spider man no way home hero's journey

Hero's Journey

Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or her swag? Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces , in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey.

About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does —follow Campbell's pattern. We're working with those 12 stages, so take a look. (P.S. Want more? We have an entire Online Course devoted to the hero's journey.)

Ordinary World

Peter is a skinny, wimpy, thoroughly relatable high school senior. He gets picked on by his classmates, he has a BFF named Harry, and he's madly in love with his neighbor, Mary Jane. He lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May in Queens. They're kind of corny, but they're loving surrogate parents for Pete.

Call to Adventure

On a field trip to the Columbia University science department, Peter suffers a bite from a genetically engineered super spider.

Okay, "suffers" is probably too harsh a word here since that gnarly looking spider bite gives Peter a set of rad superpowers: enhanced strength and speed, the ability to crawl up walls, web shooters, and precognition. Peter is physically transformed into a buff dude capable of stopping the bullies that once picked on him. He's capable of stopping criminals, too.

Refusal of the Call

Peter refuses to use his enhanced abilities to stop a robber who holds up the wrestling tournament Peter just participated in. In this moment, he's called to use his superpowers for good; when he lets the robber go, he essentially says, "Thanks, but no thanks."

And his uncle winds up dead as a result. Whoops.

Meeting the Mentor

On graduation day, when Peter is missing Uncle Ben something fierce, Aunt May reminds Peter that Uncle Ben loved him and knew he was destined to do great things. In effect, she represents both herself and Ben now, mentoring Peter by proxy and reminding him of his values and what he's fighting for.

Crossing the Threshold

Peter gives Spider-Man's costume a much-needed upgrade, and Spider-Man hits the streets of New York, stopping criminals left and right. Gone is the bitter teen who refused to stop a thief.

Public opinion about Spidey and his crime-fighting motives are mixed, but he's officially made his presence known to the denizens of New York City…including a certain glider-riding supervillain.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

Peter's chief allies are his best friend, Harry, and his oldest friend, Mary Jane, with whom he's also secretly in love. The whole situation is complicated by the fact that once Peter and Harry become roommates after high school, Harry and Mary Jane start dating. Sorry, Pete.

Peter's #1 enemy, as Spider-Man, is the Green Goblin. Gobby firmly believes that people are terrible: they'll never appreciate the sacrifices you make; all they'll do is betray you. The Green Goblin proposes that he and Spidey team up and become allies, presumably in chaos and destruction, fueled by their bitterness over being taken for granted by the world.

Spider-Man also faces minor opposition from J. Jonah Jameson, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle who insists that Spider-Man is a public menace, even while everybody's favorite wall-crawler is out there stopping burglaries and saving babies.

Throughout his journey, Spider-Man faces several tests. The first big one is stopping the Green Goblin when he crashes Oscorp's World Unity Festival. He's too late to stop Gobby from blowing up Oscorp's board, but he saves Mary Jane's life, as well as the lives of countless ordinary citizens.

Later, the Green Goblin shows up at the Daily Bugle and hits Spider-Man with knockout gas. He doesn't kill him; he takes him to a quiet, little out-of-the-way place and proposes that they team up. Next, the Green Goblin lures Spider-Man into a burning building. When Spider-Man formally declines his offer to be partners, he and the Green Goblin throw down again.

After a while, the Green Goblin starts to feel less like Spider-Man's nemesis and more like his stalker.

Approach to the Inmost Cave

This is where our hero prepares for his biggest challenge. In Spider-Man , it's also where our hero eats turkey. At Thanksgiving dinner, when Norman spots the cut on Peter's arm, he realizes his son's pal is his nemesis, Spider-Man.

The stakes have officially been raised. Now that Norman and the Green Goblin know Spidey's secret identity, they know how to focus their attack for maximum impact.

When Aunt May is attacked, Peter faces his greatest fear. With his identity exposed, his loved ones are no longer safe. At least the Green Goblin doesn't know that he loves Mary Jane. Yet.

Reward (Seizing the Sword)

Peter and M.J. have an intimate heart-to-heart in Aunt May's hospital room as Aunt May, Peter's only family, rests—and eavesdrops—peacefully. Peter tells M.J. what he told Spider-Man about her (i.e., that she's, like, the most awesome girl ever), and Mary Jane and Peter hold hands. Aww.

The Road Back

The Green Goblin kidnaps Mary Jane and holds her hostage on top of the Queensboro Bridge. See, Harry, not knowing what he was doing, told Norman that Peter is in love with M.J., which means the Green Goblin knows exactly how to get to Spider-Man. Whoops.

Spider-Man comes to M.J.'s aid and rescues her. He also saves a tramway car full of innocent kids in the process after Gobby tries to force Spider-Man to choose between the two. Spider-Man: all about that multitasking.

Resurrection

The resurrection is where the hero returns order to the world and ends the conflict. Here, it's when Spider-Man defeats the Green Goblin once and for all. Technically, we suppose the Green Goblin kind of defeats himself since he's impaled by his own glider after Spider-Man dodges it, but still.

With the Green Goblin gone, Spider-Man/Peter can breathe easier. We're sure that pesky little matter of Harry vowing to avenge his father's death will just resolve itself, right? Right?

Return with the Elixir

Peter returns to his ordinary world a changed man. When M.J. confesses her love for him (finally), he tells her he'll always be her friend. He tells the audience that he'll never forget Uncle Ben's words—"with great power comes great responsibility"—and that he's got a job to do because he's Spider-Man.

It's his gift because he can stop crime and save lives, and it's his curse because he can't live happily ever after with M.J., 2.5 spider-children, and a white picket fence.

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How ‘no way home’ redefines spider-man.

Over six appearances as Peter Parker, Tom Holland has redefined what it means to be the hero — and recontextualized the guilt that comes along with it.

By Richard Newby

Richard Newby

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[This story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home .]

“With great power there must also come great responsibility.” That line, even in all of its many variations over the years, has always been at the core of Spider-Man. Consistently they’ve been the words, delivered by Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, that have begun the journey of Spider-Man, that is, until Spider-Man: No Way Home .

Jon Watts’ latest installment of the Tom Holland -led Spider-Man franchise is a joyous and sincerely moving celebration of three generations of Spider-Man films, and there is plenty, and will continue to be plenty, to talk about in terms of how it brings back familiar faces, deftly navigates nostalgia with genuine payoff, and sets up the future. While I usually tend to look ahead in the aftermath of these Marvel Cinematic Universe event films, I want to break that tradition and look back at how the Spider-Man Home trilogy broke new ground with the character for a contemporary generation, told the story of a boy’s growth into manhood, and ultimately built a better Spider-Man.

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Comic book purists always fear change, or at least change that isn’t sparked by their own concepts of what those changes should be. Holland’s Spider-Man has always been widely beloved, but with Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) there have been certain sticking points that fans, particularly those who grew up with Sam Raimi and Marc Webb’s iterations of the character, didn’t vibe with. There was concern over the fact that Peter didn’t struggle with money, which as a high-school student on an academic scholarship felt like a non-issue. And there was irritation over his adversaries’ ties to Stark, which felt more like an acknowledgment of how Stark Tech shaped the world, akin to Microsoft or Apple, but didn’t diminish their grudge against Spider-Man. But the major point of contention was the absence of Uncle Ben and his famous line. There was a notion that his death didn’t define Peter and that it was Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who led to Peter becoming a hero. I think this reading on Peter’s journey in the MCU is accurate, but it’s a feature rather than a flaw.

Iron Man is Spider-Man’s guiding light initially, which is the very thing that has led some to refer to this iteration of Peter Parker as “Iron Boy Jr.” and claim the films are Marvel Studios’ attempt to make another Iron Man franchise, instead of Spider-Man . On that point, I disagree, even more so after the events of No Way Home . None of the other Spider-Man movies featured a whole world of heroes, but in the MCU Peter has grown up seeing men in metal suits, gods, and resurrected war heroes fight to protect the world, which had to have created inherent differences in his character and his perception of the world. It makes sense that a kid who suddenly found himself with powers would aspire to be a superhero, rather than a wrestler, and have certain ideas of nobility already ingrained within him without need to be responsible for his Uncle Ben’s death.

