Peter Parker – G does Films

Spider-Man: No Way Home (Spoiler) Review

*SPOILER WARNING AHEAD*

It has now been a good few weeks since the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, so I decided it was about time I went into some more depth about the film which has not only redefined the story of Spider-Man, but also Marvel movies as a whole. Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a lot of articles saying NWH is the best Spider-Man film ever, and some even claiming it to be the best Marvel movie of all time. Whilst these statements could easily be contested, I very much understand them. Spider-Man: No Way Home is quite possibly one of the best superhero stories put to the big screen, and as I mentioned in my non-spoiler review, resolves any doubts about Tom Holland’s iteration of the character.

This film celebrates the cinematic history of one of pop culture’s most iconic heroes. The inclusion of nearly every pre-MCU Spider-Man villain makes for a triumphant nostalgia trip through Spidey history. There was not once where the film felt overcrowded with characters, because you know exactly who all these villains are and where they came from; what matters is the current story being told. Having had his identity revealed by Mysterio at the end of Far From Home, Peter is suddenly overwhelmed with the full force of the public eye. Not only that, but charges of murder are being made against Peter and his loved ones. Which leads me onto the biggest surprise of NWH for me personally – Charlie Cox’s return as the blind lawyer Matt Murdock. When I saw the blind stick being placed down as Matt Murdock took a seat alongside Peter, Happy and May, I could not contain my excitement. Netflix’s Daredevil series is without a doubt the best superhero show, as well as one of all-time my favourite shows. It led to Daredevil being one of my favourite Marvel characters (along with Spider-Man of course). Charlie Cox’s portrayal of the lawyer-by-day, vigilante-by-night was superb, and including him in NWH gets me excited for the potential reappearance of one of my favourite Marvel characters in the MCU.

Once the blind lawyer has helped Peter with his legal trouble, it doesn’t stop other forces from ruining aspects of Peter’s life and those around him. Seeking a wizard’s help to brainwash the world into forgetting he is Spider-Man rather than appealing for rejected MIT applications is such a Peter Parker thing to do. Whilst Doctor Strange is justifiably frustrated when Peter ruins his spell and discovers he didn’t even plead his case for MIT, you can’t help but think most of us would have done the same if we knew a Master of the Mystic Arts. Having unleashed all the previous Spidey villains into the MCU as a result of the spell, Strange tasks Peter with tracking them all down and sending them back to where they came from. When I heard Danny Elfman’s Doc Ock theme as the villain appeared on the bridge, I was hit with the nostalgic excitement I felt when watching Sam Raimi’s golden Spider-Man trilogy. Similarly, when the pumpkin bomb falls onto the bridge and you hear Willem Dafoe’s iconic Green Goblin laugh I could barely contain my excitement. It was also great to see Jamie Foxx reprise his role as Electro, providing a slightly more level-headed, quippy iteration of the villain to when we last saw him in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The chemistry between the villains and Peter was probably one of my favourite parts of the movie. There are some moments which even poke fun at the clichés of villain backstories. Such as when Electro and Sandman are discussing how they became how they are and they discover they both fell into the wrong place at the wrong time – “Gotta be careful where you fall”. Yet another aspect of the film which celebrates Spidey’s cinematic history.

