Spider-Man: No Way Home sticks its webby landing.
The MCU box office buster offers a transcendent theatrical experience.
The Short Take:
Laughing in the face of high expectations, Spider-Man: No Way Home sticks the landing, renewing Marvel’s apex position. It does so by maintaining focus on one question: who is Peter Parker?
Image Credit: Polygon
The Long Take:
[Note: I will start with a spoiler-free section for those who have not yet had a chance to see this, discussing only what we already knew from the trailers. Then, with a very loud warning, I will shift into a spoiler bonanza.]
I could view the stakes of this movie through multiple lenses. This is, arguably, the make or break moment for Phase 4 of the MCU. We’ve gotten films focused on individual characters or branches of the universe, and some of them — like Shang-Chi — have been extremely successful, but this is the first big crossover event movie since Avengers: Endgame. The trailers made it clear that this would not only be a Spider-Man movie; Doctor Strange would make a substantial appearance as well. Would this whole MCU thing work without the Avengers as we knew them? This film also serves as a litmus test for the licensing agreement between Marvel/Disney and Sony, which has worked so far, but could implode at any time, especially with Sony taking steps to build out its own Spider-verse. And in a year when the pandemic seems to have pushed an already failing box office into the dirt, the success of No Way Home would serve as a sign. If even a Marvel tent pole like this one couldn’t meet expectations, then would we finally declare movie theaters dead?
Fortunately, Spider-Man: No Way Home has been an indisputable success on pretty much all these levels. I had the best theater-going experience I’ve had since Endgame; the crowd cheered, laughed, and gasped collectively in a way that I had really missed. This is a big movie with big, dazzling moments, and I do think it delivered on its promise. It’s no surprise, then, that the film currently holds second place for biggest world-wide box office debut of all time, and its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is 99%, with critics not far behind at 94%. While Rotten Tomatoes is problematic as an absolute measurement of a film’s quality, it does tell us that a lot of creators and executives are probably high-fiving each other right now.
For me, though, this film’s biggest triumph is as a Spider-Man movie. Considering all the other vectors I just listed, it can be easy to lose sight that this should first and foremost be a good story about its titular character. And in the midst of all the action set pieces, iconic cameos, crossovers, Easter eggs, and future MCU implications, my favorite aspect of the No Way Home is the conversation the film has with itself and the audience about what defines Peter Parker and what motivates his heroism as Spider-Man.
The film’s very premise engages with this question. As anyone can gather from the trailer, the whole world knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and after suffering the consequences of that reveal, Peter asks Dr. Strange if he can cast a spell that will undo the damage. The spell goes awry, pulling in multiple villains associated with Spider-Man from other universes. Dr. Strange (very reasonably, I might add) wants to catch these rogue elements and send them back to their own worlds. When Peter learns that many of them were about to die at the hands of their own Spider-Men when the spell whisked them away…he has second thoughts.
This moral quandary — despite the perfectly valid argument that it doesn’t quite make sense, or, more generously, is quite naive in a traditional superhero context — drives Peter to question what kind of hero he is. Does he turn his back on those in need, even if they’re deplorable murderers? Does he discriminate between “good guys” and “bad guys,” or does he try to help everyone, no matter what? Aunt May, who runs a shelter, makes a big appeal to his sense of rehabilitation rather than punishment, and her influence is definitely at play here. I think what has been so right about Tom Holland’s run as Spider-Man has been making him more of a plucky, immature teenager. I would credit both Tom Holland and the writers/directors responsible for his films with that. So, the “gee whiz I just want to help everyone because I’m a nice guy even though I’m going to regret it later” bit does make some sense in that context. There’s an idealism and optimism that I associate with Spider-Man, and this approach to his villains, while unconventional, does differentiate our friendly neighborhood hero from others in the Marvel pantheon.
More powerful and with deeper impact than the plot, though, is the thematic (existential?) relationship between Spider-Man and his villains. Seeing a rogue’s gallery of them concentrated in one film, I acutely realized that so many of them are just like Peter: brilliant scientists. But, especially as this film frames them, they have fallen victim to circumstance, usually through some accident with their own experiments, much like Peter just happens to have been bitten by a radioactive spider. Yes, you could argue that the goodness in Peter enables him to become a hero whereas the villains — who are not as inherently noble — choose to amplify their greed, pride, lust for power, vengeful grief, etc. (I’m sure I could make all the seven deadly sins work somehow, but you get the idea.)
But this film, more than any other, made me see the villains as brilliant yet broken men who could be made whole again. This may in fact be a Phase 4 trend (though it’s probably premature for me to say that), considering how I highlighted the similarities between Hawkeye characters falling on different sides of the central conflict. Between both Hawkeye and NWH — and actually I might throw Loki in there as well, since he’s a somewhat reformed villain — there’s the idea emerging that heroes and villains are just a few clicks away from each other. And Peter Parker’s response to that is to try to heal rather than hurt and give everyone a second chance, just like Aunt May would.
