but mostly because the idea of Venom without Spider-man is even more dumb, then no worries, because they are barely in this movie, and only show up briefly in an end credits stinger.

But that said... a little interesting bit at the end of that brief end credits stinger? Venom is shown to have left behind a small fragment of itself on the bar, meaning that Venom could now possibly show up in the MUC's main reality at some point in the future. That said, I'll also point out that even though the first appearance of Spider-man's black costume, which would eventually turn out to be the alien goo-symbiote known as Venom, appeared in The Amazing Spider-man #252 in 1984, the explanation of its origin happened later in 1984, in Secret Wars #8. I'm only mentioning this to say that the 2nd half of the Doctor Doom story that begins this December in Avengers: Doomsday, concludes next year, in 2027, with a movie called Avengers: Secret Wars...

I guess we'll see.

Anyway, these six villains form what is maybe Spider-man’s greatest threat…

The Sinister Six

Sometimes five, usually six, but on occasion with as many as twelve, the Sinister Six is a group of supervillains with a rotating roster that is usually, but not always, made up of Spider-man villains. The original version’s first appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 in 1964, where Doctor Octopus threw a party for a bunch of villains, in order to discuss their shared problem that is Spider-man, but only five of them bothered to show up: Vulture, Sandman, Electro, Mysterio, and Kraven the Hunter. The Sinister Six is usually a pretty transient group, as Spider-man has a tendency to beat the shit out of them, even if it‘s six at the time, so they end up in jail, or they tend to eventually implode as a group after awhile anyway, because they're a bunch of dumbasses and three-time losers who can’t even be relied on to not betray each other, so they’re usually more a nuisance than anything else.

That said, if Spider-man isn’t on his game, they will kill him, so it’s a good thing that Spidey has some allies…

Matt Murdock/Daredevil 

Matthew Murdock is a lawyer in New York City who specializes in low cost legal defense, often taking cases that involve superpowered individuals. When Matt was nine years old, he pushed an elderly man out of the way of an out-of-control truck, saving the old man, but the truck’s crash spilled some toxic chemicals into Matt's eyes, blinding him. But soon, Matt discovered that his remaining senses had been strangely enhanced. He can now hear, touch, smell, and taste far beyond that of a normal human, and he gained a kind of "radar" sense as well, allowing him to be able to "see" all around him. Now, no longer a fan of farts or of styrofoam, Matt Murdock patrols the rooftops and alleyways of Hell's Kitchen in the pursuit of justice as the masked vigilante known as Daredevil.

While Matt is often sad and guilt-ridden, due to his catholic upbringing, when he’s not sleeping around, that is, for the most part... he's a really good lawyer.

Dr. Strange

Doctor Stephen Strange, M.D., Ph.D. is a Master of the Mystic Arts, one of Earth's greatest sorcerers. He was once a brilliant and talented but arrogant neurosurgeon too, but a car accident crippled his hands, so he was no longer able to perform the very delicate and exact neurosurgeries he was famous for. Unable to find help in the halls of western medicine, and desperate to be who he once was, he went woo-woo, big-time, and embarked on a journey through the mysteries of the Far East, finally ending up on the doorstep of Kamar-Taj, a hidden city of ancient magic. Dr. Strange would find his destiny there, as Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, defending the world against magical and inter-dimensional threats. He was once the Guardian of the Time Stone too, until the whole thing with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet happened.

As Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange now lives rent-free in a Victorian-style brownstone townhouse, built in the French Baroque design with a Mansard roof, located at 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York City.

It's bigger on the inside.

Wong

Master Wong is the current Sorcerer Supreme and the Masters of the Mystic Arts. The former highly-protective librarian of all the ancient books in Kamar-Taj, a role he took after the last librarian was killed by an evil sorcerer anmed Kaecilius, when Dr. Strange died, along with half of the universe, when Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet, Wong then stepped into the role of Sorcerer Supreme, to defend an unguarded world from all magical threats.

Wong is the guy who stands in the gaps. That's why we love him.

Wong’s best friend is a young woman named Madisynn King, who had been accidentally sent to a hell dimension by a second-rate party magician, and who then made an as-of-yet unknown deal with a local demon named Jeff, before she ended up at Wong's house, where they became besties, even though she calls him "Wongers." The pair enjoy cocktails and fro-yo and snacks, and just chatting and getting to know each other, often while catching up on various HBO programs like The Sopranos, even if Madisynn does have a tendency to spoil the storylines.

