Movie Review- Spiderman: Now Way Home Is An Opus To Fate

Directed by Jon Watts, I was surprised Spiderman: No Way Home became my favorite Marvel film thus far. I did not expect it to be as great and emotive as it was, especially because multiple villains is not an EASY feat for films. Yet, unsurprisingly, the same Disney that came through to give us the Avengers can handle uniting with Sony to give us a movie that carries the weight, wonder, and sadness of facing multiple enemies to ask ….. why do I always do the right thing? Out December 17, this movie is the best of 2021 because it as much a Moral Fable as it is a Marvel classic. 

Seeing Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, Jamie Foxx’s Electro, Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman and Rhys Ifan’s The Lizard was superbly emotive because in this “universe” with our current Peter Parker (Tom Holland), they were not “villains.” Instead, within 2 hours and 30 minutes, you see that they are kind of like him, and even Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin ends up having a heftier/ humane take. Each man feels powerfully powerless; capable of superhuman abilities but perplexed by relationships and how to handle their desires for themselves and others. That feeling of blurred lines between being dreams and an uncontrollable greed is what makes the movie a surprising take on mental health, and what it takes for a person to, personally, check themselves. By the end of the film, Parker GETS CHECKED, and you cry for him, but you also feel a sense of peace. 

Between Wandavision and The Eternals, even Hawkeye and Loki, I feel like the current themes of Phase 2 are redemption, fate, and grief. There is undeniable tragedy in this film, and while I loved seeing fan theories come to life, even yelling “AHA,” I was so shocked by the amount of twists. As a writer, Chris McKenna did not hold back, and delivered a movie that felt like a full, sensory/ sensitive experience, and solidified that if Phase 1, of the Marvel Universe, was about how to build a team. Phase 2 is about how to build yourself after losing it. Holland is exceptional as a “builder,” and seeing him face off with the multiverse of Spiderman Movie Pasts makes you feel like the comparisons are unnecessary. He is the best Spiderman we could have, at this moment, the same way Tobey McGuire was in the 2000s, Andrew Garfield was in the 2010s, and now Holland in the 2020s. Each captured an era, and, oddly, the collective’s feelings. 

As you watch Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) trying to keep Peter within his moral center, and MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon)  growing as kids about to become young adults, you, like Peter, will ask yourself: what does it mean to be a good person and why? It is the question every “young person” asks and every villain avoids. By the end of the movie, you realize the whole point of being a good person is to simply be good with yourself. There is comfort in knowing you always chose right unto others and did your best to be good to people. These “multiverse villains” stopped being good to others because they did not feel good about themselves, and seeing their humanity made me think of this Post-Covid world where a lot of people survived, but like Peter Parker, are not sure where and when “living” becomes worth it. 

It is crazy that I saw Don’t Look Up recently, and, similarly, it spoke to what makes humanity “good,” which even Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) gets checked on how he defines it. He thought being good was being dutiful, but your honor is defined by what you are willing to sacrifice from what you know to enter the unknown of yourself and gain. Perhaps, THAT is what “adulting” means, and Peter Parker becomes an adult. Moreover, you realize just how much you have to let go to be a superhero and super person. Check Out Spiderman: No Way Home In theaters on December 17.