Spider-Man: No Way Home Review (Spoilers at the End)

Non-Spoiler Review:

Overall, I loved it: some very powerful moments and satisfying fan service. My main complaint would be the general lack of growth of Peter Parker. I feel like he is still Spider-Boy and has yet to grow into Spider-Man. His decisions, well-intentioned or not, seem more naive than idealistic. In general, the MCU and Spider-Man films have done a masterful job of interjecting humor and levity in with the gravitas of high-stakes life and death threats. This is no different, but some of the humor (mainly in the first act) falls a little flat.

SPOILER REVIEW:

Seriously, here are the spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Totally NOT WORTH reading any further. It is a fun Spider-Man film that you absolutely need to go see if you are a fan of Spider-Man or the MCU, so why bother reading my dumb review before seeing it for yourself. You don’t know me, so who cares what I think?

By now, if you’re a fan that has been following the media hype, you’re probably expecting Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield swing in to help Holland. You will not be disappointed. Though I knew they were in Spider-Man: No Way Home, I still wasn’t ready for just how satisfying it really was.

I was hoping for more insight into what becomes of them in their respective universes, but we only see them in Holland’s MCU. Through dialogue, we learn that Garfield went down a dark path after he failed to save Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. In a great conversation where Holland asks his counterparts the craziest villain they battled, I was hoping they’d allude to villains we never got to see on the screen but no such luck.

Main disappointment?

NO MENTION OF THE VULTURE! Sony wastes a Keaton cameo in the upcoming MORBIUS (also not referenced in this film unless I missed it) but not in THIS?! Mysterio didn’t return either. So NO SINISTER SIX. Such a BIZARRE missed opportunity. You’ve seen the five villains in the trailer. I wondered who would be the “sixth” and, instead, two of them are basically allies of the Spider-Men.

Other cameo that is SO DAMN COOL… Charlie Cox reprises his role as The Man Without Fear, Matt Murdock! Though he doesn’t appear in his Daredevil costume, he does pull off an amazing feat because “he is a really good lawyer.” So good, I can even let it slide that Peter Parker didn’t further consider the man’s skills.

I also think they may have hinted at Kraven the Hunter… when the rift at the Statue of Liberty is opening, you see the shape of a humanoid with what appears to be a spear and large shoulders (or a flowing lion’s mane vest). We don’t really see anyone else come through the rift, so for all of you that were waiting for the X-Men, maybe next time.

The mid-credit scene was lazy, in my opinion. Tom Hardy “Eddie Brock” cameo. He leaves behind a speck of the symbiote before returning to his own crappy universe where Venom inexplicably has Spider-Man eyes. The symbiote stirs and will presumably be off to find Peter.

Honestly, as a traditionalist that never really got into the MCU’s incarnation of Spider-Man’s supporting characters (MJ, Milfy Aunt May, Ned, and nerdy Flash Thompson), I’m hoping we get a new take on the character. I enjoyed all the MCU Holland films, don’t get me wrong, but I’m ready for Spider-MAN with an Aunt May like Tobey’s, a Flash-like Andrew’s, a Gwen and/or Mary Jane, web-shooters and a job at the Daily Bugle. One that honors his Uncle Ben and not Tony Stark.

Not just a new Peter Parker, I’m hoping “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” allows us to have new incarnations of Steve Rogers, T’Challa, Tony Stark, and others. Open it up. These characters are bigger than than the actors that played them. The post-credit scene is basically a trailer for the upcoming Dr. Strange film, which I REALLY look forward to… the possibilities are MADness.

Overall, I dug Spider-Man: No Way Home and will see it again this week.