Now I could write all day about every little aspect of this film. About how they went as far as to reference a meme of Norman Osborn with the inclusion of Willem’s iconic line “I’m something of a scientist myself”. This simply shows the extent to which the filmmakers acknowledged pop culture. But I cannot write a spoiler review of this film without talking about one of the greatest crossover events in cinematic history. The triumphant return of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire as their respective Spider-Men. When Andrew took his mask off I audibly went ‘OH SHIT’ in the cinema. I’ll start off by saying every scene with them was done perfectly. From the small details such as the use of the same sound effect for Tobey shooting his webbing to their discussion about the greatest villains they’ve fought. They both gave it their all, and they both encompassed everything we loved about the characters previously. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker suffers from quite possibly the greatest loss he’s experienced so far – the death of Aunt May. Little would I have guessed that a meaningful rooftop conversation with two other Spider-Men from different universes was exactly what he needed. The look on Tom’s face when Andrew tells him about how he lost the love of his life, Gwen Stacey, simply tells you he’s imagining what if the same thing happened to his MJ. When Tobey tells him about how he wanted the man who killed his Uncle Ben dead, and how it took him time to learn that vengeance doesn’t make it better, I had tears in my eyes. And then when the three Spider-Men agree on having heard the iconic line – ‘With great power, comes great responsibility’ it truly showed how much these films have encompassed the tragic tale of the wall-crawler. It showed that all of the different iterations of Spider-Man have told the same story, all of them have suffered loss, gone through the worst pain in their lives, but at the end of the day they keep doing the right thing because they are as Andrew puts it, the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. It really was a dream come true to see Tom, Andrew and Tobey on screen together. It was brilliant how much chemistry they had together, and having each other’s backs when they needed it most.

The bonding moments they share is unlike anything we’ve seen before. Tobey reassuring Andrew that he is ‘amazing’, meta-joke aside, shows how much companionship they provide each other, and how much Peter Parker effectively looks out for ‘himself’ in a way. Andrew’s greatest moment comes in the final battle when MJ falls from scaffolding and Tom being knocked aside by the Green Goblin, he leaps at the opportunity to save her. As he touches the ground with her in his arms safe and sound, he has that bittersweet sentimental look on his face that he was able to finally succeed where he once failed to save Gwen. It was the perfect healing moment for him seven years in the making. Tobey’s greatest moment comes when he stops a vengeful Spider-Man (Tom Holland) about to murder the Goblin with is own glider, stepping between them and matching his Spider-strength with Tom’s. Again, this was a perfect payoff moment for Tobey’s Spider-Man – preventing a younger, vengeful Peter Parker from making the same mistake he once did, ironically reflecting his own final battle with the very same Goblin, except this time stopping it from ending with the Goblin being killed by his own glider.

At it’s core, NWH is a story about what it truly means to be Spider-Man. When you strip away the appearances of previous heroes and villains and its multiversal elements, it’s a story about what a person is willing to sacrifice to do the right thing. At the end of the film, Peter chooses to lose everything to save everyone from the damage he had previously caused. He chooses to lose his loved ones by allowing everyone to forget Peter Parker. Recalling a line from Tobey’s Peter in Spider-Man 2 – “To do what’s right we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most – even our dreams.” Almost 20 years later, the same line is reflected in yet another Spider-Man story, which I think truly shows how timelessly beloved this character is. This line is especially reflected when Tom’s Peter Parker visits MJ after she no longer remembers him, and he decides not to get to know her again. After seeing the plaster on her forehead, subtly reflecting the damage caused to Peter’s loved ones by being Spider-Man, he decides to disassociate himself with her to keep her safe. The film closes with Peter on his own in his own apartment, making a classic comic book suit all by himself, swinging through a snowy Rockefeller Plaza. What truly makes this film one of the greatest Marvel movies of all time, is that it celebrated the cinematic history of Spider-Man, and showed the lessons from it are what took Tom Holland’s Peter Parker to truly become Spider-Man. He no longer has Tony Stark to make him billion-dollar suits, he no longer has the Avengers or anyone else to rely on. It took learning the lessons of loss and responsibility from Tobey and Andrew’s Spider-Men, and to learn those lessons first-hand himself, to truly encompass what it means to be Spider-Man. A famous director once said Marvel films aren’t cinema because they don’t give us enlightenment, knowledge and some inspiration. I respectfully disagree – movies like NWH inspire me every day, and only further solidify Spider-Man’s place in not only my heart, but in the hearts of countless others. The lessons we learn from heroes like Spider-Man provide us with enlightenment, knowledge and inspiration by showing us what it truly means to be a hero. That is, despite the loss, pain and responsibility, doing the right thing is worth it. And you don’t need to be a wall crawler to be able to do the right thing.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a love letter to everything Spidey

