The golden rule for just about every Spider-Man storyline is that whoever dons the suit is going to lose their peace of mind sooner than later, and this is something that’s true both in and out of canon. No Way Home, which follows Tom Holland’s Peter Parker on the run with Zendaya’s MJ after J.K. Simmons’ J.Jonah Jamieson has exposed his identity to all of NYC, serves as a fun tribute to the various live-action Spidey-films over the years, with a bunch of callbacks that manage both to be funny as well as incorporated into the plot effectively.
The MCU’s always an interesting approach to how they manage their secret identities, particularly when I was watching Falcon & the Winter Soldier and how it announced the role of the new Captain America live on Good Morning America. I felt this was pretty risky especially given how the main villain there took it upon herself to directly call Sam Wilson’s houseboat, so one can only imagine how much worse things are for Pete and his friends with not only everyone in town knowing he’s Spider-Man, but also with the rumors of his alleged murder of Mysterio (the Marvel baddie played by Jake Gyllenhaal, not the wrestling star) floating around.
As his friends associating with him is hurting their university applications, Peter gets the idea of convincing Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, who sneaks in a cute naughty coffee mug) to cast a spell that makes everyone forget he’s Spider-Man. No worries, right?
Well, not unless you want to count the spell going sideways after Peter annoys Strange by shoving in too many stipulations, which opens up a bunch of dimension cracks and multiple supervillains throughout the cinematic history of Spider-Man come tumbling out. As you could imagine, they still manage to have conflicts with one another, despite Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (William Dafoe), Electro (Jamie Foxx), the Lizard {(Rhys Ifans), and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) having at least two things in common: they don’t like Spider-Man, and they don’t want to get killed once they return to their dimensions, leading Pete to desperately search for a solution (and receiving some unexpected aid).
Judging by how forlorn Tom Holland sounded when describing the tone of No Way Home, now I can understand why. I felt a bit surprised going in since even though the previous MCU films had their fair share of dramatic beats, they’ve mostly been semi-comedic romps with more of the expected Marvel-brand humor weaved into them. And while there are plenty of funny parts and lighthearted moments to ease the tension, once it’s time for the story to get serious it pushes the trouble Peter has to deal with into overdrive. The side characters like MJ and Ned (Jacob Batalon) still add needed warmth and humor to counter some of this, but you do get the sense that the Disney Spider-movies are trying to grow up with their audience.
Towards the end, I was left with the impression that it may be Spider-Man’s fate to deal with losing important things while still having to press on and help others, echoing Uncle Ben’s wish. As marketable and relatable as a character Peter Parker is, many writers will lay the drama on him so thick that Spider-Man wouldn’t exactly be my first pick if I were asked what superhero would I love to become for about a week.
One thing I admire this movie for is how it celebrates two things that I feel make Spider-Man interesting outside of his more-talked-about abilities, quips and drama: his empathy and his genius-level brain. Giving him access to Stark technology in the Disney-produced movies was met with some controversy initially, but he uses his scientific skill to find a way to help the lost villains as opposed to sending them off to their fates, as Strange would prefer. The way in which Peter navigates through Strange’s mirror dimension as they argue about what to do not only showcases Pete’s intelligence and sets him up as the heir-apparent Avenger tech-master after Iron Man’s death, but also makes for one of the more impressive CGI showcases the MCU’s made up to this point.
It probably speaks to Spider-Man’s relatability that audiences haven’t grown fatigued with the franchise after a dozen major theatrical entries, but it also helps that so many of those films felt distinct and identifiable in their own way, and also why they’ve each garnered their own pocket followings. No Way Home if nothing else is a fun attempt to give those various fandoms some credit for being loyal supporters over the years, on top of making me excited for the next Spider-entry- even if it did leave me feeling that it may be time to give Peter a break once in a while. We know he’s the ultimate Iron Woobie character, but can we just throw a comfort blanket over the poor guy already? Still, it’s ultimately another fun web-slinging time.
But how did you feel about it? If you love or hated it, let us know how you feel as always at FAN’s social media spots!