Spider-Man: No Way Home SPOILERS Review

I've never been a big Spider-Man fan.  My fondest memories of the web slinger is the 1990's Saturday morning cartoon.  My brother and I would settle in for TV watching that included Spider-Man, Batman, and X-Men.  My brother Patrick however is a HUGE Spider-Man fan.  Everything I know about Spider-Man comes from me reading his comic book collection when he wasn't home.  Like most big brothers, he didn't like me getting into his things.  As a whole I like the Tobey Maguire trilogy, but never really warmed up to the Andrew Garfield films.  I have, however, enjoyed Tom Holland's portrayal of Peter Parker.  So heading into his third film I was curious what was going to happen in No Way Home, and who was going to show up.  The correct answer for both of those questions was EVERYTHING!

This film picks up right where Far From Home ended.  Peter's identity is exposed to the whole world, and those closest to him are being hurt because of it.  Peter turns to Doctor Stephen Strange to help him make the world forget he is Spider-Man.  But when the spell goes wrong it brings in everyone from the multiverse who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man, which included villains (and heroes) from all the Spider-Man films Sony has released in the last 20 years. It all comes down to a climactic battle at the Statue of Liberty with three Spidermen versus the Sinister Five.  Yes, FIVE.  When they were all captured my first thought was, "there has to be one more to make it the Sinister Six."  But there wasn't.

First off, my problem with this film is the same reasons I, and many other, geeked out so hard while watching it.  It's filled with cameos from all the previous Spider-Man films; and then some.  It had great references and the money shot of all three Spidermen, in costume, ready to battle. But, earlier I hopped on YouTube to rewatch the Matt Murdock scene.  I remember freaking out when he appeared and I just kept thinking, "Charlie Cox's Daredevil is in the MCU." And in the 80 seconds or so he was in the film I didn't process any dialogue or anything else in that scene.  I was in a daze and missed everything else being said.  I just kept wondering when the next cameo was coming instead of focusing on this Peter's emotional journey.

But, despite two other Spidey's in the film, the heart of it was still Tom Holland's Spider-Man.  It was his hopefulness of not giving up on the villains.  Trying to not just send them back to their deaths, but to try and help them.  The end of the film ended with Peter making everyone forget not Spider-man, but Peter Parker; even his friends.  The last scene with Peter and MJ killed me Peter was about to tell MJ who he was till he noticed the bandage above her eye and believed the best way to keep her safe was for him not to be in her life. This reminds me of a comic book storyline called Brand New Day.  After Civil War everyone knew who Spider-Man was, and this led to Aunt May being shot.  So, Peter made a deal with Mephisto (yes, that Mephisto) that he would save May's life if Peter would give up is life with Mary Jane. Thus, causing everyone to forget he was Spider-Man, never meeting or marrying MJ, and him living the bachelor life with his buddy Harry Osborn in their New York apartment. That's what the end of the film felt like to me; that it's a brand-new day for Spider-Man.  Peter has his own New York apartment, struggling to get by, and most important; sewing his own costume.  This is the basics of who Spider-Man is to me, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Speaking of what's next, the mid-credit scene saw Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock getting the 411 on the MCU.  The bartender explaining it all is Ted Lasso's Cristo Fernandez. Football is life!!  Anyway, Eddie then gets zapped back to his reality thanks to Peter and the events of the film but leaves behind a piece of the symbiote.  And every comic book fan's immediate thought was not only "Black Costume Saga" but also, "Is the MCU gonna do their own Venom?"  Now, I'm still confused how Eddie ended up in the MCU.  We assume it's from the Strange spell, so then why would he get zapped to the MCU if he had no idea who Peter Parker was?  This feeds into the fan theory that Venom's hive mind with other symbiotes includes the one from Spider-Man 3, and Venom, not Eddie, knew Peter was Spider-Man, and why Eddie came to the MCU, and then returned to the Sonyverse. 

I believe No Way Home is love letter to everyone who has been watching Spider-Man films for the last 20 yrs.  It remembers the past but set up so much for the future of the character, and also raises so many questions like; did they bring Tom Hardy's Venom over just to leave the symbiote piece behind?  Does Zendaya's MJ ever get back with Peter or is this the actresses' way out of the franchise?  And what's up with Morbius?  We know he's in the same universe as Venom, but that Spider-Man mural is in the background in the trailer and so is Michael Keaton.  Also, Keaton's Vulture no longer knows who Spider-Man is according to the rules.  If Jon Watts and crew got a non-loving Spider-Man guy like me to get excited about the possibilities, I can't wait to see what he does with Fantastic Four!