The day was Wednesday 15th December, 2021. The time was approximately 21:42. A young man had just walked out of one of the first screenings of Spider-Man: No Way Home. This young man had been a Spidey fan ever since he was a young boy climbing in trees and collecting Spider-Man figures from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. He had been there for every new Spider-Man film for as long as he could remember, and was very well informed on the comic book origins and timeline of the web-slinger. He knew that what it meant to be Spider-Man was not to have the proportionate strength, speed and ability of a spider. He knew what it meant to be Spider-Man was Peter Parker. A young man, a similar age to himself, who suffered and lost what he held most dearly as he battled between his life as a masked vigilante and a broke but clever student from New York City. On that particular Wednesday, the young man had never been in such awe of the web-slinger who had held such a close place in his heart ever since he was a young boy. That young man, was yours truly.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a triumphant love letter to everything which makes Spider-Man, Spider-Man. It not only has its much needed doses of fan service, but it is quite possibly the best Spider-Man story to be portrayed on the big screen. The main cast gives it their A-game, from Tom Holland as the titular hero to Alfred Molina reprising his role as Doctor Octopus. For those skeptics who saw Tom’s Spider-Man as nothing more than Tony Stark’s golden teenager, No Way Home proves that Tom can in fact encompass what it means to be Spider-Man, which quite possibly makes him the best iteration of the character to date. He goes through things in the film which no previous Spider-Man has gone through before, yet they are experiences which ultimately defines what it means to be Spider-Man. The film not only changes the course of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also the course of the story of Spider-Man on the big screen. It is in a sense the Avengers: Endgame equivalent for Spider-Man. The stakes have never been higher, and the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange adds for some intense multi-versal elements we have not yet seen on the big screen in the MCU. The fight scene between Spider-Man and Doctor Strange is impressive enough to rival Strange’s spectacular battle with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Taking inspiration from one of the most controversial Spider-Man stories in the comics, ‘Spider-Man: One More Day‘, the film places some MCU twists on the comic storyline whilst still remaining relatively true to the source material. It was brilliant to see so many iconic Spidey villains on-screen together in live action, giving us what is essentially the closest version of a live-action Sinister Six (even though there wasn’t quite six). It is often difficult to have so many supporting characters on-screen without making a film feel crowded, but No Way Home somehow does it perfectly. The villains’ chemistry with not only Spider-Man, but also each other, was one of the best aspects of the film which I was pleasantly surprised by. I genuinely could not stop myself from grinning all the way through the film, it made me feel so lucky to be a film fan, a Marvel fan, but most of all, a Spider-Man fan.

I would be interested to watch this film from the perspective of a non-Marvel or Spider-Man fan, as I have no doubt there is still much enjoyment to be found. To the casual cinema-goer, Spider-Man: No Way Home is nothing short of the story of a young boy becoming a young man. It is a story of how far a person is willing to go to do the right thing. It is a story of an average teenager attempting to balance his normal life with the responsibility of being a superhero, which is exactly what Spider-Man is all about. The film shows that no matter how much loss and suffering Peter Parker goes through he is still willing to make sacrifices to do the right thing, which is exactly why we love him. Any doubt about Tom’s iteration of Spider-Man is gone by the end of the film. He truly epitomises what it means to be Spider-Man and Peter Parker, and the film makes it clear that the person who does the right thing is not Spider-Man, but Peter Parker.

Stay tuned for a spoiler-filled blog…

The Spider-Man PS4 game IS the reason Spider-Man is my hero

I love Spider-Man. As if the picture isn’t enough to scream that, I’ve loved Spider-Man as long as I can remember. I remember the despair I felt when I was 8 years old and lost my Spider-man 2 Doctor Octopus figure at school. I remember climbing up trees around my village and posing like the Web slinger. I remember the excitement I felt first seeing Tom Holland as the MCU’s Spider-Man in the Captain America: Civil War trailer. Peter Parker has always been a big part of my life, but as I grew into late adolescence I was no longer buying Doc Ock figures or climbing up trees. Then when I was 21 I played Insomniac’s Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4. And my god. It reminded me why I love Spider-Man.

Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 is a 2018 action-adventure video game made by Insomniac games. It lets you play as the web slinger in a fully explorable New York City sprinkled with plenty of crimes to stop and references to the wider Marvel universe. The game has a full original story just like the movies, but with the expansiveness and emotional depth as many of the comics. Personally, I don’t think you could beat the idea of an open-world Spider-Man game where you can live out your wildest web slinging dreams. The combination of John Paesano’s phenomenal musical score and Insomniac’s gorgeous recreation of the New York skyline makes you feel like Spider-Man.

*Spoilers ahead for the main story of Spider-Man PS4*

From the very first scene of the game my love for Spider-Man began tingling. It opens with a spider dangling over Peter Parker’s window, and then pans to all the newspaper headlines pinned up of all the villains Spidey has put away. As Peter is alerted to Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin) causing a major problem for the NYPD, he puts on the iconic suit and looks down at the phone alert, and then looks at a slip for overdue rent. He looks back and forth again, and then leaps out the window and spreads his webs. That decision right there is what epitomises Peter Parker and why Spider-Man is such a global phenomenon. He has to make a choice, go after Fisk or pay the rent; what is right or personal responsibility. And this is within the first 5 minutes of the game.

I don’t think I’ve played a video game which I’ve been more emotionally invested in than Spider-Man. The characters are written as good as if not better than the films. Peter Parker is an older, more experienced Spider-Man in this story, so he’s faced with the pressures of adulthood whilst also balancing the vigilante lifestyle. His relationship with Otto Octavius is so well written that die-hard Spider-Man fans don’t want him to become Doctor Octopus. Otto and Peter have a shared passion for science and have an incredible rapport, so much so that Peter idolises him. So much so that by the end of the game when Octavius has become Doc Ock you almost dread Peter’s final showdown with him; a friendship thrown away for the sake of vengeance and arrogance.

Peter Parker’s love interest, Mary Jane (or MJ), is probably the best portrayal of MJ in any film or other media. Unlike the films, MJ is clearly no damsel in distress who needs Spidey to rescue her every 5 minutes. Being a journalist with an eye for a shifty story, she goes out by herself to investigate any villainous schemes that may be posing a threat to the city, even if it means putting herself in harm’s way. Throughout the game she has a slightly ambiguous yet stable relationship with Peter, balancing the thin line between casual friendship and deep romantic interest. She is much more than the cliché love interest for the hero. Peter and MJ are crime fighting partners; MJ using her journalism skills to do the right thing even if Peter disagrees with it. Miles Morales is another character worthy of an honourable mention. For those who are unfamiliar, Peter acts as a mentor figure to Miles and as die-hard fans know he eventually becomes the next Spider-Man. Miles goes through similar trauma to Peter; he loses loved ones, he faces potentially losing his city but he still carries on and does the right thing. There’s one brilliant scene where Spider-Man shows Miles how to throw a punch, which is later paid off in a scene where Miles punches an escaped convict for stealing some medical supplies. And this is all before he gets bitten by a spider and gains his own spidey powers.

These characters mean a lot to so many people because they are us. Peter doesn’t have a perfect relationship with MJ, Miles doesn’t have superpowers yet he helps out at a homeless shelter after losing his father. The relatability of these characters and the trials and tribulations they’re tested through is what inspires us to be better than we are. We may not have superpowers or a cool costume but these characters make us believe that we don’t need them to do just as much good. Spider-Man gets beaten down again and again, he has to take down the closest thing he’s had to a father figure. He has to make the ultimate sacrifice by choosing whether to save the city or save a loved one. Despite all this, he keeps going. He keeps being Spider-Man and he keeps doing the right thing. The emotional depth to this game is unparalleled to any other Spider-Man film or TV show. This game is the reason I went out and bought a Spider-Man costume. It made me want to read every comic book and watch every movie, and it made me so happy Marvel blessed us with this wonderful character. If you asked me who the greatest fictional hero of all time was, it wouldn’t be Superman, Batman, King Arthur, or Captain America. It would be Spider-Man. Because he’s one of us.