When we’re reintroduced to Spider-Man in Homecoming , shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), Peter Parker is struggling with what his role is in a world full of Avengers. He aspires to be one of Earth’s mightiest heroes, not unlike Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man aspired to be on the most popular team of his era, the Fantastic Four, in the first issue of his self-titled series in 1963. He’s been given all the tools to be an Avenger thanks to his Stark tech-enabled suit, but he has none of the patience or lived experience to truly use that tech in the best way. The ferry fiasco, after which Tony takes his suit away and says, “If you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it,” is Peter’s first real lesson of responsibility on a larger stage than he’s ever been before. This lesson isn’t one that separates Peter from being a hero or being selfish, money-obsessed showboat as the comic book origin and previous films suggested. It’s what makes him a hero who has to rely on his own ingenuity. It’s key that this lesson come from Iron Man because he was forced to learn the same one in a cave in Afghanistan. Peter has his own cave moment, when buried under rubble after a brush with the Vulture, and dressed in the Spidey sweatsuit he made himself he says, “Come on, Spider-Man,” urging himself to be the hero he knows he can be without all the fancy trappings.

Homecoming ends with Peter turning down a spot on the Avengers and feeling comfortable with his choice to look out for the little guy and be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But that’s all easier said than done. In the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Peter Parker is forced to once again question his place in the world during Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). He runs into trouble with Stark tech that has been left to him, this time in the form of the drone deployment system E.D.I.T.H. Is he being forced to re-learn the same lesson he learned in Homecoming ? I’d argue no because the context is different.

Now, rather than having to figure out his place in a world of Avengers, he has to figure out his place in a world without them, while also dealing with the fact that he died and came back five years later, and the planet is searching for the next hero to be its world-saving savior. Peter is faced not only with his own mortality, but that of his idol, Iron Man, a reminder that just because he has powers, he is not invincible, something all adolescents must learn at some point, and something Quentin Beck, Mysterio ( Jake Gyllenhaal ), who fancies himself an immortal artist, fails to comprehend for himself. It could certainly be argued that Peter’s choices, to go on summer vacation, to use E.D.I.T.H. and then pass it off to someone else, are all irresponsible decisions. But that is what makes Peter’s journey in this trilogy compelling and believable. He’s a 16-year-old. Of course he’s not going to always be the exemplary figure of responsibility. This is Spider-Man on a learning curve, a process he shares with most other MCU heroes who become healthier and better versions of themselves through the franchise. While this perspective on the character is not a direct adaptation of the character Lee and Ditko created, it values the spirit of what they aimed for: to approach these characters as humans first and super-beings second.

Fact is, the world in which Watts’ Spider-Man films take place isn’t the world of 1962 and our concepts of what being a hero and what growing out of adolescence mean are different. Power and responsibility aren’t fixed ideas, certainly not for a teenager, nor are they lessons learned and nailed to an individual in an instant. This is not to slight Lee or Ditko in any way, but their idea of a 16-year-old is very much born of the ideals of two men who served during World War II and lived in a time in which children were expected, often without question, to share the values of their elders. In the comics, Peter is burdened to live by Uncle Ben’s singular mantra, at great cost to his personal life and happiness. Spider-Man becomes a cross to bear in some cases, rather than an identity desired.

I often reflect on a line in Spider-Man 2 (2004) where, in a dream sequence, Peter (Tobey Maguire) tells Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), “I can’t live your dreams anymore. I want a life of my own.” Raimi’s Spider-Man films are very clearly situated in the ’60s interpretation of the character, so this request of Peter to live his own life is positioned as a selfish, though understandably human desire. Peter’s chat with Uncle Ben parallels Christ’s conversation with God in the garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest and crucifixion in which The Bible states he said, “My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by.” The Christ parallels are numerous in Spider-Man 2 , including a shot of Peter being held up by the subway passengers he saved with his body in the position of Christ on the crucifix.

But must Peter Parker be a Christ figure and bear the weight of Spider-Man as a cross? Should Spider-Man exist, cost Peter numerous personal relationships, including his wife and child, because of a mistake he made as a teenager, and the seemingly infallible Ben Parker? This is something contemporary comics have sought to address, most recently in Nick Spencer’s run on The Amazing Spider-Man , in which the villain Kindred, a resurrected Harry Osborn, prodded Peter over: Has Peter’s self-righteousness of being Spider-Man made up for what it’s cost himself those around him? Is Spider-Man a god, demon, or simply a man living with tremendous trauma, leading him to make unhealthy life choices?

Power and responsibility, and their relationship to each other become a course learned throughout the Spider-Man Home trilogy, each time taking on different contexts and leaving Peter to face different repercussions and have time in which to process them. And this brings us to No Way Home in which Peter reluctantly agrees to try to cure a collection of Spider-Man villains from the multiverse on behalf of his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). He tells her that they aren’t his responsibility, and that looking out for his girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) and ensuring they are able to go on with their lives are his priorities. May reprimands Peter and reminds him that helping people is who they are. Just as it seems Peter might be successful in curing this cross-dimensional baddies, tragedy strikes when Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) sinks into his Green Goblin persona, destroying the cures and ultimately killing Aunt May. In her dying moments, it is May who delivers the iconic Spider-Man mantra. If it seems as though Peter is hearing these words for the first time, it’s because he is.

Rather than have Spider-Man’s origin as a hero begin with the “with great power comes great responsibility” line, his origin story, his training concludes with it. Those words and the death of Aunt May mark the end of his childhood, and segue into a more mature Spider-Man. What’s important about this revision of events that every Spider-Man fan knows by heart is that Peter gets this final lesson in responsibility not because he did the wrong thing, but because he did the right thing. He isn’t guilty of Aunt May’s death, and by removing that guilt it allows Spider-Man to continue to be Peter Parker’s choice, rather than a burden, or the fulfillment of someone else’s dream.

I believe this will lead to Peter Parker having a healthier relationship with his Spider-Man persona because the role isn’t his punishment. What’s more is that Watts, and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, drive home the idea that May’s death and delivery of those words isn’t the same as Uncle Ben’s to the other two Spider-Men (Maguire and Andrew Garfield) who come to Peter’s aid. It’s not as though Peter being responsible for Ben’s death made them better Spider-Men as both of these Variants of Peter admit they’ve dealt with their fair share of darkness, with Garfield’s iteration admitting he stopped pulling his punches, and forgot the Peter Parker side of himself, resulting in the deaths of his adversaries, and Maguire’s version admitting that things were still complicated between him and Mary Jane and that he was still “trying to do better.”

There’s a healing moment across three generations of Spider-Men as they all deal with the fact that there is no perfect version of themselves who made all the right choices. “With great power comes great responsibility” is a process which there is no right way to find. But it’s made clear that for three Spider-Men, who all wish they had done something differently, holding on to guilt and grief doesn’t make the mantra stronger or more noble. In having the chance to cure others they cure themselves, emerging vindicated as better heroes and better people.

In the epilogue of Spider-Man: No Way Home , Peter visits May’s grave, which is notable in the fact that there is no Uncle Ben beside her, lending further credence to the fact that Ben may not have been someone Peter even knew, and didn’t shape his journey as Spider-Man in the same way. It’s refreshing to see Peter Parker get back to the basics of the character at the end of the film, a poor adult in a crappy New York apartment, with a homemade costume, and content, because of the lessons he learned across three films from a superhero idol who initially seemed so different from him, from two other versions of himself who solidified for him what it means to be Spider-Man, and from Aunt May who not only got to raise Peter Parker but Spider-Man as well, leading him to go off in the world and continue her legacy of helping those who need it most.

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How Each Spider-Man in No Way Home Reveals Peter Parker's Marvel Journey

Spider-Man: No Way Home brings together three eras of Spider-Man. But in doing so, it also shows three eras from his comic book history.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home , now playing in theaters.

Spider-Man: No Way Home showed audiences that it's possible to merge three eras of one character into one film and have them be equally similar yet distinct from one another. However, seeing Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire on screen for the first time also brings to light other shared traits between the heroes. For instance, it becomes evident how their stories complement the character's three eras as a hero.

When put together, each iteration of the wall-crawler formulates a timeline that mirrors the hero's actual journey through his comic history. As a result, each Spider-Man has life experiences that are different from each other but part of the larger picture that makes up the Amazing Spider-Man. That being said, which of the Spider-Men mirrors which comic book era?

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Tom Holland's Peter Mirrors His Early Years

Although Tom Holland's Spider-Man has borrowed from storylines where Peter Parker is much older, i.e.,  Civil War (by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven)   and One More Day  (J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada), this characterization is very much inspired by his early years as a hero. During the first issues of The Amazing Spider-Man , Peter was a high schooler who loved to show off to impress his classmates but could occasionally be standoffish. He traveled to locales outside of New York to face enemies like the Lizard and had the luxury of not facing any major consequences for his actions. Even with his ties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe , Holland's Spider-Man also mirrors these events. Except rather than traveling to the Everglades to stop the Lizard, he meets Mysterio in Europe. As a whole, Holland's early appearance shows a version of Peter who is living with the benefits of being Spider-Man but has yet to face the moment that comes with the classic "With great power..." quote.

