This article will contain spoilers for Spider-man: No Way Home

Spider-man: No Way Home, which officially released into theaters on December 17th 2021, was a delight for all Marvel fans alike. 

The movie was able to exceed the expectations of its fans, who had already anticipated the movie to be spectacular. Leaked images surfaced on the internet, which in turn set it ablaze in conspiracy regarding the appearances in both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s respective Spidermen.

“I think it exceeded my expectations because not only did it include all three Spider-men, but they were more than just cameos,” said sophomore Raymond Obana.

Spider-man: No Way Home follows up right when Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity as Spiderman is revealed to the world, as shown in Spiderman: Far From Home. Many conflicts arise from this, however the one that saddens Peter the most is the fact that his friends, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and Michelle Jones (Zendaya) cannot get into MIT due to their association with him.

In order to reverse this, Peter goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make the world forget who Peter Parker is, but as always, chaos ensues, and the spell Strange puts onto the world fails and accidentally opens up the multiverse. Now that the multiverse has opened, several villains that Peter has “faced off against in the past” have now come back to get their revenge on the teenager.

Peter Parker, as well as those closest to him, realize that killing these foes will not solve anyone’s problems, and instead they come up with a solution to cure them of their madness, and successfully send them back into their respective universes.

The movie was highly praised for its story, which was able to successfully include a lot of different plot points that came together into an epic finale for the Homecoming trilogy. No Way Home was also able to blend aspects of humor and grief without one overpowering the other. This element of the movie can be seen notably from the death of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) that then switched to Andrew Garfield’s Spider-man summoned by Ned using magic.

“My favorite moment in the movie by far was the final battle with all three Spidey’s up against the villains,” said math teacher Jennifer Simental, “That part made me really emotional because I have been watching these three iterations since I was a little girl and to see them all working together and interacting with each other was so fun.”

The movie showcased spectacular performances from its cast. Although the movie has a large cast of beloved characters, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker was able to stand out from the rest of the cast, and clearly owned all of the scenes he was in.

Others have also noted that Andrew Garfield as his respective Spider-man and Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin were also able to portray their characters with as much heart as they had years ago.

“Andrew Garfield puts so much effort into his character,” said Obana.

“Willam Dafoe is a complete powerhouse. I think his Green Goblin deserves more recognition,” said Simental, “he was so ruthless. Then he would switch to Norman [Osborn] and you couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy.”

Spider-man: No Way Home was able to break numerous records in the short amount of time it has been in theatres. The certified blockbuster was able to accomplish over $1 billion in the box office, which is outstanding for a movie released during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think that all of the factors like relatability and the nostalgic parts of the movie being leaked online was a huge contributor to this,” said Obana, “and even for the movie to do so good and beat out other movies during the pandemic is amazing.”

Spider-man: No Way Home was able to connect to many audiences, which is a factor into why it did so good in the box office. Many fans felt that after watching the movie, that they needed to relive the thrill they felt in the theater, and re-watched it adding to it’s high box office numbers.

Even during the pandemic, the love that Spider-man fans have for the character can conquer all, even during the surge of cases worldwide during the pandemic.

“This movie truly was a love letter to Spider-Man and all the live-action iterations before it,” said Simental.