“Spider-Man No Way Home” finds a home in my heart
By Colby Merrill, Reporter
The long anticipated sequel and sixth appearance of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (NWH), is an not only an amazing film but an experience that tops that of Avengers Endgame.
“Spider-Man NWH” follows Peter Parker’s struggle to keep his life separate from his superpowers. In the prior film “Spider-Man: Far From Home” Peter’s identity is revealed by the villain Mysterio, played by actor Jake Gyllenhaal. This film sees Peter tampering with spells and the multiverse to make the world forget his identity, including the people he cares most for.
“Spider-Man: NWH” is difficult to truly understand without the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) guiding it. I have two issues with the movie though. It does not feel like a movie, it is an event that can easily be compared to “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). Seeing this with an audience cheering when Andrew Garfilield and Tobey Maguire return alongside Tom Holland, when Garfield catches MJ, when Holland gives up his dream and still puts on the suit despite a world full of controversy, and seeing them cry when Aunt May dies makes this more of an event than a movie.
My other issue with the movie is that it makes Holland’s other Spider-man films feel unnecessary to fulfilling the origin story of Peter Parker. It is as if Peter got bit by the spider and became a hero without the most important traits of the character because there was no Uncle Ben (or in this case Aunt May) to push him to be better. Holland has played the part for 5 years and has had six on screen appearances. Six movies act as Spider-Man’s origin in the MCU. And NWH makes those other movies feel less like the Spider-Man I wanted to see, because this is the Spider-Man I wanted to see. I wanted to see him alone, hurt, but persevere through all of his suffering. This film perfectly places itself in the Marvel universe as it expands and pays respect to its Spider-Man comics. Seeing the Spider-Man trio is so much fun and allows fans to understand each others’ favorites. Garfield’s character received big changes which made him feel like the most accurate Peter Parker/Spider-Man to appear in a movie. His story was given more context from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014) and as a character showed a lot more growth. Maguire’s performance felt natural; he was more wise and his knowledge of being Spider-Man really showed. He got to teach the others and the others taught him too. Holland working with the Avengers in prior movies made him a great leader as well; it was fitting to see him lead the trio of Spider-Men.
Overall, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home” is very sincere. As far as movies go, “Spider-Man 2” (2004) is still my personal favorite. Above all I will miss the excitement and hype for this movie more than anything else about this movie, but I look forward to the future of the character and characters and what comes next in the MCU and the Marvel Multiverse. I give “Spider-Man: No Way Home” an 8/10 — an extremely enjoyable movie.