Spider-Man: No Way Home Review + Who is the Best Spider-Man?

Review

Spider-Man: No Way Home, grossing over 1.75 billion dollars in less than a month, has become the 12th highest-grossing film ever and has had no problem securing its spot as one of the best Marvel movies to date. 

No Way Home opens directly from the end of its sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home, with James Jonah Jameson Jr revealing Spider-Man’s identity to the entire world.  Many believe that Spider-Man: No Way Home is by far the best piece of Marvel media to come out within phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, further exploring what it takes to be Spider-Man and how that responsibility weighs on Peter Parker. It very clearly communicates how Parker, played by Tom Holland, now has even more trouble leading his double life, and how he is facing the consequences of involving others in his secret life. Building from the loss of Tony Stark, Spider-Man: No Way Home opens the door to the multiverse, allowing in villains from other universes, including Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, and Jamie Foxx’s Electro to be this movie’s big bads.

To say this movie blew audiences away is an understatement. From the storyline and the new suits, to the ending, there wasn’t a boring moment to grab a snack or run to the bathroom. 

Spider-Man fans everywhere dressed up in their favorite suits, cosplayed as memes, and set aside the “who’s the best Spider-Man?” argument for Tom Holland’s climactic end of his first trilogy. Fans cried, laughed, and most of all, cheered as they got to see Holland’s Spider-Man achieve his full potential while donning the Spider-Man title.

[SPOILERS AHEAD] No Way Home brings back a variety of heroes and villains from the previous Spider-Man movies, making it a bittersweet reunion for all three Spider-Men and their fans alike. Theatres around the world erupted in cheers as Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man jumped onto the movie screens, followed immediately by the original Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire. A comical scene between them ensued, where the two finally met as Spider-Men after years of being friends off-screen. Seeing all three actors come together to defeat their combined enemies was amazing, especially while seeing Garfield and Maguire for the first time in years. Willem Dafoe’s performance as Green Goblin stole the show, not only because he was the main villain, but because he was a menace. He physically and mentally tore apart Holland’s Spider-Man before the other two Spider-Men even arrived, and pushed him into almost breaking his no-kill rule. On the more comical side, viewers got the three Spider-Men reminiscing over their time as Spider-Man, and of course, how crazy it was that Maguire’s Spider-Man didn’t need web shooters. The three have described it as more than a passing of the torch, but now a brotherly bond between them that carried over when Garfield and Maguire went and saw the premiere together.

This movie absolutely cemented Tom as a great Spider-Man and put an end to the “Iron man Jr” jokes. He’s no longer in the shadow of Tony Stark; he is now truly an amazing, spectacular, and astonishing Spider-Man.

Who is the best Spiderman?

With Spider-Man: No Way Home arriving in theaters on December 17, 2021, a new controversy has sparked: who is the best Spider-Man, and why? Fellow Centennial High School students gave their thoughts. 

In a poll of 26 students throughout CHS, it took multiple tiebreakers to find a consensus result. With seven votes, Tobey Maguire from Spider-Man 1, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3 came in third. Maguire has been the inspiration for the other Spider-Man movies and has set a new expectation for all superhero movies.  

Out of the three Spider-Man actors, Maguire was the first and potentially the most iconic. Since his movies came out the earliest, his movies’ quality were not as great as the newer films with better technology, which may also cause bias, not to mention many Centennial students have not even seen them. The three movies that Maguire acted in (not including Spider-Man: No Way Home) achieved the 1st, 3rd, and 4th most box office revenue out of the Spider-Man movies, with 403.71, 373.59, and 336.53 million dollars. 

“(In the Tobey Maguire movies) there are well developed villains, they show the struggle of leading two lives, and there are great looking suits,” said  Centennial senior Austin Roch.

With nine votes after four tie-breaking votes, Tom Holland, who is the most recent Spider-Man, came in second. He acted in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Even though most of the votes for Holland were only because they hadn’t seen the originals, the first two movies he acted in still brought in 334.2 and 390.53 million dollars. Holland’s Spider-Man is also known as “Stark Junior” because of his connection with Tony Stark (Iron-Man) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland’s Spider-Man is also popular today because of his spectacular and kind personality and the way he treats his fans. Also, the supporting cast in the newer Spider-Man movies could have a toll on the fandom, with Zendaya, who is highly adored, as a co-star to Holland.

“(Tom Holland) fits Peter Parker’s character the best; (he) really embodies the character,” sophomore Joanne Yoon stated.

Finally, in 1st place with ten votes is the star of the Amazing Spider-Man series, Andrew Garfield. Garfield was the second Spiderman of the three, and despite the fact that he was the most voted for, the two movies he was the lead in finished 6th and 7th in revenue, with 262.03 and 202.85 million dollars. After the second movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, he was fired because he did not show up to a release event in 2017. Just like Holland, Garfield is known for his kind and outgoing personality. 

“Andrew (Garfield) had the best representation of Peter Parker and Spider-Man combined,” said junior Judah Williams.

Even though the box office revenue isn’t correlating much with the popular vote of the students at Centennial High School, there are still many valid reasons to vote for each one of the three actors. 

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The opinions stated in this article do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the Wingspan staff as a whole.