'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Review & Where The Franchise Goes From Here

Well, Spider-Man: No Way Home is finally here, and I can tell you that it was phenomenal. From start to finish it was just perfect, and had me enthralled every step of the way. This was the first Spider-Man film from Marvel Studios that actually felt like a Spider-Man movie. In Homecoming Peter was too caught up in being Tony Stark’s protégé that it took away from him actually being Spider-Man. In Far From Home, for starters, the film didn’t even take place in New York City! Spider-Man was temporarily being mentored by Quentin Beck (Mysterio), and was working with Nick Fury, who was actually the Skrull Talos. No Way Home, while dealing with the multiverse, was relatively grounded and didn’t involve any unworldly threat, well, besides the multiverse nearly falling apart. Doctor Strange wasn’t in this as much as I had expected, which was really great. I was worried that he’d take away some of Spider-Man’s thunder, and he really didn’t.

Strange had a great role in the film, while at first he just wanted to help Peter Parker to get his life back together, after the spell was botched 5-6 times and villains were unleashed from the multiverse, his agenda quickly changed. Strange wanting to send the villains back to their universes, and sending them to their deaths, made sense for the character. He’s all about protecting this reality so by doing something like this, to save this world, wasn’t out of character to me at all. At the end of the day he’s the Sorcerer Supreme, and the Sorcerer Supreme’s prime role is to protect their universe. Killing a few people in the process along the way, is just collateral to them. We’ll see where Strange goes from here, but one thing’s for sure… Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is going to be spectacular and I can’t wait to witness it.

When Peter, May and Happy were talking to Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock towards the beginning, that was a perfect scene. A brick being thrown in the Parker residence and then Murdock grabbing it and saying to Peter after he asked how did he do that, “I’m a great lawyer,” was great. Having Cox back as Daredevil, and in the MCU, is a true gift and we might see him sooner rather than later. Maybe in the Hawkeye finale or in the Echo spin-off series. Spider-Man and Daredevil have a tremendous relationship in the comics, so one can hope that we’ll see them team-up at some point in a future film, or possibly in a Disney+ show.

The heart and soul of the film was MJ and Aunt May. May’s death signified Peter’s defining moment as Spider-Man, and will have shockwaves in the future as to how the character operates. May saying to Peter as she was close to dying, “with great power comes great responsibility,” was one of my favorite scenes of the film and one of the more emotional scenes that the MCU has created thus far. The movie really adapted bits and pieces of the classic Spider-Man story from the comics “One More Day” where May died and MJ forgot that Peter was Spider-Man, and all of her memories of him as well. Zendaya’s MJ has been controversial, and while I still don’t love this iteration at all, she stepped up greatly in this film and provided a strong sense of hope for Peter Parker. All he wanted was for her to remember him, and by the end he realized that the safety of the world was far more important than his own desires.

That’s a key part of who Spider-Man is. Learning from selfless acts and growing as the comic, or in this case the film, goes on. And that’s why this was without question Tom Holland’s strongest performance as Spider-Man, let alone his best acting performance yet in his young career. While the previous two Spider-Man films were great, they just didn’t feel entirely like a Spider-Man movie for me. Peter getting all upset about Stark taking his suit, and then in the next film being all sad about his death just took a great deal away from Spider-Man and who he is as a character. But by the end of No Way Home we see Peter make his own suit, which was beautiful by the way, and a huge homage to the classic suit from the comics, and he seems to be in a good place mentally for once, even without anyone knowing who he is and having his Aunt (legal guardian) deceased.

The villains were done perfectly, and their arcs were all executed in a really neat, and fun, way. Doc Ock coming back and wrecking havoc for a bit was pure nostalgia and was really nice to see the character again. Him being “fixed”, and then helping to save the day was great, especially where the character was left off in Spider-Man 2 where he turned sides and saved, not only Peter Parker, but all of New York. Having Jamie Foxx back as Electro was really great especially for Foxx as he’s been on record numerous times expressing his frustration for how his character was executed in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. His new look was great, and he was just really interesting. His powers being amplified on this world, and him not wanting to go “home” because he was weaker and thought of himself as a loser, was a neat twist that I didn’t really expect to happen considering how the trailers made him seem like he was just pure evil again.

Lizard and Sandman weren’t around as much, but Thomas Haden Church did a great job, yet again, as Sandman while Lizard was much cooler this time around. His character design was a lot more menacing, and his dialogue throughout the film was funny at times, but he provided some great action and strong moments throughout. Wilem Dafoe is an absolute gem, and did an amazing job again as Green Goblin. He stole the show, for the most part, and his action sequences with Spider-Man were nothing shy of perfection. Hearing from him as well how he wanted to be back as long as it, “wasn’t a cameo and could do all of the actions scenes himself,” just goes to show how even as 66-years-old, Dafoe is one of the best in the business.

THEY’RE BACK! Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as their respected Spider-Man probably wasn’t second guessed by Marvel diehards as they sat in their seat to watch the film. Too many details were shared ahead of the film, which was a huge shame because as Holland said, “the film was supposed to be marketed as a Spider-Man/Doctor Strange Civil War.” But reporters being reporters, they wanted to share the news. It didn’t take ANYTHING away from their returns, but it would’ve been nice to have been surprised by this nonetheless. Garfield trying to convince MJ that he’s a Peter Parker was a really funny, and Maguire coming in and interacting with Garfield was just amazing.

Garfield’s Peter sharing his story of how he couldn’t save Gwen Stacy was beyond touching, especially since he saved MJ and couldn’t fight back the tears as he felt redeemed. Maguire on the other hand was just really cool to see him back as well, and his dialogue with other Spider-Men ahead of the final battle was a great scene, and one that I will surely never forget. THAT was also classic Spider-Man; Spidey having a brief conversation with allies before a fight, and having three Spider-Men being the conversationalists, had me in awe every second of it.

Who knows what the future will have in store for Holland’s Spider-Man, but Sony President Amy Pascall confirmed that a fourth film is in the works, with Marvel Studios/Disney being attached AND Holland as well. The end credits scene where Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock is talking to a barkeep, then vanishes, and a bit of the Venom symbiote being left over clearly sets up someting happening with Venom in the future. Who knows if it’ll be Hardy, but we’ll definitely see Holland’s Peter in the black suit. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Peter temporarily moves on from MJ and Ned for the fourth film. Maybe he befriends Harry Osborn at college to get close to this universe’s Norman Osborn after seeing how evil his multiverse counterpart is. Maybe Spider-Man runs into Black Cat in Queens while he’s out one night fighting bad guys. Maybe he meets Gwen Stacy and falls for her, there are countless possibilities that could be done, but having confirmation that a fourth Spider-Man film with Tom Holland being in development, is all I need for now.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a beautiful film that writers Chris McKenna and Erik Somers wrote perfectly. The two really stepped up their A-game from the previous two Spider-Man films, and Jon Watts just continued to get better and better as the trilogy went on. He’ll be directing Fantastic Four for Marvel Studios, and after seeing him nail this team-up, I have complete faith in him tackling Marvel’s first family. There are a lot of Marvel movies coming out between now and whenever Spider-Man 4 comes out, but I’m really glad that we finally have an elite Spider-Man film in the MCU in No Way Home.