spider man 1 movie review essay

• Spider-Man (2002 Film) Summary

by Sam Raimi

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A tour to a genetic labaratory is organised for the students of the high school where Peter Parker is studying. He shows much interest in sciences and arrives there with great enthusiasm, while the rest students of his class are dull and uninterested. During the tour, a spider, which has been genetically engineered, escapes from its aquarium, and happens accidentally to bite Peter on the hand. At first Peter does not feel any change, but when he arrives home he faints in his room.

In the morning when Peter wakes up, the first thing that astonishes him is the fact that he is no longer near-sighted. All his life he was wearing glasses, and now he sees perfectly without them. The next thing, which astonishes him even more, is his physique. When he looks in the mirror he finds that he is in splendid muscular fit. But along with these pleasant changes, there are ones which bring him some troubles. During the lunch in the school Peter accidentally finds that his wrists are producing webs, and he happens accidentally to throw a tray with food into Flash Thompson, one of the strongest and fiercest bullies in the school. Flash is not going to let such an insult remain and steps into the confrontation with Peter. During the fight Peter learns of other super powers, which he now possesses. Among these are speed, strength, and ability to stick to surfaces. Little needles appear from his fingers, and with their help he can climb the walls.

Meanwhile Peter becomes accustomed to his newly obtained super powers, Norman Osborn (who also happens to be the father of Peter’s friend Harry Osborn ), tries to receive a serious military contract, which would let him continue his experiments. But the government does not want these experiments to be held on people, so Norman dares extreme measures, and becomes the first person on whom the experiment is conducted on. As a result he goes insane, his personality is doubled, and in the state of distraction, he kills his an assistant. In the morning Norman remembers nothing of what has happened the night before.

Peter’s life continues to change. He falls in love with a neighbor girl Mary Jane and wants to impress her with a new car, but he has no money. So, to get some money Peter decides to take part in underground fights, where he is confronted with a huge, strong man. Peter wins the battle using his super powers, but the organizer of these fights does not give him the promised money. At that moment a thief raids the office and takes the money. Peter allows the thief to go, as a revenge to the organizer for his lies.

Walking home, Peter witnesses his uncle Ben being robbed and injured right on the street. Uncle Ben dies before the ambulance arrives, and Peter rushes after the perpetrator. Having used his super powers, Peter reaches the murderer quicker than police, and recognizes in him the thief that he has let go from the promoter’s office an hour ago. Peter is frustrated by the feeling of guilt. Peter spends a night pondering over all the events which happened recently, and makes up his mind to fight against injustice in the city.

After the appearance of a superhero in the city, the local newspapers start a pursuit after his photos. Jonah Jameson, the editor of the newspaper, promises pecuniary reward to a person, who will provide the newspaper with photos of newly appeared superhero. Peter Parker brings the photos of the Spider-Man, and is hired as a photographer to this newspaper.

Norman Osborn’s second identity, the one he has obtained after the experiment, takes control over him, and now Norman is conscious of all his deeds. He has turned into a real villain, and kills those who intended to fire him. Norman appears at the Unity Fair disguised as the Green Goblin, so nobody recognizes him as Norman Osborn. Spider-Man manages to rebuff the Goblin but receives a wound.

Few days after, Peter and Harry share Thanksgiving dinner in the apartment where they both live. Norman is also invited and during the dinner he notices the wound on Peter’s arm. He comes to the conclusion that Peter is Spider-Man. Norman also finds out that Peter has feelings for Mary Jane.

Norman Osborn again disguises himself as the Green Goblin, and holds Mary Jane as a hostage. This is too simple for him, so he decides to hold hostage a tram car full of children as well, forcing Spider-Man to choose between Mary Jane and the children in the car. But Peter fortunately saves them all.

After that both superheroes (good and bad) meet in an abandoned building. They engage in cruel combat, but Spider-Man appears to be luckier and manages to disarm the Green Goblin. Peter is unpleasantly shocked when recognizes the person under the mask of the Goblin. Dying Norman begs Peter not to tell Harry the truth. Peter takes Norman’s body to their apartment. That moment Harry enters and encounters Spider-Man, who is standing over the dead body of his father.

The film ends with the funeral of Norman Osborn. At the funeral Harry tells Peter that he is the only family he has now, as there is nobody he can trust. Harry makes a vow to find and kill Spider-Man at any cost.