Spider-Man: No Way ALL The Rumors Are True

Well folks, it finally arrived.  After days of anticipation we finally got to see it; my mother-in-law's new fancy bed.  But while I was putting that together, people in L.A. were gathering into a theater to be the first ones to get a look at the newest trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Sony promised a special surprise for those in attendance.  And I guess the appearance of Tom Holland is the surprise they got.  But those of us at home were hoping to see appearances from different webslingers last night.

Not since Avengers: Endgame has so many rumors and theories been swirling around a single film.  From Daredevil to Professor Charles Xavier I've heard every Marvel character might make a cameo in Jon Watt's third installment in the MCU's Spider-Man "Home movies." Cue laugh track. 

But with this film bringing in all the villains from previous Spidey movies people expect to see the Spider-Men that go with them; Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Recently, film pundit, John Campea posted some pictures online he thought were fake, but was soon contacted by Sony to take them down because they "could be real" as the Sony rep told him.  But it was too late.  People saw, saved, and shared those pictures all around showing Holland with Garfield and Maguire on a set much like the one we see in the new trailer when Peter is about to face off again Electro, Sandman, and Lizard.  People are speculating Marvel pulled one of their trailer magic tricks and erased two Peter Parker's from that shot for the trailer(look online for the Lizard getting punched by air).

So what take-aways do I have from this newest Spider-Man trailer?  Well I'm about 99.9% sure Maguire and Garfield are in the film.  I think Spider-Man is about to jump over to his own Sony-controlled film universe.  And I think Peter will suffer a tragedy.

A few years back Marvel and Sony Pictures broke a new deal after their old one in sharing live-action rights to Spider-Man had expired.  After it looked like Tom Holland's Spider-Man was gone from the MCU the two companies said they had renewed for 2 more movies; 1 Spider-Man film and 1 MCU film that Spider-Man would appear in.  I, like some, believed this was the two studios way of writing Spider-Man out of the MCU and into his own Sony universe with Venom, Morbius, Kraven, all of his own supporting characters. With the Multiverse going awry it would make sense that Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is the other MCU film Tom Holland will be in, and then have "no way" to get back to the MCU after Strange cleans up the Multiverse.  I for one have enjoyed Spider-Man interacting with the other Marvel characters, and while I believe he can lead his own cinematic universe I'd much rather see him stay in MCU.  But I think Sony is done letting Marvel Studios play with their most valuable toy.  Even if Marvel did re-polish it after Sony mistreated and dragged it through the mud.......Moving on.

The first trailer gave us Doctor Octopus and a hint of Green Goblin.  We also knew Jamie Foxx would be reprising his role as Electro. In this newest trailer we got confirmation of Sandman and Lizard with Doctor Strange saying "They all die fighting Spider-Man; It's their fate."  Now, I plan on re-watching all the live-action Spider-Man films before seeing No Way Home, but Sandman didn't die.  From my memory, all the others died at the end of their subsequent films, but Thomas Hayden Church turned a corner at the end of Spider-Man 3 and became dust in the wind.  Plus, we are missing two live-action Spidey villains; Venom and Harry Osborn's Green Goblin.  The end credit scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage hints that "a Venom" might make a cameo in this film, and Willem DaFoe wasn't the only Green Goblin in the trailer. One shot showed a Goblin looking different. My guess is it's Harry from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but some say it may be Ned's possible Hobgoblin turn like in the comic books.  But I'm more curious about Ned's letter jacket?  What sports or activities is he in to get one of those?  I also don't believe Molina's Doctor Ock will be a true foil in this film.  He also turned over a new leaf at the end of Spider-Man 2 and was about to die a semi-hero.

The trailer ends with a classic love interest fall and Peter diving to save her.  Maguire saved his girl.  Garfield killed his.  How do you think Holland is gonna shake out?  "This is all my fault. I can't save everyone," is what Peter says in the trailer.  Also falling in the trailer is a giant shield.  Looks like New York is making some Captain America memorial?  And the last line of the trailer is Strange saying, "They're starting to come through, and I can't stop 'em." Which I believe is a tip of the hat of what the good Doctor will have to fix in his own sequel film. Let's also not forget Peter had another new suit, a black one, that looks magical, because, we gotta sell some toys!  

I'm at that point in my life as a geeky film fan where I walk in trying to check all the rumors and head Canon before going in.  I'm not the biggest Spider-Man fan, but I do enjoy the character, and I look forward to see what Marvel and Sony have in store for us.  But, I'm wearing my Daredevil shirt just in case Charlie Cox shows up and I scream, "Yes!"