Why Spider-Man No Way Home Is The Superior Spider-Man Movie So Far

2021 was the year of Spider-Man. After many attempts to bring audiences back to the theatres after repeated lockdowns and COVID-19 delays, audiences were starved for a theatre-going experience that would have the audience cheering, and low and behold ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ arrived to bring us back to the theatre and deliver a once in a lifetime theatre-going experience. I adored seeing ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ on the big screen with a packed cinema. It is filled with nostalgia for previous Spider-Man films, references galore to the current Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and great visual effects. To celebrate the film coming to DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K UHD I am going to tell you why ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is the superior Spider-Man film. Whilst nearly the entire world has seen the film at this point, I am going to avoid major spoilers in this blog post.

The action – Each of the Spider-man films up until this point, whether it be Tobey Maguire’s films, Andrew Garfield’s films or Tom Holland’s films so far, each film has had memorable action but ‘No Way Home’ takes the cake, with a memorable action scene, after memorable action scene. The film includes a magnificent battle between Doctor Strange and Spider-Man in the mirror dimension. We got glimpses of this in the trailer but seeing it in its entirety is something to behold. The visuals in this sequence look amazing and the banter between Strange and Peter is great and keeps a fun pace throughout. We have a great fight sequence between Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin and Holland’s Spider-Man, that is brutal and has massive emotional repercussions for the rest of the film and a fun action set-piece between Alfred Molina’s Dr. Octopus and Holland’s Spider-Man on the bridge, which we also see glimpses of in the film's trailer. Each of these sequences adds something to the film, making it feel unique and different from other Spider-Man films. It is going to be great re-living these sequences again on physical media.

The current cast – One thing that comes to the forefront of this film is the relationship between our three leads. Zendeya’s MJ, Jacob Batalon’s Ned, and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. These 3 are the emotional core of the film and their chemistry is off the charts. Their interplay with one another and their banter make them feel genuine and real. We all have friendships that are very similar to the friendship these 3 have. MJ and Parker are great together, real-life couple Zendaya and Tom Holland, bring this chemistry together on the screen. They are adorable. But the real winner is the bromance between Ned and Peter. The two of them are great together, hilarious, and also quite sweet. I loved every moment the trio share on-screen together.

The Introduction of the Multiverse to the MCU  – The introduction of the Multiverse is something many Marvel fans have been anticipating for quite some time. We have had a mild introduction to it in the 2021 Disney Plus series ‘Loki’, but now the multiverse is in full swing on the big screen. This concept invites so many possibilities and we got a good glimpse of what can happen with this concept in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, with the introduction of characters we have seen in other films and tv series with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil from the Netflix series and the Spider-Man characters from previously disconnected series as well. This is very exciting, now that we know Disney has the rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four, we could see some of these characters previously established, like Ryan Reynolds Deadpool appear in future Marvel projects. This along with many other elements, add to this Spider-Man flick, making it feel more complete and exciting than previous instalments, making it a superior film.

The inclusion of the villains from previous films – As the trailers of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ showed us, the film welcomed back villains from previous Spider-Man films, with Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin Spider-Man, Jamie Foxx’s Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Alfred Molina’s Dr Octopus Spider-Man 2, Rhys Ifans Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man and Hayden Christian-Church’s Sandman from Spider-Man 3. The inclusion of all of these characters is something fans have dreamed of, but to actually see it come to fruition is something else. Its mesmeroising. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time to give all of these characters an equal share of screen time, but I think Director Jon Watt’s balances this beautifully. Willem Defoe steals the show (no rhyme intended). He is amazing again as Norman Osbourne/Green Goblin. Even though 19 years have passed since he previously played the character in Spider-Man. It is like no time has passed at all. He acts as the main antagonist of the film, and I loved seeing him on-screen again. Alfred Molina as Dr Oc, also gets a fair chunk of screentime. He is also amazing and I loved seeing him on-screen again. Jamie Foxx’s Electro also gets redeemed in this film. Often crticised for his performance in  The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Foxx improves upon his previous outing, giving his character more motive and emotional resonance than was previously given. He is great and I am glad he got to shine in this role finally. The collective villains of this film are fantastic and are another reason why ‘No Way Home’ is the superior Spider-Man film.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) connections – One of the hallmarks of an MCU outing is the references to previous films in the franchise and of course hints of films to come. Without spoiling too many details, I loved the inclusion of Doctor Strange in the film. Strange is our main man and lead moving forward after the departure of Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark/Iron Man. His interplay with Holland is fantastic and their chemistry is undeniable. Wong, now the Sorcerer Supreme, also makes a brief cameo appearance and it is a welcomed addition to the film. We get hints of repercussions from the events of ‘No Way Home’ as well, with the multiverse now in shatters and Strange left to deal with the fallout in his own sequel ‘Doctor Strange and The Multiverse of Madness’ arriving in theatres this May. If you wait until the end of the credits of ‘No Way Home’, you get a brief teaser trailer for this film. There is also a fun mid-credits scene with Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock/Venom as well, which is a nice little nod for fans of his films as well. These references are great and another reason why this film works on the level that it does.

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home', is a modern blockbuster masterpiece. It is filled with things that MCU fans have come to expect, but also pays respect to the Spider-Man films of old. I loved this flick and think it is the far superior Spider-Man film. Be sure to head on over to your local Sanity or online to pre-order your copy today on DVD, Blu-Ray, or 4K UHD, you won’t want to miss this one.

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Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here