[At this point, it’s very difficult to provide any meaningful breakdown without getting into SPOILERS. So if you haven’t seen Spider-Man: No Way Home, shoot some webs and swing on out of here.
Seriously, there are some huge spoilers for this movie…
….
….
Last chance…]
Image Credit: Radio Times
I’m now realizing that my review thus far has not completely reflected the sheer excitement I experienced while watching this film, which must mean that the majority of its verve comes from the huge reveals and big moments that would count as spoilers. And I want to reiterate — I loved this movie! I yelled, “Yesss!” A LOT while I was watching, and may have even thrown my fists in the air a couple of times while doing so. And so I can’t go any further without saying that the most thrilling, most joyous part of this film was the series of LITERAL conversations between MULTIPLE Spider-Men, discussing who Spider-Man really is. A lot of critics have focused on how this is a love letter to fans or a reflection on Spider-Man’s rich film history since Sam Raimi brought him to the big screen in 2002. Many have thrown around the term fan service, sometimes pejoratively and sometimes not. And yes, Andrew Garfield and Tobey McGuire appearing in this film, exactly as the Internet had hoped (or demanded), is all of those things. But more than that, this meeting of the three different Spider-Men is a way to interrogate who Peter Parker is at his core. This is why multiverse or time travel stories are great! Characters literally talking to alternate versions of themselves precipitates character development and introspection.
Internet rumors had certainly prepared me for the possibility of Garfield and McGuire appearing in this film. And, to be honest, it kind of became a nerve-wracking expectation; if there was all this hype at the possibility of a Spidey convention, and then it didn’t happen, would fans be too disappointed to appreciate whatever the movie offered instead? Thankfully, the film met expectations and then some because McGuire and Garfield are not merely cameos. They do not just show up at the end to say hi, help out a little bit, and then web off into the sunset. No, they are ACTIVE participants in the film for 1/3-1/2 of the story. (Listen to the good folks on The Big Picture podcast talk about this, and you’ll get a sense of how I felt about it too.)
What’s more, they have multiple, meaningful conversations with Tom Holland about their lives — what’s the same, what’s different, and lessons they’ve learned that they can pass onto him. They tell him not to lose hope about complicated relationships or lost loves. They reassure him that there’s a way to make it all work. They tell him about their own tragedies, and try to help him cope with his own recent loss of Aunt May. The one scene where they’re all talking about loss, whether it’s Uncle Ben or Gwen Stacy, has an incredible volume of emotional resonance. There’s an undeniable sincerity and purity to the writing and the performances here that outshine even the biggest action sequences. I also can’t stop thinking about Tom Holland, in a fit of rage, just wailing relentlessly on Green Goblin. The film chooses Toby McGuire to intervene. He puts his arms up to stop the oncoming blow, and just looks at Tom Holland. No words. Just a look. You don’t have to do this. You don’t want to do this. You know deep down this isn’t right. This is not who you are, his eyes say. Again, the film encourages mercy and grace over wrath and vengeance. It’s a great callback to the earlier conversation where (I’m pretty sure) McGuire says that his grief made him bitter and angry.
There’s a wisdom in McGuire’s eyes that says so much about how he’s the oldest of them, how he was the first. He’s been where Tom Holland’s been and has the benefit of hindsight and experience to share with him. It’s so well done. There’s a lot of meta-commentary built into these scenes as well. Just as Toby McGuire is the first Spider-Man, he’s the first actor to star in a film that arguably catalyzed the superhero/comic book movie age we now all live in. So you can kind of see how these conversations aren’t just Spider-Men talking to other Spider-Men, but actors talking to other actors as well.
Andrew Garfield, of course, has the most meta-commentary surrounding him because his films were the least successful. When deciding who’s Spider-Man 1, 2, or 3, Garfield sighs and says, “I guess I’m 3” in acknowledgement of his place in the Spider-Man actor pecking order. He also, in another scene, says, “I’m so lame” and “I want to fight an alien” when he learns the other two have. Spider-Man 1 and 2 give him a pep talk saying that he’s “Amazing” and not to sell himself short. Many critics have cited this as a throwback to Spider-Man’s original comic book appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15, but I think it’s more a reference to the films Garfield starred in, which carry the “Amazing” qualifier in their titles.