Andrew Garfield's Peter Mirrors The Experience Of Loss And Young Adult Life

When looking back on Andrew Garfield's time as the web-head, Peter doesn't spend nearly as much time in High School. Instead, his most defining moments come when he's graduated and trying to make ends meet while transitioning into college. This also mirrors a similar window of time from the comics where Peter learned the hard way what happens when loved ones get caught in the crossfire. As the character matured, he suffered the loss of Captain George Stacy and later his daughter, Gwen Stacy. However, at the time, Gwen was dating Peter and was the love of his life. Instead of a villain outright killing her, it was his web-line that snapped her neck as he tried to stop her descent from the George Washington bridge. At the time, it was by far Peter's darkest moment. Garfield's version also lost the same people in similar circumstances, but rather than bounce back, he got rageful and hit harder . As a result, he stayed in his darkest chapter before meeting Holland's Peter. That being said, he often appears as the cooler, more collected one to mask the pain he's endured for years.

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Tobey Maguire's Peter Mirrors His More Seasoned Years as Spider-Man

As Peter got older and graduated college, life didn't get any easier. But rather than face it without a foundation to fall on, his experience helped him deal with his obstacles. He also has the support of Mary Jane Watson , who knows his secret and is always there to welcome him home. Because of his experience and support system, this version of Peter has since learned to be a mentor and even trained Miles Morales to be his own Spider-Man. This version of Peter is still being developed as his story continues to evolve, but one thing that's remained is he's never forgotten the things that made him who he's become. Maguire's Peter is similar in that his version has also made his share of mistakes, from lying to Harry to hitting Mary Jane. However, he's learned from them and mended the broken bridges that got him to Holland's universe. Because of this, he can show Peter that revenge isn't the answer after the Green Goblin kills Aunt May. His presence also proves that there is no greater teacher than experience.

Ultimately, No Way Home celebrates the elements and characters that make Spider-Man so beloved. But, with three versions to celebrate, the film also shows how sprawling the hero's history has become. Plus, with such a large history, each era has its own lessons to instill in young fans and a younger Spider-Man. In the end, Spider-Man is a hero made up of small victories and human flaws, but how he deals with them is what makes him such a relatable and enduring character.

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Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters.

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: Marvel hero takes an existential turn in innovative new adventure

Time tinkering brings on the welcome return of the classic villains green goblin, doctor octopus and electro..

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” brings the superhero (Tom Holland) a rematch with Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina).

Columbia Pictures

Where there’s a web there’s a way.

Ah, but is there a way home when you no longer feel at home even when you ARE home, because all of a sudden everybody knows your name and wants a piece of you? What a tangled web this Spidey has weaved, even though he never really intended to deceive.

Shew! If you think that’s a lot to sift through, you better strap in and hang on through the slow-starting but eventually innovative, exciting, funny and heart-tugging “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the third chapter in the trilogy that began with “Homecoming” in 2017 and “Far From Home” in 2019, and of course we’ve seen Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spidey in other chapters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s no spoiler to say this won’t be his last appearance — and we can’t wait to see how it all plays out, because by the end of this arduous and sometimes convoluted journey, well, let’s just say things have changed in a big way.

To quote the Eagles and “Life in the Fast Lane,” are you with me so far? Thanks. Let’s walk through this together while we sidestep a treasure trove of cool twists and turns you’ll experience over the course of Jon Watts’ 148-minute, alternately breezy and existential deep dive into the multi-verse. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” picks up a week after the events of “Far From Home,” with Spidey’s world exploding after the vanquished villain Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) has left a parting shot from beyond the grave: the reveal that Spider-Man is none other than a 17-year-old high school student named Peter Parker.

The world and in particular New York City is quickly divided into two camps: those who continue to believe their Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a local hero, and those who label him a vigilante who must be brought to justice. Fueling the fires for the latter camp is none other than J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson from the three Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” movies in the 2000s, who has transitioned from tabloid newspaper editor to a ranting and raving webcaster a la Alex Jones for TheDailyBugle.net (he even sells products of dubious value during commercial breaks). With billboards proclaiming Spider-Man “Public Enemy #1” and media helicopters hovering over his every move, Peter and his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) and best buddy/sidekick Ned (Jacob Batalon) are devastated, mostly because they’ve become so controversial, they’re getting rejected by one college after another.

His secret identity exposed, Peter Parker (Tom Holland, left) can’t get into a good college, and neither can girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) or buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon).

Seriously. That’s the big sticking point in the early going of “No Way Home,” that Peter and MJ and Ned can’t get into MIT or any of their safety schools because they’re so polarizing. Director Watts and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers spend a bit too much on this plot point, which is eventually used as a rather awkward springboard for Peter to seek out the one and only Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in his awesome, multi-story brownstone on Bleecker Street, in the hopes the doc will do a little magic puttering with the timeline and rearrange things so that only those that knew Spider-Man’s identity prior to Mysterio’s reveal will retain that knowledge. That way, Peter and MJ and Ned can go to college, and Peter can do a little greater Boston area crime-fighting in his spare time!

Uh-oh. Loophole. Thing is, when you take into account the whole multi-verse thing, it’s not just MJ and Ned and Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May and Jon Favreau’s Happy who are aware of Spider-Man’s true identity. The likes of Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Max Dillon/Electro (Jamie Foxx) know Peter/Spidey, and all of a sudden, the whole lot of ’em have landed in THIS universe, and yes, it’s a thrill to see these great actors reprising their memorable roles from years and movies gone by.

These villains are stunned beyond comprehension at this new world, which contains a Peter Parker who doesn’t look anything like the Peter Parker they know. This makes for some light comedic moments and also a truly intriguing dramatic question: What if it’s possible for these resurrected monsters to return to their human selves in this universe? It’s an intriguing conundrum, and a clever plot device, as it allows Dafoe, Molina and Foxx to bring their characters back as more than just CGI-infused mutations.

The battle sequences in “No Way Home” are relatively low-key, taking place in and around New York City, with the climactic sequence transpiring in rather murky fashion due to the nighttime setting. There’s nothing new or particularly memorable about the serviceable CGI and practical effects, but we remain invested in the outcome in large part because Holland remains the best of the cinematic Spider-Men, while Zendaya lends heart and smarts and warmth to every moment she’s onscreen. We continue to root for these two to make it, even if the multi-verse isn’t always on their side.

Spider-Man: No Way Home Celebrates a New Peter Parker

Look past all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe hijinks, if you can, and you'll find a level of heart that stands among the best moments in the web-slinger's history.

This is a spoiler-free review of Spider-Man: No Way Home .

It was then that we knew we had something different in Holland's take on the character. While Tobey Maguire gave an inspirational dweeb-to-hero journey and Andrew Garfield showed how both hilarious and tragic Parker can be, Holland finally introduced us to the Spider-Man who found joy in just being Spider-Man — a total escape from all of the awkward teenage insecurities. And the final film in the trilogy that began with Homecoming , Spider-Man: No Way Home , in theaters now, takes the kid that we first met doing backflips on top of buildings and challenges him to grow up.

Now, you probably already know how the story starts given, again, that the No Way Home hype train has been barreling through our lives for years now but here it is, all the same: After Mysterio reveals Spider-Man's identity to the world, Parker asks Doctor Strange to make people forget it ever happened. Strange's spell goes wrong, sending Spidey villains from Maguire and Garfield's films (Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Electro, and more) hurtling through the multiverse, and into the Marvel Cinematic Universe . To tell you anything more, plot-wise, would send you hurtling into a spoiler-y minefield .

If you had any doubt, No Way Home , as a product with MARVEL slapped on top of it, is still funny as heck. (This is not another Spider-Man 3 emo situation on our hands.) It's actually more wise-cracking than you probably expect, given the apocalyptic vibes of its trailers. The old Spider-Man villains, Jamie Foxx's Electro, especially, roast their character arcs in past films to the point where No Way Home borders on superhero satire. That may sound like blowing its own past up, but it's in the best way, I promise: Because it looks like Foxx, Alfred Molina, and Willem Dafoe couldn't be happier to play in the Spider-Man sandbox again. Each one of them seems to laugh and/or cackle just a little bit harder this time around. Dafoe, especially, doubles down on his candidacy for the best supervillain performance ever put to film — you may have forgotten that the man can switch from camp to scary-as-shit in seconds.

