Where Spiderman: No Way Home Went Wrong

Unexpected tonal shifts, unearned tragic moments, and story points that feel like pragmatic business decisions spoil what could have been a satisfying conclusion to an epic trilogy.

Though I hadn’t been looking for it, I found it nearly impossible to escape the marketing storm that had everything from Facebook posts to radio shows hyping this movie. Of course, a new Spiderman movie is reason in and of itself to get hype. However, when rumors of past Spidermen coming back are cleverly dropped, it makes it even more enticing to see the movie as soon as it comes out.

Of course, Marvel knows what it is doing. After all, a movie like Spiderman is an event. And events like that benefit from big reveals. However, overtime, I see this movie being far less re watchable than its prequel, Far From Home. Unlike that movie, which was consistent, No Way Home lacks consistency, having instead a lot of big moments in place of good storytelling.

[Warning – some spoilers ahead, but I omit key reveals from the movie]

Massive Tonal Shifts In Spiderman No Way Home Never Quite Feel Earned

Like I said above, Far From Home, in comparison, was a pretty even movie. It never gets too, too serious, while still affording Peter some learning moments as he stumbles through adolescence. It does a good job setting up Peter, however, as the guy who will be replacing Tony. However, that entire thing gets thrown out the window as we step into No Way Home.

Also, the maturity and sense of self that Parker has gained in the last movie is lost in this one. When he has an issue, instead of figuring out how to handle it himself, he runs off to Dr. Strange for a quick fix. (more on that later).

However, why does it matter that people know Parker is Spiderman? Everybody else in the world knows Tony Stark is Iron Man, Steve Rogers is Captain America etc. Hawkeye is an avenger and he’s still able to live a normal life out in the wilds. But no. Parker is shunned by all of society because people happen to know he is a super hero. This doesn’t make sense within the very rules that Marvel has built their world upon. It shouldn’t have been a big deal for Parker’s identity to be reveal, just like how it wasn’t a big deal with Tony Stark so famously declared “I’m Iron Man”.

The bigger problem really was that Peter was blamed for the death of Mysterio. However, that quickly gets swept under the rug.

Dr. Strange is a Horribly Irresponsible Adult

Although Holland himself is an adult, the character he is playing is still just a teenager. So even if it is frustrating that he seems to not have learned very much from what he’s been through already, it’s kind of understandable that he would go searching for a quick fix to his problem.

Dr. Strange, however, is a full grown adult, and he should never have acquiesced to Parker’s desire to use magic to fix his problems. He also rushes the whole thing, not first bothering to figure out the parameters around Peter’s desire to be forgotten as Spiderman (how unprofessional). And then, when things go horribly wrong because he was irresponsible in the first place, he has the audacity to blame it on Peter.

A Massive Shift in Tone Throws the Movie Off

Now, with all of that over and done, the next part of the movie is actually pretty fun. We get to see Holland’s Spiderman face off against old villains, and we get to see them interact with one another. That is all before something really awful happens that completely changes the tone of the movie. All of a sudden, things aren’t so happy and fun, the way they have been for the entire run of Tom Holland’s Spiderman.

The problem is, given the magic, Parker’s hard to believe desire to save the lives of super villains, and the overall flippant nature of the film, the sudden shift to tragedy doesn’t quite work. It doesn’t feel earned, and is more emotionally manipulative than anything else.

This shift in tone continues to get worse. Although it is somewhat relieved by the arrival of some familiar faces [not spoiling it] to help our hero onwards, the ending of the movie is also quite a somber one. We find Peter separated from his friends and family, as well as grieving his aunt. He is totally and utterly alone.

Again, the movie never earned its own shift to the tragic. Furthermore, the behind the scenes battle between Disney and Sony is pretty well known. The decision to cut Parker off from his support system, and essentially make everyone forget about him, seems to be more of a business decision than a carefully chosen ending based on good storytelling.

Spiderman’s story is essentially restarted, allowing whatever film to come next to happen on whomever’s terms it is being made – Sony’s, or Disney’s.

Had the film not taken its turn towards tragedy and stayed fun, and ended on a happy note, then some of the more ridiculous, self flattering aspects of it would have been forgivable. As it is, however, the movie does not ever manage to earn the ending that seems more of a pragmatic business decision than a satisfying conclusion to an epic trilogy.