Return to Cinema (take two) 2021 - Spider-Man: No Way Home

Following Venom, from earlier this month (when things were looking a little more like Christmas) it's time to get back into spiders again with Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), the 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). 

Starring all your favourite (literally) Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire.

The basic plot goes something like, Parker asks Dr. Stephen Strange to make his identity as Spider-Man a secret again with magic after its public revelation in Far From Home, but this breaks open the multiverse and allows five supervillains from alternate realities to enter Parker's universe. This includes bringing back Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire to their previous roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man.

Zendaya also stars ahead of her hit HBO series Euphoria returning next month.

Length wise this is long, but not too crazy at almost 2.5 hours. It has set several box office records, grossing $638 million worldwide, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 2021. A sequel is in development. Meaning a fourth Spider-Man film to come. But how will one top 3 Spider-Mans in one film?

OK so I had little expectation coming into this film. To be honest the films I have seen since the lockdown lifted have been less than exciting.

Spider-Man: No Way Home had some exceptional action scenes, a huge amount of plot points to follow, along with a number of special appearances. Including Daredevil from Netflix's Marvel period.

Where will these Marvel films end? With Dr Strange getting a good run in this film, however it was not as original and fresh feeling as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Marvel has a lot going on along with a big history of Spider-Man stories. Will this win any awards? Hell no, but the critics liked it, it had emotion and heart. Some say take some tissues. No spoilers here, except the part where I revealed all the recent prior Spider-Men unite.

It had big ambition, it's been a critical and box office success, so in a time of stress and worry, maybe comic book films give hope, but more importantly a distraction from the COVID world.

3 Stars.