If your comfort level is there, No Way Home is absolutely the film to see with loved ones in front of a massive screen. Do that thing where you stick a straw in a bag of popcorn, hold it up to the butter drizzler, and soak the thing so much that it seeps through the bottom of the bag. Go all out! The Spider-Man versus Doctor Strange fight teased in the trailers makes for an all-time MCU battle, acid-tripping visuals and all. And, if you were a fan of the past two Spider-Man franchises, you owe it to yourself to see Green Goblin and Doc Ock juiced up with modern-day CGI. Plus, the inevitable Big Boss Battle — the Statue of Liberty showdown—is pure, effervescent spectacle. You'll have a blast, which is what these things are for, right?

If there's an area in which No Way Home does suffer, it's under the weight of MCU syndrome. In gift-wrapping so many references, easter eggs, callbacks to prior movies, and teases to the next ones, the heart of the story — the great adulting of Peter Parker — is sometimes muddled. It's extremely ambitious, even admirable, to parse out Parker's coming of age across three solo films and three larger MCU outings. But, No Way Home 's emotional moments would've hit harder if they weren't chased by a hardy-har quip five minutes later, or if we had more time to sit with Parker's pain before racing the action forward. So while there's a level of heart that stands among Maguire's and Garfield's best moments in the suit, you have to be able to put the MCU of it all on the shelf to feel it.

At its climax, No Way Home asks what it means when a superhero truly, undeniably values an individual life—and what lengths he'll go to in order to protect it. And in the end, director Jon Watts gives the ultimate celebration of makes Peter Parker Spider-Man, and vice versa. So while No Way Home doesn't quite live up to Holland's spicy Hot Ones assertion that it's the best Spider-Man film ever made. (That award still goes to Spider-Man 2 .) It never needed to be. Holland's Spider-Man has always been a story about a boy becoming a man. Mission accomplished.

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Spider-Man: No Way Home asks what it means to be Peter Parker

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More than anything, Peter Parker wants a dad. No matter who’s telling the Spider-Man story, it’s so defined by the loss of Uncle Ben — the original sin Peter never gets over — that it’s easy to breeze past the loss Peter can’t blame himself for: that of his parents, who are already missing long before the story usually starts. The further loss of his Uncle Ben makes Peter acutely long for a father figure, so much so that the most famous members of his rogues’ gallery are all failed surrogate fathers. Mentors like Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius in Sam Raimi’s films; teachers like Curt Connors in The Amazing Spider-Man ; potential role models turned sour by some force or another, like Adrian Toomes in Spider-Man: Homecoming or Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

The latest story spun from this web, Spider-Man: No Way Home , doesn’t initially seem concerned with any of that history. The film appears to be an excuse for a multiversal mashup, one that pits the current Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Spider-Man against villains from the previous Spider-Man movies. At first, it appears to be an exciting but fan-servicey slugfest that doesn’t front-load the emotional heft that Spider-Man stories are known for. Then, midway through, No Way Home becomes extremely invested in Peter Parker and what he’s lost.

[ Ed. note: Major spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home follow.]

One of the smaller things that sets the MCU version of Peter apart is that we never see any of these initial losses. Like the radioactive spider that bit him to give him his powers, it’s an element of the story we’ve already seen repeatedly and don’t need to revisit. Instead, Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker gets a new loss to add to the pile: his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), killed by the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). It’s this final wound that breaks Peter, already brought low by the death of his idol, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), in Avengers: Endgame , and by the betrayal of his short-term friend Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) framing him for a terrorist attack at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home .

Shattered, he retreats from his friends, and No Way Home ’s real meta magic begins, as Peter Parker at his lowest is lifted up by the two previous on-screen Peters, played by their original actors, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

What’s surprising about No Way Home isn’t that Maguire and Garfield reprise their roles, but that they’re actual characters in the film, present for much of its second half. They don’t just support the current Peter’s story; they get bittersweet grace notes of their own. Maguire’s Peter, who spent three films agonizing over the self-sacrifice that being Spider-Man demanded of him, gets to show two younger men that the pain can lead to something beautiful, too. Garfield’s Peter, whose film series was cut short and whose story never got to end, has farther to go: We learn that in the space between his last Spider-outing, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , and No Way Home , he gave in to rage, and has effectively given up on being Peter Parker.

These aren’t just lessons to impart to the current Peter; they’re helping hands extended three ways, linking all three versions of the character. One of the most affecting moments in No Way Home occurs when Holland isn’t even present, as Maguire, the best-adjusted Peter Parker, tells Garfield’s Peter that he’s great, and tries to get him to say it too. “No, you are amazing — I need to hear you say that,” he says. Garfield’s Peter never does, but in a flash of vulnerability, we can see that he desperately wants to.

This is the one thing that complicates a completely cynical reading of No Way Home . The film’s script doesn’t just use the other Peters for a cute cameo; it attempts to wrestle with the slightly different shades they bring to the current Peter Parker’s pain, and how their meeting each other might help them all grow. Because they all still have room to grow, and they’re all still so lonely .

What sets the latest version of the character apart is that for a while, he wasn’t. He was recruited by an Avenger, and assigned a perpetually annoyed but ultimately supportive minder. He got to be part of a team, and he got to share his journey with two of his closest friends. He enjoyed the perks of having a wealthy benefactor, letting his keen young mind stretch in ways it never could in Midtown High. And he got an Aunt May who knew he was Spider-Man and supported him in his hero work. Yet as No Way Home ’s tragic arc reaches its climax, Peter learns that none of this will help him in his private grief, nor will it help anyone understand him better.

But as the multiverse brings fresh tragedy to Peter, it also does him a kindness: For a little while, working alongside two other versions of himself lets him feel understood. For a little while, it gives him brothers.

With this moment of catharsis, No Way Home arrives at the end of a convoluted road that began with Peter Parker’s arrival in the middle of Captain America: Civil War , before he got a fancy suit or fought his first alien. Past its cumbersome jokes and sometimes confounding plotting, No Way Home director Jon Watts and screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers ultimately choose to center the beating heart of the kid behind the mask, who is role-playing at being a man. This decidedly isn’t a story about Spider-Man; it’s a story about Peter Parker. And so, once again, Peter must learn a lesson about power and responsibility — that one way to assure that bad things happen is to know you can do something to help people, and choose not to.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a funeral of sorts. Even as it’s bringing in Doctor Strange, magic, and multiversal visitors from other Spider-Man movies, it’s also stripping away all the accoutrements Spider-Man accumulated in previous MCU installments. In his quest to avert multiversal disaster, Spider-Man loses all his fancy gadgets, powerful friends, and support systems. When he asks Doctor Strange to wipe memory of him from the world, he’s losing the Avengers who know and respect him, the friends who remember his name, and any sense of found family to fall back on. The movie ends with a blank slate: Peter Parker in a homemade costume, holding a police scanner app, off to do what good he can, just because he can.

In this, No Way Home can be read as a surprising cautionary tale on the dangers of cinematic universes. The continuity, the crossovers, the cool gizmos that come with superhero cross-pollination — none of that will help Peter get back up again after he falls. And also, none of that makes him who he is. And perhaps he can’t be the best version of himself until he chooses to be free of it.

Peter Parker will never get that dad, just like he’ll never get to see a world where doing the right thing doesn’t come with a painful cost. But he can choose to get up every day and do it anyway, to believe he’s making a difference. And more importantly, because he believes that someone out there will see him, and be moved to do the same.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is playing in theaters now.

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SPIDER-MAN ™ : NO WAY HOME

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For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero's identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a Spider-Man in any univers e. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.

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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Timeline Explained: When Does the Movie Take Place in the MCU?

Time to untangle this web.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is finally in theaters, shattering the Multiverse and making previous iterations of the Web Crawler canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Multiverse shenanigans apart, the last chapter of Tom Holland ’s first Spider-Man trilogy offers fans another piece of the big timeline puzzle that’s Phase 4 so far. With four movies and five TV shows that mostly tell their self-contained story, it’s getting harder to figure out when each MCU event actually happens in relation to each other. Don’t worry, though. We are here to untangle the Spider-Man: No Way Home timeline web and help you understand how MCU’s latest film fits with all other Phase 4 productions.

RELATED:‌ 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Review - Tom Holland Shines In a Too-Crowded MCU Multiverse

When Does ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Take Place?

Short answer: the main events of Spider-Man: No Way Home take place in November 2024. How can we be so confident? Well, we’ve known for a couple of years that Spider-Man: Far From Home , the last chapter of Marvel’s Infinity Saga , takes place in Summer 2024. In 2018, Thanos snapped his finger while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet and vaporized half the life in the universe. It took the Avengers five years to revert Thanos’ destructive wish, putting the Avengers: Endgame events in 2023. Far From Home takes place after a whole school year when Peter Parker ( Tom Holland ) goes on a summer trip to Europe with his high school class. So, we can say for sure that everything that happens in Far From Home takes place between June and September 2024.

