I Watch Films: Spider-Man No Way Home

 

Spider-Man: No Way Home

At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker is revealed as Spider-Man and accused of unleashing the drone swarm and killing Mysterio. This causes him some problems, ending with him and his two best friends being denied university places. Parker goes to see Dr Strange, who he knows from Avengers: Infinity War, and possibly Avengers: Endgame, asking him if he can go back in time and fix this. Strange no longer has the Time Stone (see Avengers: Endgame if you care why), and technically is no longer Sorcerer Supreme, having been dead for five years (again, see Avengers: Endgame).

Strange tries something else, a spell that goes wrong. This brings in the multiverse, and villains from other Spider-Man films, followed by two previous big-screen Spider-Mans.

It’s Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse but a bit less fun and trippy.

Do I enjoy the whole load of spider stunts, and Peter Parker trying to cope with celebrity, and (especially) the Dr Strange vs Spider-Man fights? Yes, I think I do. Did I need the Spider-Mans all having a big appreciation session, telling each other they’re doing good? Did Andrew Garfield need to save someone from falling? It was fine. Did I like the villains all coming back? The meet-fight-team-up-fight-again structure? It was all fine. We can’t have a single superhero film now, it’s got to weave with all the others.

And as it happens I like a team-up, so Spider-Man gets Dr Strange’s help (though classically it ought to be Dr Strange interrupts Spider-Man with a giant head of Strange summoning him). I don’t know that we need to re-iterate every previous spider-villain and Spider-Man plot-point and theme though. And the post-credits scene isn’t a post-credits scene, it’s a trailer for Dr Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness. Don’t waste my time like that, I’m going to catch a trailer anyway.

Watch This: It’s a fine Spider-Man film, and Andrew Garfield gets to complete his trilogy I guess
Don’t Watch This: You had enough Spider-Mans in Into The Spider-Verse