A stroke of cinematic genius, Spiderman No Way home continues the Tom Holland era of Spiderman in amazing fashion.

By Charles Cleveland

Across studies and surveys, Spider-man always comes in among the best of the best nationally and globally, cementing it as one of the most well known and cherished characters worldwide (Geekspin 2022). Recently, a new Spider-man movie, titled “No Way Home” brought Spider-men Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland together to fight the Sinister Six, comprised of Willem Defoe (Green Goblin), Alfred Molina (Doc Ock), Jamie Foxx (Electro), Rhys Ifans (Dr. Conners), and Thomas Haden Church (Sandman). The 6th and final member is thought to be Michael Keaton’s “The Vulture,” though he wasn’t actually in the movie due to the character being in jail since “Spider-man Homecoming.” 

This phenomenal cast did an incredible job of selling their roles, each actor knowing how to play their character in a way that stays true to their original movie and plays well off of their co stars. Going down the list of the returning cast, Tobey Maguire did a great job of playing Peter Parker from the original Sam Raimi Spider-man films. He stayed reserved and awkward, while also understanding that his character would be an aging adult. He uses his skills to play a grown Peter Parker who can use his knowledge of the world to try to help Tom Holland’s high school senior Peter Parker grow and mature. Andrew Garfield returned as a young college age adult, acting as a fun Peter Parker who can relate to Tom Holland’s Spider-man the most, and is a bit of a comic relief for the team. This works well for Garfield’s character, because in his scenes he talks and jokes around during fights, creating a light hearted funny guy to play off of the many villain’s seriousness. Tom Holland also did a great job as the youngest and center of the group, providing an ecstatic energy in the final battle and showing off his emotional capabilities after Marisa Tomei’s “Aunt May” dies. Zendaya’s “MJ” is a character similar to Peter Parker that She plays very well. She has good comedic timing and helps the Spider-men instead of just standing idly by and watching the action from the sidelines. Jacob Batalon’s “Ned” is also a very good comic relief as Peter’s best friend. Willem Defoe, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx all played their roles compellingly and felt like continuations of their original characters, being fun villains to watch our Spider-men face off against. Even Guest star Charlie Coxx, who played “Daredevil”, provided a laugh for the short scene he was in. 

Along with good characters, the plot was interesting and was able to keep audience attention for the 2½ hour runtime, having exciting or funny moments to retain the viewers’ focus. In the first act, we learned that Holland’s “Spider-man” identity was revealed to the world, and that he has to deal with the constant media attention and harassment. The breaking point is when Peter, MJ, and Ned get rejected from MIT because of their relationships with Spider-man. After that he decides to go to Benedict Cumberbatch’s “Dr. Strange” to ask if he can make everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-man. After Peter tries to alter the spell to make some people remember him, the spell backfires and people who know who he is from other universes come into their universe.

Overall, the first act was enjoyable and the writing for Peter Parker makes sense. They made sure to make him a believable high school senior and included some funny moments like a cameo of Daredevil as Peter’s lawyer. In case you didn’t know, Daredevil is a character from the comics that is blind and using his heightened senses to fight evil. His alter ego is a lawyer and the character has a tv show on netflix. Doctor Strange also is very funny, mostly because of Benedict Cumberbatch’s deadpan and disgruntled deliveries. 

The second act was also enjoyable, but felt slightly long. Peter Parker has to round up all the people from the different universes and after learning that they are all dead in their universes, tries to save them by fixing their various issues that came about in their movies (ie. Green Goblin having multiple personalities, or electro being able to absorb energy). After Green Goblin decides he doesn’t want to be helped, he, Electro, Sandman, and Dr. Conners escape. This is also where Green Goblin kills Aunt May. Shortly after, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield come in and talk with Peter about not holding on to hate and they continue trying to make antidotes for the villains. This act felt longer than needed, and May’s death felt drawn out, but when Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire meet, they have a funny moment about keeping their identities secret. Also, when all three Spider-men team up to try to help the villains with their issues, they have a fun scene in the science lab of Peter’s high school where they are all working together and talking about being Spider-man. This act was overall really good, it was entertaining and had emotional moments, just maybe a little too long. 

In the third and final act, some of the most fun, interesting, exciting, and emotional scenes happen. It starts with the three Peters at the statue of liberty, with Holland calling in to the Daily Bugle and telling the villains to meet them there. This is also when Maguire and Garfield have one of the funnest scenes in the movie, talking about how as they get older Spider-man-ing is getting more difficult and they are more stiff. They also have a laugh over them both wishing they had the mobility of young Holland. They have an epic battle with the villains, having trouble at first fighting as a team, but putting their heads together and making a plan to take out the villains one by one. As they swing around “healing” the villains of their superpowers, Green Goblin shows up to fight Holland. As Holland starts to win their fight, he stops pulling his punches and is about to kill Green Goblin when Maguire steps in to stop him. Holland realizes that he has gone too far and heals Green Goblin instead. This act was very good, being one of the best Marvel final battles and having so many memorable scenes. Watching the Spider-men swinging through the air working as a team was incredible, and you could really tell that the screen writers were having a great time having the Spider-men talk and fight together and really seeing how far they can go. And when Holland realizes what he was about to do when fighting Green Goblin, no words are spoken, you can just see the regret in his face. 

In the fourthish act, Holland has the idea to make everyone forget who Peter Parker is entirely, which would make everyone go back to their own universes. The movie wraps up with Holland going to see MJ and Ned, who have forgotten who he was, and trying to tell them who he is, but he eventually gives upand leaves. The final scene of the movie is Holland listening to police radio and going out to fight crime. I think this ending leaves a lot of new ways for this character and this story to follow. 

The only thing I didn’t quite understand that hurt the movie was the inclusion of the Sandman and Dr. Conner, because they don’t serve the story and they don’t have many lines. Admittedly, the entire movie is riding on nostalgia, but it really felt like Sandman and Conners were in there just for the viewer to think about how much they loved the older movies. Sandman’s actor, Thomas Haden Church, didn’t even have his real face in the movie other than a split second from a recycled clip from Spider-man 3. Aunt May’s death also felt slightly drawn out, but I still thought that it was a good part of the movie. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and I’m really excited to see what comes next for these characters in upcoming films.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 Certified Field