Credit – Sony/Marvel
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is setting the box office on fire and leaving any competition so far back, it’s hard to recognize if you could actually call it competition. In ten days, ‘No Way Home’ has reached 1.054 billion dollars globally, breaking records left and right. Sony has managed to deliver a superhero movie to fans, that was devoid of woke politics, and focused solely on entertainment and escapism, while staying true to the foundation of the character. ‘The Matrix Resurrections’, ‘Sing 2’, and ‘The King’s Man’ didn’t make a dent in ‘No Way Home’s’ second weekend at the box office and proved that “the pandemic”, can no loner be used as an excuse(even though the Hollywood media is trying their best). With ‘No Way Home’, Sony has proven, along with ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’, that story and faithfulness to the fans matters, and that’s what is going to bring you in the returns at the box office. The big question, however, is whether or not ‘No Way Home’ is the best Spider-Man movie. A lot of fans have been saying that, with ‘No Way Home’, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, is their definitive Spider-man. I left the theater feeling very mixed about what I saw. I loved the movie, but was is it the definitive Spider-Man movie?
‘No Way Home’ Could be a Top Five Box Office All Time Hit
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is the second biggest grossing domestic release of all time, only behind ‘Avengers: Endgame’. It’s also Sony’s biggest domestic release of all time, the biggest domestic release of 2021, and the first movie to pass 1 billion dollars in a post pandemic box office. All this, and it hasn’t even opened in China yet. With no end in site, and many people on Christmas break, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ could reach the top ten, or even top five, worldwide movies of all time. The only competition that ‘No Way Home’ could have seen, was from ‘The Matrix resurrections’, but that has been a box office dud(and coincidentally, the mainstream Hollywood media isn’t talking about this at all, because it would piss off the LGBTQ community). Warner Bros. released ‘Resurrections’ simultaneously on HBO Max, which I’m sure hurt some of its box office returns, but I think it was more a lackluster story, that has been rehashed, that audiences have already seen. The animated sequel to ‘Sing’, ‘Sing 2’, provided the nearest competition, coming in second behind ‘No Way Home’. Behind ‘Resurrections’ was ‘The King’s Man’, and Steven Spielberg’s, pathetically woke ‘West Side Story’. I just have to say, who would ever have thought that a sequel to an animated movie, would beat a Matrix movie…that’s not saying much about ‘Resurrections’ at all.
The Pendulum is Swinging the Other Way
Sony has had the right formula when it has come to box office success. With ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, ‘Venom: Let There be Carnage’, and ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’, Sony has proven that the theater release only formula, is box office gold. Sony has also shown us, that if you just make a quality movie, that is dedicated to giving the fans what they want, there’s no limit to the success you can have. Those three movies alone, have also reinvigorated a merchandising resurgence, that was all but forgotten in the last five years. Hopefully, Hollywood is paying attention, and realizes that the political agenda they have been pushing on audiences, is falling on deaf ears. I believe, that with ‘Ghostbusters; Afterlife’, we have seen the pendulum begin to swing the other way when it comes to what produces a success at the box office, and what does not. And, with ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, we have seen a reaffirmation and dedication to the history of the characters, rather than a “reimagining”.
‘No Way Home’ Stayed True to the Character of Spider-Man
Is ‘Spider-man: No Way Home’ the best Spider-man movie? Is Tom Holland the definitive Spider-Man? For me, I have to give two separate interpretations, because I believe there is a caveat to the answers to those questions. My expectations for ‘No Way Home’, were in the basement. Anything Marvel has touched in the last two years, has been used as a platform to voice their political agenda. Kevin Feige has made it his personal goal to rid the entire MCU of all of our favorite superheroes, based on their gender and skin color. Fans grew up with these characters in the comic books, and finally saw them come to life on the big screen. Feige is literally the Kathleen Kennedy of the MCU. So, I was completely convinced that Feige was going to find some way to destroy this final installment of the Tom Holland Spider-man trilogy. I’m not a big fan of Tom Holland’s version of Spider-Man. ‘Homecoming’ was a really entertaining movie, and the scene between Tom Holland and Michael Keaton in the limo, is worth the price of admission. ‘Far From Home’ was, in my opinion, a really bad Spider-Man movie, but a pretty good popcorn flick. So, when I saw ‘No Way Home’, I was pleasantly surprised. There was no woke political agenda, and it stayed true to the Spider-Man character. But now that I’ve had 24 hours to reflect on it, I have come to the conclusion that ‘No Way Home’ could possibly be the best Spider-Man movie…possibly.
Will Hollywood Listen?
There are many reasons why this movie was so good. We finally got to see this version of Spider-Man be the lone hero that was always depicted in the comic books. He didn’t have to rely on Iron Man being his nanny, had to face the real world consequences of his decisions in Peter Parker’s universe and not in the shadow of the Avengers, and we saw a loyalty and homage to what came before. The way ‘No Way Home’ treated Tobey Maguire’s version of Spider-Man, was nothing short of exceptional, and I cheered when I saw him on screen. And Andrew Garfield’s version of Spider-Man, was magnificent. It made me actually want to see a third sequel of what could possibly be in that universe. Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, and Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius were amazing and had me thirsting for more. And the appearance of Charlie Cox’s Mathew Murdock, from Netflix’s DareDevil series made me cheer. The deference this movie paid to all of these past iterations of Spider-Man characters, proved to fans, that there might be some in Hollywood that are still listening.
‘No Way Home’ Paid Respect to the Fans
But, is ‘Spider-Man: No way Home’ the best Spider-Man movie? Yes and no. The original Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire, will always be my favorite Spider-Man movie. Tobey Maguire will always be, in my opinion, the best version of Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi, a die hard Spider-Man fan, and stayed absolutely true to the comic books, and will always be, in my opinion, the best depiction of that character. So here’s the caveat. ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is the best Spider-Man movie because of what came before. ‘No Way Home’ is the success it is, because of the foundation and versions of the previous Spider-Men and villains from these alternate universes. ‘No Way Home’ allowed itself to trust what the fans wanted, and paid a much needed respect to the fans, who have been force fed the destruction of their favorite characters by Marvel and Kevin Feige. Credit to the director, writers, and Sony for allowing that kind of loyalty to the character to be depicted on the big screen. Marvel and Kevin Feige will hopefully learn a big lesson from the success of ‘No Way Home’. Remember, Sony owns the movie rights to the Spider-Man character, so this isn’t a Marvel Studios movie. They just get 25% of the take. Sony could be well on its way to forming a Spider-Man universe, that will probably give the flailing MCU a run for its money.
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