Marvel’s new movie Spider-Man: No Way Home has been one of the most anticipated and hyped-up movies of the year. No Way Home marks a special place in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) as it delves into the idea of the Multiverse, the idea of multiple universes existing concurrently with each other. As a result, villains from past Spider-Man movies/universes, such as Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin, Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, and Jamie Foxx’s Electro are reprising their roles as enemies for the wall-crawler.

The movie has also been the most secretive of any other MCU movie. Despite being announced almost two years ago, the first trailer for the movie wasn’t released until August of 2021, with a second trailer releasing a month before the movie’s release. For a while, the cast list for the movie was also extremely hidden, with the only cast members confirmed being the trio of Tom Holland (Peter Parker), Zendaya (Mary Jane), and Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds).

The movie garnered even more attention when rumors arose that characters from past Spider-Man movies were returning. This turned out to be true when Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx announced that they were returning to the franchise. This led many to believe that if they are returning then the possibility of past Spider-Men, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, could return as well, generating more hype for the movie.

No Way Home picks up where its predecessor Far From Home had left off. After defeating Mysterio, finishing his school trip in Europe, and starting a relationship with MJ, Peter’s life seems to take a downturn when his identity is revealed to the public, framing him for the murder of Mysterio. Peter seeks the help of Doctor Strange to make everyone in the world forget he was ever Spider-Man, leading to a crack in the multiverse, bringing new threats to the world that only Peter can stop.

To start, the story and writing were amazing. As a Spider-Man fan, I love the stories that pit Spider-Man against the public. It’s a staple to his character to have the public mistrust him and question him, so to see in this movie that he has no support from the public despite quite saving the universe in Endgame, creates a cool narrative plot point. I loved seeing how much Peter’s life has changed since he was outed as the wall-crawler because he’s just a normal high school student. He isn’t a billionaire who can just reveal his identity and capitalize on it and he isn’t a super soldier that everyone loves. He’s just a normal kid whose life got turned upside down from a fake video.

The writing of the main trio is still on point. Peter, MJ, and Ned all seem like real people, going through real struggles. It’s even more interesting to see how Ned and MJ’s lives are changed just because they’re associated with Peter. With the little screen time that he has, Doctor Strange is also great in this movie. He doesn’t steal the spotlight from Peter or diverts attention from him, but he is exactly what a cameo should be. A character that supports the protagonist but also generates love and nostalgia from viewers. I feel that Strange is the blueprint for how future cameos are done and I’d like to see other Marvel characters show up in other movies, just to show how connected the world is.

The villains are also well done. Since they are villains from past Spider-Man movies, they are far more developed than other villains, but they are more fleshed out and given much more personality and emotion than they originally had in their previous movies. Not only is it great to see these great actors return to these iconic characters, but it’s also great to see that they’re having fun with it and making the characters their own.

The music is also awesome as always. Michael Giacchino is a great composer, working on famous movies like both Incredibles movies, Jurassic World and all the other MCU Spider-Man movies. The score of course contains the iconic MCU Spider-Man theme and a few surprises in there. I highly recommend that you watch the movie before listening to the songs, as there might be some familiar tunes in there that you might recognize if you’re a fan of the previous Spider-Man series.

When asked what he thought of the movie as a whole, Wayne Hills Senior Alexey Mishin said, “No Way Home is an emotional journey delivered by the cast and brings a satisfying conclusion to our favorite characters and opens the door for future movies.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home is an amazing movie and, dare I say, the best movie the MCU has ever made yet. I am an avid comic-book reader and Spider-Man fan and love these movies. When tickets went on sale at 11:50 on the 28th of November, I stayed up until 3 A.M., waiting in and out of queues and error messages to get tickets for the movie’s opening night. It was well worth it as I managed to snag the best seats in the theater, and the experience was amazing. I, fortunately, shared the theater with other fans who were just as excited as me, and as such, I was okay with screaming at the top of my lungs when something crazy happened on screen. I managed to lose my voice the day after, only being able to speak after a few cough drops.

“It gave me goosebumps,” said Ryan Lemchak when asked about his opinions on No Way Home. The movie is filled with great scenes and callbacks to previous movies so fans of previous generations could enjoy this movie just as fully.

I’ll be honest and say that there is a huge learning curve here as the previous MCU Spider-Man movies are a requirement for this movie, and it’s recommended that you watch Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and the Amazing Spider-Man two-movie series. It is kind of a hassle to watch all these movies before No Way Home and although it’s not required, it is essential if you want to feel the emotion and nostalgia in this movie. If you’ve had problems with the MCU’s version of Spider-Man, I guarantee that this movie will solve all of them. This movie singlehandedly manages to address the problems that people had with this representation of the character and it pays off well.

I suggest watching this movie as soon as possible as not only are spoilers already flying around, but it’s just worth a watch and a great way to spend your time. And if you are a Marvel fan, prepare yourselves for awesome moments and surprising cameos.