Defne Onal managing editor
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” is hands-down the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movie in years. The film combines the perfect amount of superhero action, hilarious banter and tear-jerking moments. However, the reason why “No Way Home” is truly successful is because of its potent nostalgia.
“No Way Home” integrates several former actors in the Spider-Man franchise, including Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe and Jamie Foxx. The actors assumed their past roles and created a highly entertaining sequence of interactions between past and present characters.
A large majority of the world starts believing that Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, is a criminal and a killer, which directly impacts his loved ones, including his love interest MJ, played by Zendaya. As a result, Parker goes to Dr. Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) mansion to reverse what happened. Dr. Strange unintentionally opens portals to other universes, drawing in former villains from the previous “Spider-Man” franchises, including Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe).
In the past years, I’ve grown pessimistic about superhero movies. Everything about them feels undistinguished, predictable and desensitized because of the amount of violence they portray. The MCU universe also has way too many shows and movies, to the point where it gets too complicated to keep up with them.
“No Way Home” was different. There wasn’t one second where I felt inattentive or numb from the action-packed scenes. The present characters, including Peter Parker, MJ and Dr. Strange does a brilliant job of furthering the plot-line after Spider-Man’s identity is revealed to the entire world.
Maguire portrays an older, more developed Peter Parker and Garfield depicts a twenty-something young man trying to accept his mistakes and move on.
While this film is one of the best in the MCU, it presents a challenge for Marvel. Their multiverse formula has proved innovative and effective. From now on, returning to their normal superhero narrative will prove to be dull and disappointing since expectations have risen. Whatever film comes after “No Way Home” will test the durability of the MCU movies.
Highlights rates this movie: 5/5