While I’m the first to agree that the “Amazing” Spider-Man movies are the worst of the bunch (especially the second), I always liked the idea of and the execution of Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. If we take the meta-commentary into account, he, as an actor, has the most to prove in this film. The most redemption to pursue with the audience. Mission accomplished. He completely stole my heart. A lot of critics are really talking about how Willem Defoe steals the movie with his return as Green Goblin, and while Willem Defoe is a world class actor and his Green Goblin is sinister and disturbing in ways I can’t describe, I completely disagree. Garfield stole this movie. The way he gets annoyed when MJ and Ned force him to prove he’s Spider-Man. His politeness when he agrees to clear up a cobweb for Ned’s grandmother because “he’s up there anyway.” The way his eyes tear up when he talks about Gwen, the one he couldn’t save.
The moment when he catches Zendaya’s MJ and shows this maelstrom of emotions just in the one look he gives her when he succeeds is by far my favorite in the entire film. The conversations prior have established that Gwen’s fatal fall in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) still haunts him, and so this moment is both a perfect climax for his arc in NWH but also gives a sense of closure to his character arc from his own films. And, of course, for fans who thought the failure of his films cut his run as Spider-Man too short, there’s a sense of closure as well.
The acting from Andrew Garfield here and elsewhere in the film, to me, shows that he’s just operating on a whole level above all the other actors. His expression communicates so much in so little time — I felt that he was jealous that Tom Holland has this MJ, he was proud that he could save her and make up for his failure with Gwen, and he was finally forgiving himself as well. That’s a lot of emotions at once! Van Lathan described this single expression far more eloquently than I ever could, so you should give The Ringerverse podcast’s instant reaction of the film a listen. I was nodding the entire time he was talking about both Toby McGuire and Andrew Garfield. Between this film and Tick, Tick…Boom!, Garfield is having quite a year; he’s quickly climbing up my favorite actors list. And that’s not to say the other actors aren’t pulling their weight. Tom Holland is amazing and carries this whole film. It would not have succeeded without him.
This film can’t possibly be perfect in every way, you say. No, of course it has its flaws. The fan service argument, for instance, is right to a degree, but I think the way we use the term fan service is too reductive. The Next Best Picture podcast made a lot of good points about fan service, but they ultimately came down a little too hard on the film for it. Fan service — making a choice specifically for the fans or including some kind of wink, nod, or reference for fans, especially ones who are very knowledgable — is not intrinsically bad. But when critics or fans use the term pejoratively, it’s usually because they sense some kind of pandering or cheap shot. Like how a studio will put a line in a film or include a cameo from a beloved character simply because they know it will sell tickets and will make fans happy. But when fan service also serves a story and is thoughtful and well done, I don’t think it’s a mark against a film.
Most of the fan service in No Way Home, especially the three Spider-Men scenes I just discussed, work really well. There were, however, some low hanging fruit moments that didn’t quite land. I’m mostly thinking of the “with great power comes great responsibility” line, delivered very dramatically by Aunt May before she dies and then later by the Spider triumvirate. This is an example of “bad” fan service that struck me as cringeworthy. I like the concept of all three Spider-Men having a unifying phrase or idea that they all realize is a universal truth across all timelines (a fixed or absolute point, if we get use the parlance of the multiverse and What if…?), but this particular line is just a little too cliched or overused to really work. Green Goblin’s “I’m something of a scientist myself” line also falls into this category. It was funny enough, but seemed unnecessary and disrupted the flow the scene a bit.
Overall, this small handful of cringes was not enough to make a dent in the film, but it’s still worth mentioning because it could keep the film off someone’s GOAT MCU list.
The use of the “with great power” line, though, conveniently gets me back to my earlier point that this film works because it prioritizes the reflection on Peter Parker’s identity. The bulk of the “fan service” in this film serves a greater purpose because it helps us hone in on who Peter Parker really is. All three of these actors represent very different takes on Peter’s personality — McGuire is more understated, Garfield is more charming, and Holland is more innocent. All three have had very different stories, very different life events. And yet, some elements unite their varying takes on the character. They struggle with keeping their identities a secret. They all love science and innovation. They all lose someone close to them and have to carry on. They all want to do what’s right. They all want to try to love and have fun and have a life too. As Doctor Strange and Green Goblin both say, they want to have it all. And that’s the central conflict for all Peter Parkers: having to choose. That ongoing examination throughout this film then makes Peter’s choice to sacrifice his own personal connections with MJ and Ned for their sake and the sake of Spider-Man’s hero work all the more powerful in the end.