The first scene of No Way Home starts exactly as Far From Home ’s events come to a shocking conclusion . In the mid-credits of Far From Home , J. Jonah Jameson ( J. K. Simmons ) reveals Spider-Man’s identity for the whole world after being convinced by Mysterio ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) that the Web-Crawler is a villain. This reveal takes place one week after Peter’s final battle against Mysterio in London, so we can place it in Summer 2024 at the earliest and early-October 2024 at the latest. No Way Home ’s first act, then, deals with Peter’s secret identity being exposed and the legal prosecution the hero has to face after being accused of murder.

Although Peter’s secret identity plays a big part in No Way Home ’s story, the movie doesn’t lose much time with Peter’s legal problems. With the help of a very special cameo, Peter is cleared of any crimes and can move on with his life. Well, not quite, since many people still believe Spider-Man is a criminal. To make matters worse, people all around Peter are suffering from the consequences of his hero life, which ultimately prevents his girlfriend MJ ( Zendaya ) and his best friend Ned ( Jacob Batalon ) from going to college.

The trio found out together that MIT is refusing their applications in a scene that takes place in the coffee shop where MJ works. While they are digesting the saddest news of their lives, the shop owner tells MJ she should take the Halloween decorations down, which means Peter’s legal trouble was solved around October 2024. The negative response from MIT arrived in November, after Halloween. At this moment, Peter decides to enlist Doctor Strange ( Benedict Cumberbatch ) to erase Spider-Man’s real identity from everyone’s memory. Unfortunately, the spell doesn’t work and instead brings visitors from other realities into the MCU. Peter’s fight against the Multiverse villains only takes a couple of days to end, which means No Way Home ’s main events happen in November 2024.

There’s also an ending scene in December 2024, in the same coffee shop where Peter has read his MIT rejection letter. The Christmas decoration on the shop indicates we are close to the Holidays, something that’s ratified by the snow that falls from the skies and covers New York City. So, contrary to other MCU entries, No Way Home gives us enough clues to figure out when its main events take place. But how does No Way Home relate to different Phase 4 productions?

RELATED:‌ Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon on ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and How the Fight Scene With Green Goblin Got Bloody

Where Does ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Take Place in the Phase 4 Timeline?

From the other eight productions already released on MCU’s Phase 4, besides No Way Home , we only need to care about five. That’s because Black Widow is a prequel set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War , What If…? takes place in different corners of the Multiverse, and Loki ’s time-travel adventures is not yet connected to Phase 4’s timeline. Even so, it’s worth noting that Loki ’s first scene happens in the middle of Endgame ’s time heist, making it the earliest entry of Phase 4.

Regarding the theatrical releases of the MCU, we know that Eternals takes place at the same time Peter Parker is battling Mysterio in Europe . As for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings , we don’t know precisely when the film’s main events occur, but we know it is a world where Thanos has already been defeated for so long that life has returned to some kind of normalcy. So it’s safe to say Shang-Chi ( Simu Liu ) went through his super-hero journey somewhere around 2024.

As for Disney+’s TV shows, WandaVision takes place a few weeks after Thanos’ defeat, still in 2023. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , on the other hand, takes place a few months after Steve Rogers ( Chris Evans ) gave his shield to Sam Wilson ( Anthony Mackie ), before Far From Home . Finally, with Hawkeye taking place right before Christmas, likely in 2024 but possibly in 2025 , No Way Home is the second latest adventure of Phase 4.

Marvel still has some loose ends to explain for everything to make sense in the timeline. For instance, No Way Home doesn’t seem to consider the events of Eternals , which pretty much changed Earth’s landscape. Also, so far, Hawkeye didn’t acknowledge either Eternals consequences of Spider-Man’s latest fistfights beneath New York’s skyscrapers. The events of WandaVision and Shang-Chi could very well happen out of public scrutiny. And The Falcon and Winter Soldier conclusion is not that world-changing to need a nod from No Way Home or Hawkeye . However, some significant events are happening worldwide, and if Marvel ignores how every production is connected, we might keep having trouble figuring out the MCU’s timeline. For the moment, though, we can only do our best while navigating the intricate web of the Multiverse.

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Screenwriters Look Back on Tom Holland’s Journey as Peter Parker

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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Like so many, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers grew up loving Spider-Man — from the animated TV series to the action figures to, as they became adults, Sam Raimi’s live-action movies starring Tobey Maguire. But when the screenwriting team (“The Lego Batman Movie,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”) were recruited to work on 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” starring Tom Holland, roughly six weeks before production, their attention wasn’t on the web-slinger. It was on the film’s villain, Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton).

“I think everyone knew that the villain needed some help,” says Sommers. “We definitely worked on that quite a bit.”

Thankfully, McKenna and Sommers’ efforts on “Homecoming” ended up becoming a five-year odyssey with the friendly neighborhood web-slinger. They’re the sole credited screenwriters on 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and the hotly anticipated “ Spider-Man: No Way Home ,” which opens worldwide Dec. 17 and aims to bring at least this chapter of Peter’s journey to a close. The duo shared with Variety some (spoiler-free!) highlights of the experience, including alternate origins for Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, what other Spider-Man villain almost headlined “No Way Home,” and how they managed to fool a Guardian of the Galaxy.

Swinging by the Seat of Their Pants

On “Homecoming,” McKenna and Sommers learned quickly that working with Marvel Studios (which co-produced Holland’s “Spider-Man” movies with Sony Pictures) can be an exercise in laying down tracks after the train has left the station. Originally, Peter and Toomes weren’t supposed to battle until the third act, but the screenwriters felt the characters needed to tussle much sooner.

So while shooting a scene in which Peter and his classmates leave for a school event in Washington, D.C., the two found themselves proposing a confrontation during a truck robbery to director Jon Watts and producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal that would upend the established plan for what was going to happen after the kids arrive.

“I remember standing in front of Kevin and Amy and everyone at the video village and pitching them, like, ‘There’s gonna be this truck, and they’re gonna use this thing,’” Sommers says with a laugh. “They agreed that that’s what the movie needed.”

The added scene not only required finding a new location and rousting up some trucks for Toomes to rob, it also altered how Peter ends up stuck inside a giant warehouse run by the Department of Damage Control.

“There was a version where he was going in and pretending he was with the school paper,” says McKenna. “I don’t remember what draft that was. But it really was not quite working.”

“It was about just trying to create a face-to-face confrontation between our hero and our villain, and so let’s have him spoil one of these heists,” adds Sommers. “Kevin and Amy and Jon Watts, more than anyone, was able to just be like, ‘Alright, yeah, let’s do that.’ And even though we were already in production, all of a sudden there was a new sequence they were working on.”

Getting the Inside Track on ‘Endgame’

The writers began work on “Far From Home” soon after the release of “Homecoming” in 2017 — which means they had to be briefed on “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” years before they were released.

At first, McKenna downplays how much intel he and Sommers were privy to. “It was on a need-to-know basis,” he says with a smile. But what they needed to know were two of the biggest spoilers in the films: Peter turns to ash after Thanos’ snap in “Avengers: Infinity War,” disappearing for five years, and that Tony Stark dies in the climax of “Avengers: Endgame.”

The phenomenon of the Blip let the writers play with what it would be like for Peter and most of his friends to suddenly reappear back in high school five years later.

“We were really, like all the ‘Spider-Man’ movies, coming at the bigger things from the ground level,” McKenna says. “What was the fun? What would that look like? How would that affect school? Some of the kids would have aged, some of them are still the same age.”

The death of Tony Stark, on the other hand, obviously played a central role in how the writers shaped the story for Peter in “Far From Home.”

“He had lost someone very important to him,” Sommers says. “That helped guide us in terms of, ‘How is the villain of this movie going to weasel his way in to Peter’s life and gain his trust?’ Well, he’s going to use this loss that Peter has suffered, try to exploit that and fill that void for his own reasons.”

Embracing the Comic Book Origins

That weaseling villain is Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). In “Far From Home,” Beck uses elaborate, real-time visual effects to trick Peter into thinking he’s a superhero on a mission to defeat giant, rampaging “Elementals” — all so he can get his hands on invaluable weapons defense technology that Tony Stark bequeathed to Peter.

“If you go back to the original comic books, that is Mysterio,” says McKenna. “He’s a special effects artist and he’s the one trying to trick Peter from the get-go and become a hero.” Because that reputation is so well known by comic book fans, McKenna and Sommers initially resisted using it.

“We were like, ‘Well, the character can’t just be that because everyone’s gonna expect it,’” says McKenna. “And then when we pull the rug out from under Peter, everyone’s gonna go, ‘Well, duh.’”

