Spider-Man: No Way Home
2021
****
Director: Jon Watts
Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire
Following Spider-Man: Far from Home, nothing is the same now that Peter Parker is outed as Spider-Man. When the reveal begins to affect the lives of his friends, Peter asks help from Dr. Strange, but his rushed and botched amnesia spell opens the door to the multiverse. The multiverse brings back heroes and villains from the earlier releases in the franchise. That includes Tobey Maguire's original trilogy (Spider-Man, 2, and 3) and Andrew Garfield's reboot (The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel). While this supremely entertaining walk down the memory lane checks every box in a fanboy's wish list, it also signals a lack of fresh ideas. Apart from introducing multiverse and turning Dr. Strange into an idiot, it adds very little new to the MCU in the big picture, and it makes absolutely no sense to someone who is watching this on its own.