Aunt May

Maybelle "May" Parker (née Reilly) is Peter Parker's aunt, and the widow of the late Ben Parker. After Ben's death, she raised Peter alone, and for a long time was unaware that Peter was actually Spider-Man, but she eventually found out, much to her shock. Along with half of the universe, including Peter, May was killed by Thanos' Snap, and was resurrected when the Avengers defeated the Mad Titan five years later. After that, May took on an active role in her community, helping those who were displaced by the massive social upheaval that resulted first when half the world disappeared, and then again, when that half of the world returned five years later, a period of time that came to be known as The Blip.

May also had a romantic relationship with Happy Hogan, but they eventually broke up, because... c'mon. Look at her. She's clearly way out of Happy's league. I mean, he's nice and all, but... c'mon.

Happy Hogan

My cpap-wearing brother, Harold "Happy" Hogan was a boxer, who became Tony Stark's chauffeur and bodyguard, and then eventually the Head of Security of Stark Industries. One of his most trusted friends, Hogan also oversaw Tony’s mentorship over Peter Parker as Spider-Man, acting as a laison and field support for the young hero. Despite initially being somewhat irritated by the kid, in time, Happy grew to respect and care about Peter as the kind of uncle who tries to be cool, but isn't, but not in a bad way.

But then, Happy also got to make out with Aunt May, presumably more than once, so what does he care if the kids think he’s cool or not, he's doing great, man.

Ned and MJ

A pair of characters who still upset the racist fans, MJ and Ned are Peter's heart and soul.

Edward "Ned" Leeds is Peter Parker's best friend. When he discovered that his best friend was the Spider-Man, he became his "guy in the chair," supporting him from behind the keyboard as he faced down various threats. Like Peter, Ned was mostly excited to see if this new Spider-Man identity would improve their social status at school. Ned is a guy that Peter can always rely on to cover for him. Also, Ned has magic sparkle fingers.

Meanwhile, Michelle Jones-Watson, known as MJ, was always a bit of a sarcastic social recluse, someone who often seemed to enjoy mocking Ned and Peter, but at the same time, they were never quite sure what she meant by it exactly. But when MJ became captain of their school’s Academic Decathlon Team, romance began to bloom between her and Peter. MJ isn't afraid to speak up or to challenge authority. She's not into the whole "swinging around the city" thing though.

They both know that Peter is Spider-man, although there is some debate amongst them as to who knew first.

The Amazing Spider-man

Peter Benjamin Parker is a superhero who possesses spider-like abilities, after being bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, and operates in New York City as the Amazing Spider-Man.

He appeared in the movies The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Here he is known as Spider-man 3.

In the past, Spider-Man 3 has fought against multiple villains, including Lizard and Electro and the coolest version of the Rhino ever. Unfortunately, after failing to save his girlfriend Gwen Stacy from falling to her death, a guilt-ridden Parker fell victim to his own rage, and became an embittered and violent vigilante. But when Doctor Strange's failed spell pulled him into Spider-man 1's Universe, Spider-man 3 now finds that he has been given a chance for redemption.

The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man

Peter Benjamin Parker is a superhero who possesses spider-like abilities, after being bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, and operates in New York City as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

He appeared in Spider-Man (2002), Spider-man 2 (2004), which is still one of the best comic book movies ever, and in Spider-Man 3 (2007), which is not. Here he is known as Spider-man 2.

Spider-man 2 has fought multiple villains throughout his career as a vigilante, including Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and his own corrupt and dark soul while he was under the sway of a Venom alien symbiote. Peter and Mary Jane Watson, famous for one time doing an upside-down kiss, have endured and are in a good place with their relationship. When Doctor Strange's failed spell pulls him into Spider-man 1's Universe, Spider-man 3 is given the chance to pass on what he has learned, stopping Spider-man 1 from making the same mistakes he made.

Spider-man

Peter Benjamin Parker possesses spider-like abilities, after being bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, who operates in New York City as the superhero known as Spider-Man.

This version of Spider-man has appeared in the most movies, including Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), this film, obviously, and of course, the latest one, Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). Here he is known as Spider-man 1.

Or just... Spider-man.