So they explored other options for Beck, including one that leaned even further on the Blip. “He was a guy who got all these powers because he was a thief one day at this high-tech [firm], and everyone blipped away and he was left with all of this awesome tech,” says McKenna.

Ultimately, they landed upon the idea that Beck could claim he was from an alternate universe as the “carrot” that would get everyone, including the audience, to fall for his story that he’s a superhero — and it worked. “Right when the movie came out, we had a meeting with Chris Pratt,” says McKenna. “And Pratt was like, ‘I bought it. I thought Gyllenhaal was a good guy!’”

Exploring Peter’s Identity

Alternative universes factor massively into “No Way Home,” in which Peter and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) confront villains from (at least) two other “Spider-Man” realities. But the writers brainstormed many possible storylines outside of the multiverse, including one involving Spidey nemesis Kraven the Hunter. (In fact, at one point, Kraven was the villain in “Far From Home,” instead of Mysterio.) The brief schism between Disney and Sony over the character, which meant Tom Holland’s Spider-Man could no longer live inside the MCU, also caused McKenna and Sommers to get creative.

“We were taking meetings about it, and going, ‘Well, what would this movie be if it wasn’t in the MCU?'” McKenna says.

“It was like any time you have a limitation thrown on you,” adds Sommers. “Then it creates possibilities and spurs all sorts of creative discussions. Fortunately, they came to their agreement before we were too far down any road, and we were able to jump right in with the old team.”

Through every draft for what became “No Way Home,” McKenna and Sommers always maintained the through-line present in all three films: Peter wrestling with his identity as Spider-Man. Only, by the start of this movie, Mysterio has told it to the world and cast Spider-Man as a villain.

“You feel like he’s settling in, comfortable in his skin, and then boom, it all gets completely blown up because his identity is revealed,” says Sommers. “Now he’s just scrambling.”

“So now he has to, again, struggle with what it means to be Peter Parker, what it means to be Spider-Man,” McKenna adds with a laugh. “It’s like therapy, talking about this stuff!”

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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Swings Onto Digital Today

Thwip the 4k ultra hd and blu-ray on april 12..

You know what they say: three is the magic number. And that means you can bring home not just one, and not even two, but three different Spider-Men with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home on digital download today ! 

In  Spider-Man: No Way Home , for the first time in the cinematic history of  Spider-Man , our friendly neighborhood hero's identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists  Doctor Strange ’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a  Spider-Man in any universe . Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.

Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield are front and center on many of the behind-the-scenes featurettes included on the digital download, bringing together three different Peter Parkers from three different multiverses. But that’s not all! Dive into the special features and bonus content below:

BONUS MATERIALS 

4k ultra hd, blu-ray™, and digital.

Bloopers & Gag Reel Alternate Reality Easter Eggs 7 Behind the Scenes Featurettes

• Action Choreography Across the Multiverse
• A Multiverse of Miscreants
• A Spectacular Spider-Journey with Tom Holland
• Enter Strange
• Graduation Day
• Realities Collide, Spiders Unite
• Weaving Jon Watt's Web

2 Special Panels

• The Sinister Summit - Villains Panel: Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Jamie Foxx sit down for a roundtable discussion of their sinister characters.
• A Meeting of the Spiders - Heroes Panel: The Heroic Spider heroes sit down for a roundtable discussion on Peter, Stunts, and skintight suits.

3 Stories From The Daily Bugle 

• Spider-Menace Strikes Again
• Spider Sycophant
• Web of Lies

2  Stunt Scenes Previsualization

• Apartment Fight
• Shield Fight

Want to stay on top of everything in the Marvel Universe? Follow Marvel on social media— Twitter ,  Facebook , and  Instagram —and keep watching  Marvel.com  for more news!

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Spider-Man: No Way Home | A Spectacular Spider Journey With Tom Holland

From the first audition tape to a major blockbuster, actors Tom Holland , Tobey Maguire , Andrew Garfield , Benedict Cumberbatch and Alfred Molina , along with director Jon Watts , producers Amy Pascal and Chris Buogiorno , and stunt coordinator George Cottle discuss Holland's seven-year journey into Marvel in this behind the scenes look at Spider-Man: No Way Home . Get the movie now on disc and digital

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the 2021 Sony Pictures Entertainment/Marvel Studios live-action sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home and the third movie in the cycle of films featuring Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Although Sony initially said they did not want to do an additional collaboration with Marvel under the terms of the previous films, on September 27, 2019 the studios reached an agreement to co-develop the third Tom Holland Spider-Man movie. Jon Watts, the director of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home is set to return, as are the primary cast of the film.

Benedict Cumberbatch appears as Doctor Strange who agrees to help Peter, whose identity was outed at the end of the previous film and now his a life of turmoil. A reality-altering is meant to fix things but instead conjures elements of the multiverse which include Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and a version of the Green Goblin. Rumors also place Jamie Foxx in the film, reprising his Electro character.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

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Spider-Man: No Way Home | Gag Reel

Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are here to present you with the blooper reel for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Enjoy the laughs and the thrills on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray and digital today.

Spider-Man: No Way Home | Red Carpet

Were you in Los Angeles for the Red Carpet premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home? No? Well here's a 45 minute rundown of everything that happened!

Spider-Man | The Evolution Of The Spidey Suit

For six movies across three distinct series, the Spider-Man suit has changed a lot. Track all the iterations from Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man (2002) to Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man: No Way Home | Behind The Scenes: Multiverse of Miscreants

Jamie Foxx, Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, Alfred Molina along with director Jon Watts and others talk about super villain origins, dirty fighting and more in this behind the scenes featurette from Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man: No Way Home | Curing The Villains

The plan starts to come together as all three Spideys start to cure Electro, Sandman and The Lizard in this clip from Spider-Man: No Way Home. Get the movie now on 4K.

Screen Rant

Tom holland's spider-man 4 has a daunting task ahead after no way home's $1.9b success.

The MCU's Spider-Man 4 is moving forward, and Tom Holland's next film as Peter Parker will have to make a difficult choice after No Way Home.

• Tom Holland will return as Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4 to follow up the immense success of No Way Home.
• Spider-Man 4 faces a daunting task after No Way Home, the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie.
• Spider-Man 4 could be a multiverse story or a street-level adventure, setting up the future of the MCU's Spider-Man.

Tom Holland will return as Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4 , and the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe will have quite the task, as it needs to follow up the tremendous success of Spider-Man: No Way Home . Holland has become extremely popular as Peter, leading a trilogy of Spider-Man movies in the MCU and appearing in multiple other crossover projects, such as Marvel's Avengers films. Given how beloved his version of the character is, Holland should be sticking around the MCU for quite some time , with a possible new Spider-Man trilogy ahead of him.

Currently, updates on Spider-Man 4 , the first film in a possible new trilogy, have been scarce. The project had to halt development last year due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes. After work on the movie's story resumed, multiple rumors came out regarding Marvel Studios and Sony possibly having different visions for the project. Holland's latest Spider-Man movie — No Way Home — presented a major challenge for the franchise's future that could be the cause of the new movie's rumored behind-the-scenes problems. With Spider-Man 4 's filming start revealed in a new report , the MCU movie needs to succeed in a daunting task.

10 Reasons Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 4 Should Happen Even After 17 Years

Spider-man: no way home is the highest-grossing spider-man movie ever, the mcu film was a generational event.

Holland's Spider-Man 4 will have the daunting task of following the most successful Spider-Man movie ever. According to the specialized box office tracking website Box Office Mojo , 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home amassed just shy of $2 billion at the box office , with the MCU movie boasting a healthy $1.92 billion worldwide — with no China release. Spider-Man: No Way Home 's astonishing box office totals put the movie as an Avengers-level event, and as such, it becomes very hard for another solo entry in Holland's Spider-Man franchise to match or surpass the successful movie.

Check out the box office of all Spider-Man movies below:

Spider-Man: No Way Home was a cinematic event three generations in the making . The movie brought together Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland's versions of Spider-Man, as well as a few villains from the previous two Spider-Man movie franchises — including Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Alfred Molina's Doc Ock, both iconic Marvel castings. Fans had been asking for quite some time to see the three movie Spider-Men join forces, and the movie managed to show how perfectly the three actors behind Peter Parker fit together. Following an event that was only possible due to decades of buildup is hard.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 4 Has A Major Choice To Make

The franchise needs to pick between very different paths.

Spider-Man 4 could take one of two routes to follow Spider-Man: No Way Home 's success, with Sony and Marvel rumored to each be partial to one side. As part of the Multiverse Saga, Holland's Spider-Man 4 could once again go to the multiverse for its story, bringing back Maguire and Garfield's Spider-Men. As the characters showed up late in Spider-Man: No Way Home , the other Peter Parkers being in Spider-Man 4 from the start would guarantee the movie would be a major success, with good chances of even topping Spider-Man: No Way Home 's box office.

