On December 17, 2021, the long-awaited sequel to Spiderman: Homecoming (2017) and Spiderman: Far From Home (2019) was released in theaters. Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up right after Spiderman is revealed to be Peter Parker and follows Peter’s journey as he struggles to separate his personal life from his identity as a superhero. The cast’s performance, storyline, visual effects, musical score, and emotional weight make this movie everything we anticipated and more. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a complex web of feelings for Peter and the audience. Through tragedy, trauma, and triumph the movie goes on an emotional rollercoaster with difficult sacrifices, heartfelt scenes, and a bittersweet ending. Even though this is an action movie, the occasional quips and lighthearted jokes make the film more entertaining and enjoyable to watch. 

The experience of seeing the movie in theaters is also something you cannot recreate alone. 2021 has been a challenging year, so it is refreshing to be able to laugh, cry, and applaud alongside others. One of the most memorable moments was when Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the two older Spidermans, appeared next to Tom Holland. As people who have watched the previous Spiderman movies, we felt a wave of nostalgia—and we weren’t alone. As soon as Maguire and Garfield appeared, the audience erupted with cheers.  

**Spoilers ahead**

When Peter, MJ, and Ned all fail to get accepted to MIT due to their relationships with Spiderman, the guilt prompts Peter to ask Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help. Dr. Strange suggests a spell that would make everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. However, Peter repeatedly requests alterations to let his loved ones retain their memories which corrupts the spell, opening up the multiverse and allowing supervillains from alternate realities to enter Parker’s universe.  

Following the chaos that breaks out, Peter is tasked with capturing the villains so they can be returned to their worlds. Once Peter finds out the villains would be killed by Spiderman once they returned to their worlds, he suddenly develops a savior complex, preventing Dr. Strange from sending the villains back and closing the multiverse. Instead, Peter decides the right thing to do is to “cure” the villains by taking away their abilities. Peter’s decision to stand on the moral high ground is somewhat due to his aunt’s influence, who tells Peter it is his responsibility to help the villains which—spoiler alert—it’s not. Peter pays for his decision; his aunt is killed as he is fighting Green Goblin, the supervillain from an alternate universe. As Aunt May lays on the ground dying, she tells Peter that he made the right decision, however, we can’t help but think that Peter did not make the right choice. Frankly, Peter’s lack of judgment exacerbated all of his problems, and this all happened because he and his friends were rejected from MIT. 

Overall the film was enjoyable and definitely a good choice to watch with family and friends.  The older generation who grew up watching Maguire and Garfield play Spiderman will especially enjoy this new Spiderman movie. To those who felt that the ending was incomplete, don’t worry!  It has recently been announced that a sequel is in the works, and hopefully this time, everything will be resolved.

Final rating: 8.5/10