After operating as Spider-man on a freelance basis around NYC, Tony Stark took Peter under his wing, initially to aid Tony in his fight against Captain America, but after that in an effort to guide the young hero. Spider-man has not only fought half of the Avengers, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s also faced threats like Thanos, the Black Order, and alien armies. He's also faced multiple villains like The Vulture, the Shocker, and Mysterio too. But when Doctor Strange's spell fails, cracking open the multiverse, threatening all of reality, Peter's actions once again lead to tragedy, and he finds himself faced with making the most difficult decision he's ever been asked to make, forced to make a terrible sacrifice in order to protect those that he loves, because as always... with great power, comes great responsibility.

And so, with all that explained...

The Movie

After Quentin Beck, the villainous Mysterio, frames Peter Parker for his murder and reveals to the world that Peter is Spider-Man, Damage Control arrests Peter, MJ, Ned, and Aunt May. Happy hires Matt Murdock as their lawyer, who gets the charges dropped, but the group struggles with the sudden flood of global attention. This all culminates in Peter's, MJ's, and Ned's MIT applications being rejected.

Desperate, Peter goes to Dr. Stephen Strange for help. Strange tries to cast a spell that would make the world forget that Peter is Spider-Man, but it's corrupted as it's being formed when Peter repeatedly requests alterations so that his loved ones will retain their memories of him. In the end, the spell is unable to be cast, and Strange barely manages to contain the corrupted spell.

At Strange's suggestion, as magic is no longer an option, Peter instead tries to convince an MIT administrator to reconsider MJ's and Ned's applications, but he is attacked by Otto Octavius while attempting this. Doc Ock is about to deliver a killing blow to Peter when Peter’s Iron Man-gifted, nanotechnology-based "Iron Spider" suit bonds with Octavius's mechanical tentacles, allowing Peter to control them. But then Norman Osborn arrives out of nowhere, swooping in as the Green Goblin atop his flying Goblin Glider, cackling like a crazy person, and pumpkin-bombing the hell out of them.

But then Strange teleports Peter and Otto back to the Sanctum Sanctorum, and locks Octavius in a cell next to the already captured villain known as The Lizard, aka Dr. Curt Connors. Strange explains that the corrupted spell ended up dragging people who know Spider-Man's identity from their universes and into this one. He orders Peter, MJ, and Ned to find and capture any others. Soon enough, the trio locate and retrieve Max Dillon and Flint Marko, bringing them to the cells under the Sanctum. Osborn, meanwhile, has wrested control of himself from the Green Goblin personality, but confused at finding himself in a world where he doesn't exist, he ends up at a local homeless center, coincidentally the one where Aunt May works, who calls Peter to retrieve him.

With all of the known multiversal visitors now contained, Strange prepares to reverse the contained corrupted spell, creating a magic box with a big red button that, when pressed, will send the villains back to their respective universes. But as they wait, the villains compare what they remember of their lives, and realize that most of them were actually pulled from their universes just before their deaths. Hearing this, Peter argues that they should first try to help each villain to possibly change their fates before their return. When Strange refuses, Peter steals the spell box, traps Strange in the Mirror Dimension, and then he, MJ, Ned, May, and the villains go to Happy Hogan's condo to lay low.

While there, Peter uses a Stark Industries Fabricator to work on cures for the various villains. He manages to cure Octavius. But before he can cure anyone else, the Goblin persona retakes control of Osborn and all hell breaks loose. The others escape while Peter and the Goblin fight. In the chaos, the Goblin manages to fatally wound May. Before she dies, she tells Peter that "with great power, there must also come great responsibility.”

Separated during the fight, Ned and MJ have gone Ned’s Lola’s house. Unsure what to do next, concerned because they can’t find Peter, Ned tries to use one of Dr. Strange’s portal-opening Sling Rings, that he took without asking from the Sanctum, to try to locate Peter Parker.

And they do.

Except instead of their Peter Parker, they find two alternate versions of Peter (Peter 2 and Peter 3), both of who are the Spider-man of the universes that the villains all came from. They eventually find Peter 1 on the roof of the high school, mourning May. He still has the magic box that contains the corrupted spell, but now he is ready to just push the button and send the villains home to die. The two alternate Peters then share their own stories of losing Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy, and they encourage Peter 1 to help these broken men, because that is what May would’ve wanted.

So, the three Peter Parkers get to work creating specific cures for the various villains, and then they lure them to the Statue of Liberty with the promise of giving them the Magic Box. After that, the three Spider-men face off against a version of the Sinister Six that only has five members, which is maybe one of Marvel Comics most favorite jokes.