On the other hand, Spider-Man: No Way Home 's ending seemed to set up Peter Parker to have a smaller-scale adventure . The prospect of a street-level Spider-Man 4 has been well-received by fans, and exciting characters like Kraven the Hunter and Black Cat could make their MCU debut in such a type of movie. The MCU is setting up a major story with Kingpin as the Mayor of New York City, and Spider-Man 4 adapting a version of "Devil's Reign" with Daredevil and other street-level heroes and villains would make the film a major event without the need for the multiverse.

10 Marvel Villains Perfect For A Street-Level MCU Spider-Man 4 Movie

Spider-man: no way home already set up spider-man 4, peter parker is at his lowest in the mcu.

Spider-Man: No Way Home ended with Doctor Strange's spell making everyone forget who Peter Parker was. Holland's Spider-Man 4 could build up on that to present a Spider-Man movie that brings the character back to the basics after a series of MCU crossovers. Out of high school, Spider-Man 4 could follow Peter in college , introducing Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn as his classmates. Peter working at the Daily Bugle under J. Jonah Jameson, the MCU's Norman Osborn getting introduced, and new love interests emerging could be the path for Spider-Man 4 to follow Spider-Man: No Way Home .

A classic Spider-Man story with iconic characters tied to the hero in the comics would be perfect for Spider-Man 4 . The MCU's version of Peter is beloved; however, Marvel has faced criticism due to Spider-Man being deeply tied to Iron Man and other MCU characters. By having Peter all alone, Marvel can use Spider-Man 4 to deliver a classic Spider-Man comic book story, with a street-level tale that serves as the perfect stepping stone for Holland's Peter Parker to once again deal with multiversal threats in the two upcoming Avengers movies.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the trials and tribulations of being a superhero. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) asks for help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) when his identity becomes a problem for the ones he loves. Unfortunately, when the spell goes wrong, Spider-Man will now have to face off with villains such as Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) as Peter finally comes to terms that he can't run from being Spider-Man. Supported by his close friends and help from an unexpected place (or multiverse), Spider-Man will go toe-to-toe with some of the most legendary foes in his storied history.

Spider-Man Homecoming 4

Spider-Man: Homecoming 4 is the first sequel to the MCU's Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland as the titular wall-crawler. After wiping his identity for the public's memory in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker continues his crime-fighting adventures without the aid of Iron Man technology or the support of his former allies.

Key Release Dates

Deadpool & wolverine, marvel's thunderbolts, marvel's fantastic four, blade (2025), avengers: the kang dynasty, avengers: secret wars.

Top 10 Best MCU Movies in 2024

T he Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has, since its inception, revolutionized not just the superhero genre but the entire landscape of cinema. As we venture into 2024, it stands as a colossal tapestry of interconnected stories, characters, and worlds that have captivated audiences around the globe. This monumental cinematic endeavor has skillfully blended action, drama, humor, and spectacle, making each entry not just a movie but an event.

From the groundbreaking “Iron Man” in 2008 to the universe-shattering “Avengers: Endgame” and beyond, the MCU has evolved, embracing new themes, technologies, and narratives to keep audiences enthralled. Now, as we look at the top 10 best MCU movies in 2024, we delve into a selection that exemplifies the pinnacle of Marvel Studios’ filmmaking, showcasing innovation, character depth, and epic storytelling that continue to push the boundaries of the superhero genre.

The criteria for ranking these movies are multifaceted, reflecting not only their box office success but also their cultural impact, critical acclaim, and the way they have expanded the MCU’s narrative scope. These films have set new standards for character development, visual effects, and thematic depth, making significant contributions to the overarching saga. Each movie on this list has been selected for its unique contribution to the MCU, showcasing the diversity and dynamism of Marvel’s cinematic universe.

The Evolution of the MCU: Setting New Cinematic Paradigms

The evolution of the MCU has been nothing short of spectacular, with each phase expanding the universe in scale and complexity. The integration of new characters, alongside the deepening of existing ones, has been a hallmark of Marvel’s storytelling approach. The use of cutting-edge technology in visual effects has brought to life the fantastical elements of the Marvel comics with unprecedented realism, while the narratives have grown increasingly sophisticated, often reflecting contemporary social and political themes. This evolution has not only entertained but also sparked important conversations, making the MCU a significant cultural phenomenon.

As we explore the top 10 best MCU movies in 2024, we’ll see how these films have contributed to this evolution, each bringing something unique to the table. Whether it’s through the introduction of new heroes and villains, the exploration of new genres within the superhero framework, or the seamless weaving together of multiple storylines across different movies, these top 10 entries represent the best of what the MCU has to offer.

Here’s the Top 10 Best MCU Movies in 2024

1. black panther: a cultural phenomenon.

“ Black Panther ” stands as a monumental achievement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, blending superhero spectacle with a deep exploration of culture, identity, and power. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the film is set in the fictional African nation of Wakanda, a technologically advanced society that has hidden itself from the rest of the world. At its heart is T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who ascends to the throne as Black Panther and faces challenges from factions within his own country and external threats.

What sets “Black Panther” apart is its successful fusion of traditional African cultures with futuristic innovation, creating a visually stunning world that captivated audiences worldwide. The film’s portrayal of strong, intelligent characters, particularly women, broke new ground in superhero cinema. Characters like Shuri, Okoye, and Nakia are not just supporting roles but integral to Wakanda’s identity and T’Challa’s journey.

The film also tackles complex themes such as colonialism, heritage, and the responsibility of powerful nations. Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, emerges as one of the MCU’s most complex antagonists, challenging T’Challa’s ideologies and forcing him to confront uncomfortable truths about Wakanda’s role in the global landscape. “Black Panther” is a celebration of African cultures and a critical examination of power and responsibility, making it a landmark film in the MCU and a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman’s legacy.

2. Avengers: Endgame: An Epic Conclusion

“Avengers: Endgame” is the climactic showdown of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, bringing together characters and storylines from over a decade of Marvel films. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, this epic conclusion follows the aftermath of “Avengers: Infinity War,” where Thanos has wiped out half of all life in the universe. The remaining Avengers and their allies must come together to reverse Thanos’s actions and restore order to the universe.

Spanning multiple timelines and dimensions, “Endgame” is a masterful tapestry of action, emotion, and time-traveling adventure. It pays homage to the MCU’s rich history while providing closure to the arcs of beloved characters like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Stark’s ultimate sacrifice and Rogers’s decision to live a life he missed offer poignant bookends to their decade-long journeys, embodying themes of heroism, sacrifice, and the pursuit of peace.

“Endgame” is not just a film; it’s an event that delivered unparalleled spectacle, from its breathtaking battles to its quiet moments of character reflection. Its commercial and critical success underscores its impact, serving as a fitting capstone to the first era of the MCU and setting the stage for its future.

3. Iron Man: The Beginning

“Iron Man,” directed by Jon Favreau, is the film that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a genius billionaire and arms manufacturer who becomes the armored superhero Iron Man, it set the template for all MCU films that followed. Stark’s transformation from a self-absorbed industrialist to a hero willing to risk everything to protect others is a compelling narrative of redemption and responsibility.

The film’s success lies not just in its action sequences and visual effects but in Downey Jr.’s charismatic performance, which brought depth and humanity to the character of Tony Stark. “Iron Man” introduced the world to the interconnected storytelling and character-driven narratives that would become the hallmark of the MCU. Its post-credits scene, featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, hinted at the larger universe to come, igniting excitement and anticipation among fans.

“Iron Man” is a groundbreaking film that blends humor, heart, and spectacle, setting a high standard for superhero cinema. It remains a critical and fan favorite, illustrating the power of innovation and character in crafting a compelling story.

4. Thor: Ragnarok – A Cosmic Delight

“Thor: Ragnarok,” directed by Taika Waititi, revitalized the Thor franchise with its vibrant visuals, irreverent humor, and dynamic storytelling. The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in a race against time to prevent Ragnarok, the destruction of his homeworld, Asgard, at the hands of the ruthless Hela (Cate Blanchett). Stranded on the alien planet of Sakaar, Thor must survive a gladiatorial duel against his “friend from work,” the Hulk, and mount a daring escape to save his people.

Waititi’s unique vision transformed “Thor: Ragnarok” into a cosmic road movie, infused with a retro-futuristic aesthetic and a soundtrack to match. The film’s humor, coupled with its exploration of themes such as imperialism and identity, distinguishes it within the MCU. Thor’s journey of self-discovery, alongside memorable characters like Valkyrie and Korg, provides a fresh take on the superhero genre, balancing epic action with emotional depth.

