Marvel perfects hero in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

With all of the many blockbuster movies that came out in 2021, everyone had anticipated the latest Spider-Man movie the most. After all of the hype surrounding it and the movie trailers/teasers that were released, did it live up to expectations?

The movie begins by resuming from the cliff-hanger in the end credits of the previous film, “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” If you are not familiar with how the last film ended, then spoiler warning at this very moment before you see something you’ll regret: Mysterio ends up revealing Peter Parker’s identity to the entire world while also framing him for the mass destruction Mysterio caused in London.

How the film continues from this point on is quite a stressful, up and down roller coaster–not for Spider-Man, but rather Peter Parker. Peter now has to not only worry about how he’s going to live day to day, but also how his loved ones will live their lives day to day. The best comparison I can make to Peter’s situation without giving too much away is if Paul McCartney got caught shoving a child to the floor and now everyone is shaming him. Now Paul McCartney is trying to find a way to fake his death, so he can live a normal life which slightly backfires and creates much, much worse problems.

Something I have to really applaud this film for, especially compared to the other two Spider-Man movies, is that it does a great job transitioning from a very MCU perspective to a very human, Peter Parker, situation. When it comes to these MCU Spider-Man movies, they typically have a very MCU take on it. What I mean by this is that they often focus on the superhero aspect of the movie. This is still very entertaining, but what makes “Spider-Man: No Way Home” stand out is that it makes Spider-Man and Peter Parker one.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” garnered $1 billion worldwide, making it the only film during the pandemic to reach those numbers, according to CNN. Audiences responded so well to this movie not just because it’s Spider-Man and everybody loves him, but because of how much this Marvel Spider-Man truly embodies Peter Parker. The reason why everyone loves Spider-Man, especially teenagers, is that we can see ourselves in him. We love Spider-Man because he’s also Peter Parker, a kid who is just trying to figure out how to navigate life to the best of his abilities while making mistakes and learning from them as he goes, and the movie does just that.

It shows us Peter fighting through his emotions and the period of self-isolation that we tend to put ourselves through when we feel like no one understands how we feel. It is so human, and it just makes you feel a little closer to Peter because of it.

The end is where the movie gets really good for two reasons:

1) Peter makes the most important decision of his life that truly shows “with great power comes great responsibility.” This makes you feel such pity for him as well as a great sense of respect and admiration. When you see that final scene, it just clicks that he truly is Spider-Man.

2) The new concept that they end up introducing that, for those who did watch it, leaves you in absolute awe in the theater.

That last reason is quite vague, but if you know, you know. You can even guess what movie will come after this one, and that is honestly what many of us have been anticipating for so long. Overall, the movie is an absolute must-watch, especially if you are a massive Spider-Man fan. There’s so much to appreciate about it and so much to look forward to after watching it as well.