But as the three Peters try to stop the villains, to save them from themselves, all while chasing their own needs for acceptance, forgiveness, and redemption, things go off the rails as the spell destabilizes. The Multiverse threatens to shatter, to pull in countless others who know Spider-man’s true identity from a countless number of other universes. In the end, Peter 1 realizes that the only way to protect his loved ones, as well as the entire multiverse, is to let MJ and Ned go, to let them, along with everyone else, to forget him completely. The spell needs to be released as originally intended, he needs to erase himself from everyone‘s memory. They all say their goodbyes and then they hit the big red button.

In the aftermath, Spider-man 2 and 3, as well as all of the villains, return to their universes as the multiverse heals.

Two weeks later, Peter visits MJ and Ned, an oft-rewritten speech in his hands, intending to reintroduce himself to them. But upon seeing them so happy at being accepted into MIT, as well as the healing cut on MJ’s forehead, he decides against it, and leaves. They’ll be safer without him in their lives. Later, while visiting May's grave, Peter has a conversation with Happy. And while Happy doesn’t recognize him, his words inspire Peter to carry on. That Christmas, in a new classic red and blue Spider-Man suit, Peter swings high above a snowy Manhattan.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is my favorite of the Tom Holland era Spider-films.

While I enjoyed the first two, as well as his appearances in the other films of the MCU, obviously, this one felt the most like a “real” Spider-man story... it’s a tale that is very much at home in New York City, and while it does have huge stakes, it is centered on the typical small stakes of Peter Parker’s life, basically how the fact that he's Spider-man doesn’t make it any happier or easier. This is all wrapped up in a story about three high school friends trying to stick together, as the inevitable forces of growing-up threatens to tear them all apart, with the added bonus of some truly spectacular action scenes. And as the cherry on top, there's also a whole bunch of people from all around the various marvel universes drop by.

It’s just some good Spider-man-ing, people.

That said, I don’t know if people are doing it on purpose, because they want something to complain about, or what, but in the wake of this film, a lot of people thought they were being the most insightful “fans” ever by saying that this film was riding the coattails of the fantastic Spiderverse animated films, and that it was obviously cribbing its multiversal Spider-man angle. This is simply not true, because while this film was certainly released pretty close on the heels of the first Spiderverse film, and yes, it definitely echoes it in many ways, the whole idea of the Spiderverse did not originate with that film.

This is one of those things where, if you happen to hear someone saying this shit, you should know that they are not worth listening too. Anyone whining about how this film ripped off the Spiderverse films is not only exposing their ignorance when it comes to just how long films like these are in development, but also the fact that they don’t actually know anything about the very subject they’re whining about. If they did, then they’d know the “Spiderverse” has been around since the animated series in the 90s, where Peter meets alternate versions of himself, and also that the Dan Slott-written Spiderverse comic book event is considered to be the impetus of both films, and that event began back in 2014, almost five years before the first Spiderverse film was even released.

But even if all that wasn't true, even if this film actually was inspired by the first Spiderverse film… so what? Art is inspired by art all the time.

Who cares?

Plus, like I said, this is just a good time at the movies.

The comedy is good stuff. The interactions between the various supervillains, as they compare notes, is great, and the interactions between the three Spider-men are even better. Not only do they discuss some of the similar experiences they‘ve had and not had, which I loved, as a big fan of comic book inside-baseball, I also loved how they were fascinated/grossed out over the fact that Spider-man 2‘s webs are actually his bodily fluids, because that is super gross. But most of all, I loved how the three Spider-men bond like brothers, and take a moment to encourage and support each other. It’s all very charming and endearing.

And it’s made all the better, as the film does a really great job of balancing its humor and charm with an appropriate level of pathos. Spider-man is just as much about the loneliness and the sadness as it is the quips and the thwips, y'know, and that balance is important. Too much crying is bad. Not enough crying is also bad. Being unable to properly maintain his social life due to the demands of his secret life as Spider-man, and the heartache that can bring, is an important part of the character. But moreso, the reality of the dangers that his superhero identity poses to those that know his secret is very much a real concern, and he has lost multiple people due to it. This film does a great job of bringing that to the forefront, which I appreciate, as it was an element that was otherwise kind of downplayed in the previous Holland-era appearances.

Of course, the fact that Aunt May's death was used here as Spider-man's "Uncle Ben moment" has upset some people, but that's a nonsense complaint. As I have mentioned before, adaptations require change. This is why the MCU has always been a different place than the Marvel Comics Universe. I mean, they’re the same, sure, basically, but they started out differently, so they have developed differently. That's just the way it goes. Like, for instance, in the comics, Hank Pym is the one who created Ultron. In the movies, it was Tony. Nerds can complain about these differences, but it's just such a waste of time.