This isn’t to say there weren’t a lot of broader MCU goodies throughout the film. One of the biggest shocks to my system was how maybe 20-30 minutes (not even?) into the film, we suddenly see Charlie Cox, who played Matt Murdock in the Netflix Daredevil series (2015-2018). This is the moment I knew this movie was going to be a wild ride. They wouldn’t wait to do these big reveals; they would just keep coming. The warm-up was an actor from not only another Marvel series we haven’t seen mixed into the MCU yet, but one from an entirely different production network that Kevin Feige did not have to fold into the MCU as we know it! Considering the big Vincent D’Onofrio/Fisk/Kingpin reveal we got in last week’s Hawkeye episode, Charlie Cox/Matt Murdock/Daredevil means that this Netflix Daredevil push is real and we’re going to get some substantive Daredevil storytelling in the future. I don’t think there’s room in the Hawkeye finale for Cox to also show up there, though. It’s going to be the Echo series or some standalone film or show we get down the line. I was much less sure about this rumored appearance than the Andrew Garfield/Toby McGuire one, so this was extra fun. I especially liked how they had Matt catch the brick flying through the window and his only explanation is “I’m a really good lawyer.” The look on Tom Holland’s face here is priceless.
I can’t believe I’ve made it this far without mentioning Benedict Cumberbatch, who, along with Andrew Garfield, is having a smashing year straddling a potential Best Actor Oscar nomination and an appearance in what will probably be the highest grossing blockbuster of the year. His character’s appearance had the fewest surprises here, I think because the trailers really leaned on him to sell the movie.
My main issue with his appearance in the trailers was that it seemed unrealistic that the Doctor Strange we know from previous films would be dumb enough to a.) agree to cast a spell for Peter and b.) mess up said spell. Given the added context we get in the film, I’m more ok with Doctor Strange casting the spell. He very clearly explains that the spell is considered harmless compared to others. And then it’s very clear that their shared past with the Avengers has endeared Peter to Steven. There’s a genuine warmth that Cumberbatch conveys that makes me believe that he would just want to make Peter happy despite his better judgment. It’s like when one of my kids asks for a toy we pass by in a grocery store aisle. I know it’s placed there to bait them, and I know they don’t need another dumb plastic toy, but I love them and I want them to be happy, so I get it for them anyway. The line he has after their battle over the botched spell Tupperware is also really key to understanding these decisions. Strange says that it’s very easy to forget, after all they’ve been through, that Peter is still just a kid. The implication there is that Strange is more likely to listen to Spider-Man as a fellow hero and less likely to question his judgment, even when he should. Based on how he sold this situation to me, I feel like not enough people are talking about how great Benedict Cumberbatch is here.
I do, however, have minor issues with the final spell at the end from a screenwriting perspective. This may improve upon rewatch, but in all the hubbub I wasn’t super clear on what the rules of engagement were. I thought that Dr. Strange tells Peter that anyone who knows he’s Spider-Man will forget him, but then everyone seems to have forgotten Peter Parker all together. Happy doesn’t even recognize him as Aunt May’s nephew. Peter has a GED book, which implies he didn’t return to his high school. But wouldn’t he have just started fresh there as a random student? In his goodbye scene with MJ, I expected Peter to fade away or for something to happen when Strange cast the spell, but since they wanted to avoid MJ staring at him and saying “Who are you?” or getting scared, Spider-Man just says goodbye and swings away. The camera cuts away so we don’t actually see what happens when the spell is complete. Does everyone end up somewhere else? Or are they all standing there, confused? Since the memory part of the spell does imply some kind of timeline reset, it all seems strangely hand-wavy. A friendly neighborhood fan on Twitter pointed out to me that the second spell had to broaden to everyone forgets Peter Parker because the original spell that tried to make everyone forget Peter Parker was Spider-Man was beyond repair. But I totally missed that. Those who have seen the film multiple times now, please share your thoughts!
I’d also love to hear others’ thoughts on the end-credits scene, which shows Eddie Brock and Venom at a tropical tiki bar, asking a lot of questions about the Avengers and Thanos. Mid-sentence, we see Eddie fade away just as all the other Spider-Man-associated multiverse visitors have. So presumably he has returned to his own universe in his own Sony movies.
But, of course, he leaves a speck of Venom goo behind, implying that a new version of Venom will appear in Tom Holland’s universe at some point. This is understandable but extremely disappointing. I really wanted Tom Hardy in the MCU. And to set up that possibility in previous end-credits scenes only to yank it away seems cruel.
At the risk of sounding increasingly greedy, I’d also say that the second end-credits scene was pretty lame because it’s basically a trailer for Multiverse of Madness. The film looks great, and it’s a great trailer, but in keeping with tradition, I would have much rather have just gotten a single, extended scene between Scarlett Witch and Dr. Strange. Because that’s really the headline for that film at this point.
Maybe a second viewing will change my mind, though. And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful here at the end AT ALL. I loved No Way Home, flaws and all, and can’t wait to see it again. You did it, Marvel! You pulled it off.