“Thor: Ragnarok” is a testament to the creative risks that have defined the MCU’s success, offering a thrilling adventure that redefines its titular character and sets a new course for his future.

5. Spider-Man: No Way Home – A Multiversal Adventure

“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” directed by Jon Watts, is a bold exploration of the multiverse, bringing together different iterations of the Spider-Man character in an unprecedented cinematic event. Following the revelation of Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity as Spider-Man, the film delves into the consequences of fame and the lengths to which Peter will go to protect his loved ones. His decision to enlist Doctor Strange’s help to restore his anonymity spirals out of control, tearing open the fabric of the multiverse and bringing villains from alternate realities into their world.

The film is a love letter to Spider-Man fans, featuring appearances by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as their respective versions of Spider-Man, alongside iconic villains like Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Electro. “No Way Home” balances spectacular action with heartfelt moments of camaraderie and redemption, highlighting the enduring appeal of the Spider-Man legacy.

“No Way Home” is not just a high-stakes multiversal adventure but a meditation on identity, responsibility, and the impact of choices. It stands as a groundbreaking addition to the Spider-Man films and the MCU at large, celebrated for its ambitious storytelling and emotional resonance.

6. Spider-Man: Homecoming – A Hero’s Journey

“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” directed by Jon Watts, marks a refreshing return to the beloved character’s roots, focusing on Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) dual life as a high school student and a fledgling superhero. The film smartly eschews the traditional origin story, instead diving into Peter’s struggles with adolescence, responsibility, and his eagerness to prove himself as an Avenger. Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) role as Peter’s mentor adds depth to the narrative, offering a unique dynamic that explores the theme of growth and the meaning of being a hero.

“Homecoming” stands out for its grounded portrayal of Spider-Man, emphasizing the character’s relatability and the everyday challenges he faces. The villain, Vulture (Michael Keaton), is depicted with a complexity that resonates with the audience, blurring the lines between good and evil. The film’s action sequences are seamlessly integrated into the story, enhancing the character’s journey without overshadowing it.

The blend of humor, heart, and action in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” revitalizes the franchise, offering a fresh and youthful perspective on the superhero genre. It successfully captures the essence of Spider-Man, combining the thrill of superheroes with the trials of high school life, making it a standout entry in the MCU.

7. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: A Martial Arts Epic

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, introduces audiences to the MCU’s first Asian superhero, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), in a thrilling blend of martial arts action and deep emotional storytelling. The film explores Shang-Chi’s complex relationship with his father, Wenwu (Tony Leung), the leader of the Ten Rings organization, weaving a narrative about family, identity, and destiny.

The movie excels in its breathtaking martial arts choreography, offering some of the most visually stunning and intricately designed fight sequences in the MCU. The representation of Asian culture and mythology adds a rich layer of depth to the story, celebrating the diversity of the Marvel Universe. The dynamic between Shang-Chi and his allies, including Katy (Awkwafina) and his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), provides a solid emotional foundation, enhancing the film’s action with heart and humor.

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is a groundbreaking film that expands the MCU’s horizons, introducing a new hero while exploring themes of heritage and self-discovery. Its critical and commercial success underscores the importance of diversity and representation in superhero cinema.

8. Guardians of the Galaxy: A Cosmic Adventure

“Guardians of the Galaxy,” directed by James Gunn, is a vibrant and irreverent addition to the MCU that turns a group of intergalactic misfits into heroes. The film follows Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) as they band together to stop the fanatical Ronan the Accuser from destroying the galaxy.

What sets “Guardians of the Galaxy” apart is its unique tone, combining humor, heart, and a stellar 70s soundtrack that perfectly complements the film’s cosmic setting. The characters, each with their tragic pasts, form an unlikely family, giving the film its emotional core. The visual effects and creative set pieces create a vivid and immersive world that is a feast for the eyes.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” broke the mold for superhero films, showcasing the potential for storytelling beyond Earth and introducing audiences to the broader cosmos of the Marvel Universe. Its success demonstrated the appeal of lesser-known comic characters, enriching the MCU with its humor, warmth, and distinctive style.

9. Captain America: Civil War: A Clash of Ideals

“Captain America: Civil War,” directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, is a pivotal film in the MCU that delves into the moral and ethical complexities of heroism. The film centers on the ideological divide between Tony Stark/Iron Man and Steve Rogers/Captain America over the Sokovia Accords, a legislative act that would place the Avengers under government oversight. This disagreement splits the superhero community, leading to a thrilling and emotionally charged confrontation.

“Civil War” explores themes of freedom, accountability, and the consequences of power, challenging its characters and the audience to consider the cost of heroism. The introduction of characters like Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) adds new perspectives to the debate, enriching the narrative. The film’s action sequences, especially the iconic airport battle, are expertly choreographed, showcasing the abilities and dynamics of each hero.

As much a political thriller as a superhero movie, “Captain America: Civil War” stands out for its depth of character development and its willingness to confront the darker aspects of power and responsibility. It marks a turning point in the MCU, setting the stage for the conflicts that would define the universe’s future.

10. Marvel’s The Avengers: The Assembly of Heroes

“Marvel’s The Avengers,” directed by Joss Whedon, is the culmination of the MCU’s Phase One, bringing together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye to fight against the threat posed by Loki and his alien army. The film was a monumental achievement, representing the first time in cinematic history that characters from separate franchises united in a single film.

The strength of “The Avengers” lies in its character dynamics, blending diverse personalities and power sets into a cohesive team. The film balances action, humor, and character development, crafting a narrative that is both epic in scale and personal in focus. Loki played with charismatic menace by Tom Hiddleston, serves as a formidable antagonist, challenging the Avengers both physically and ideologically.

“Marvel’s The Avengers” set a new standard for superhero team-ups, proving that a shared cinematic universe was not only possible but could be wildly successful. Its impact on the film industry and popular culture is immeasurable, laying the groundwork for the future of the MCU and superhero cinema at large.

In the realm of cinematic storytelling, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has etched its name into the annals of history, not merely as a series of interconnected superhero films but as a cultural phenomenon that has redefined the landscape of modern cinema. The ten films discussed, from “Black Panther” to “Marvel’s The Avengers,” represent the pinnacle of this groundbreaking saga, each contributing uniquely to the tapestry of this vast narrative universe. They are not just films; they are chapters of a larger story, one that speaks to the heart of heroism, sacrifice, and the eternal struggle between good and evil.

“Black Panther” broke barriers, bringing to the forefront the importance of representation and cultural identity, and embedding itself in the cultural zeitgeist. “Avengers: Endgame” served as a monumental culmination of over a decade’s worth of storytelling, providing both closure and a gateway to new beginnings. “Iron Man,” the film that started it all, laid the groundwork for what would become the most successful film franchise in history, redefining the superhero genre. “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” brought humor and a cosmic perspective to the MCU, showcasing the universe’s vastness and diversity. Meanwhile, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” explored the trials of heroism through the lens of adolescence, grounding the extraordinary in the ordinary.

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” expanded the MCU’s geographical and cultural horizons, introducing audiences to new myths and legends. “Captain America: Civil War” delved into the complexities and moral quandaries of power and responsibility, challenging its heroes in unprecedented ways. Finally, “Marvel’s The Avengers” achieved what was once thought impossible, uniting heroes from separate narratives into a cohesive and dynamic team, setting a new benchmark for cinematic universes.

The MCU’s success lies not just in its box office numbers but in its ability to connect with audiences on a personal level. It has crafted a universe where the fantastical exists alongside the mundane, where gods walk among men, and where the smallest individual can make the biggest difference. It has shown us the value of teamwork, the importance of facing our fears, and the power of believing in something greater than ourselves. Through its rich tapestry of characters, stories, and worlds, the MCU has become a mirror reflecting our hopes, dreams, and the complexities of the human condition.

As we look to the future, the MCU shows no signs of slowing down. With each new film and series, it continues to expand, explore new genres, and introduce new characters, ensuring its place in the hearts of audiences for generations to come. The ten films discussed here are but a snapshot of its journey so far, a testament to the creativity, imagination, and hard work of countless individuals who have brought these characters and stories to life.

In conclusion, the Marvel Cinematic Universe transcends the confines of superhero cinema, standing as a monumental achievement in storytelling. It has woven a narrative so rich, so diverse, and so engaging that it has become more than just entertainment—it has become a part of our collective consciousness. As we celebrate these top ten films, we also look forward with anticipation to the next chapters of this ever-expanding universe, ready to be inspired, entertained, and, above all, reminded of the enduring power of storytelling.