Who cares? It ends up in the same place.

Plus, let’s be honest here, if your whole point depends on the idea that Big Two comic book stories are one long, very deliberately written story, with an intended beginning, middle, and ending, instead of being what they actually are, a series of barely connected vignettes, most of which, especially during the early years, were pulled at the eleventh hour out of the asses of guys who didn’t really give more of a shit then they had to, and certainly weren’t thinking about ”story consistency” for the benefit of future fans, before they passed the characters on through the hands of dozens and dozens of creators, all of whom possess wildly divergent levels of talent, and are the result of wildly different eras and social agendas, whose stories were then met with wildly different levels of success, and went on to have wildly different levels of influence over future stories, all of which happened over the course of literal decades…

Then you’re not someone to be taken seriously here.

My point is, the MCU version of Spider-man has always been a little different from the usual versions of Spider-man. With the MCU Spider-man, they‘ve never really talked about Uncle Ben that directly, and also Iron Man was heavily involved in his early adventures, so his worldview has been fundamentally different. This is fine, of course, and it has led to some interesting new nuances, and it makes sense too, given the way things are in the MCU. BUT… it has made Peter, a character defined by loss and tragedy and the burden of his responsibilities, who he is, and why he does what he does, a little murky. Not bad, really, but there's a blank space there that they have been letting the audience fill-in due to the familiarity they already have with the character. So I appreciated how this film solidified his motivations moving forward.

…Of course, the question of what exactly happened to Ben was made even more unclear because of it. The film doesn’t treat May’s tragic death as a repeat of Ben’s at all. There's no comparison between the two, or even any mention of it. It doesn’t even hint at anything like that, which you’d think it would, if they had both been murdered, right? So now I’m not sure what actually happened with Uncle Ben in the MCU… But whatever, it ultimately doesn’t matter. The important stuff has been established. We understand. We get it.

No need to dwell.

Anyway, May’s death, that they finally say the “great power” line in this version of Spider-man, and the way it’s then reinforced through the experiences of the other Spider-men, is well-earned. Like I was saying, up til now, Peter’s adventures as Spider-man have been dangerous, obviously, but he’s mostly been pretty carefree, protected by his anonymity, and able to charge forward with no other concern than maybe missing a chance to kiss MJ a bit… which I get that. No one would want to miss that, but still... pretty low stakes. Now, all that is gone, his support system, his loves. He experienced real consequences here, was forced to make a hard decision, and the weight of his decisions as Spider-man have been made clear to him. If this is a film about growing up, then this was Peter stepping out into the real world for the first time, and learning that it can suck.

So I liked that.

I also liked how this is a film about the responsibility of doing the right thing, and how sometimes that can mean things you don’t want to change, end up changing, perhaps irrevocably. I also liked how it showcases the value of empathy, especially when there isn’t an immediately apparent reward for you. And I really liked maybe the most interesting twist of the film, how it’s not only a film about second chances for the characters, but also second chances for the films that they appeared in too. That was fun. I know I wasn't alone in re-evaluating Andrew Garfield as Spider-man here.

Best of all, I really like how this film uses these events to reposition the character for the future of the MCU, as well as moving him into a much more recognizable set-up for Peter. Now we finally have the lonely craphole of an NYC apartment, the place that allows him to finally become the friendly neighborhood Spider-man, to be able to swing high above the city, ready to help, while also being a guy who does this, trying to save everyone, because he's trying to make up for the ones he wasn't able to. I really appreciated the way the film earned this.

It was all very nicely done. Good stuff.

Because this could have been a pretty rote “greatest hits” film, like the cinematic version of a sit-com flashback episode, a stunt done for no other reason than they could. Instead, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a playfully unpredictable, creative, fun film that hits all the right beats, all while being a big meta-textual, multiversal, franchise crossover movie and a self-contained event movie at the same time. It’s a surprisingly stuffed-full film that still manages to stick the landing, not to mention the first “third Spider-man film” that’s actually good. In the end, it’s a bit of a unicorn, honestly, at least as far as franchises are concerned.

You’ve probably seen this film. It’s safe to say that pretty much everybody has, as it made nearly 2 billion dollars worldwide, but if you haven’t… then you should.

It's fun.