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Spider-Man (2002 Film) Questions and Answers

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Study Guide for Spider-Man (2002 Film)

Spider-Man (2002 Film) study guide contains a biography of director Sam Raimi, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Spider-Man (2002 Film)
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Essays for Spider-Man (2002 Film)

Spider-Man (2002 Film) essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Spider-Man (2002 Film), directed by Sam Raimi.

• Imaginary Characters, Real Hope: A Cultural Artifact Critique of "Spider-Man"

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Spiderman — Spider-Man Movie: a Critical Analysis

Spider-man Movie: a Critical Analysis

• Categories: Spiderman

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Words: 352 |

Published: Nov 22, 2018

Words: 352 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

Works Cited:

• Bazin, A. (1957). What is Cinema? University of California Press.
• Bordwell, D. (2002). Intensified continuity: Visual style in contemporary American film. Film Quarterly, 55(3), 16-28.
• Cook, P. (2016). Auteurism in the 21st Century. Edinburgh University Press.
• Hitchcock, A. (Director). (1960). Psycho [Film]. Paramount Pictures.
• Naremore, J. (1993). Acting in the cinema. University of California Press.
• Roud, R. (1975). Francois Truffaut. Thames and Hudson.
• Sarris, A. (1962). Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962. Film Culture, 27, 1-8.
• Thompson, K., & Bordwell, D. (2010). Film History: An Introduction. McGraw-Hill.
• Truffaut, F. (Director). (1959). The 400 Blows [Film]. Cocinor.
• Wollen, P. (2002). Signs and meaning in the cinema. Indiana University Press.

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Spider-Man Movie Review

Updated 10 August 2022

Subject Movies

Downloads 29

Category Entertainment

Topic Movie Analysis ,  Movie Review ,  Movie Summary ,  Spiderman

This Spider-Man movie review will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the film. We will focus on the role of Tom Holland's Spider-Man, the new villains, positive themes, and Action sequences. To get a better understanding of the movie, we will look at some of the most notable aspects of Spider-Man: Homecoming. The film was released on July 7th and received maximum applause in its opening scene. The audience roared for the supervillains, drowning out the opening dialogues. Tom Holland's Spider-Man Is Tom Holland's Spider-Man movie worthy of the hype? This review will give you my opinion about the film. I think Tom Holland's Spider-Man is one of the best superhero movies in recent history. He plays the web-slinger in an emotionally compelling way. And if you love the comic book series, you'll love Tom Holland as the web-slinger. Tom Holland is a joy to watch in any of the upcoming Marvel movies. Spider-Man is a beloved superhero, but his real identity remains a mystery, even in the most recent film. The story starts with Peter Parker, played by Holland, and J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson is a renowned newshound and Public Enemy No. 1, and his relationship with Peter Parker and the rest of the Spider-Man gang is quite interesting. Mary Jane The Mary Jane in Spiderman is Peter Parker's girlfriend. She is about to get married to John Jameson but secretly longs to have a relationship with Peter. The movie is a good example of what friendship can do for the soul. Mary Jane has an incredibly powerful role and is a good example of how friendship can be the purest form of love. This review will give you an in-depth analysis of Mary Jane in Spiderman. After the events of Spider-Man 3, Tobey Maguire requested that no details be included about the relationship between Mary Jane and Peter Parker. The movie hints that Mary Jane and Peter have reconciled, but it doesn't go into their relationship status fourteen years later. Regardless, Mary Jane and Peter Parker's chemistry in this movie is top-notch. If you haven't seen Spider-Man, don't miss this new installment of the lovable superhero. Action sequences While there are several action sequences in the Spider-Man franchise, this latest one is particularly impressive. Director Sam Raimi reimagines the classic comic book hero with two epic action sequences. Tobey Maguire and Alfred Molina work closely together to create the sequences. They begin work on these action sequences years before they are filmed and continue throughout the production. As a result, you will be able to enjoy the movie as a whole before you see the final product. The first action sequence features a back-and-forth sequence between Peter Parker and the evil Green Goblin. Spider-Man's web-slinging powers allow him to stop a train. This fight is so intense, it rivals Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. The shock factor is the death of the Goblin, which is a memorable scene. The movie also starred a cameo from Marvel's Generalissimo, Stan Lee, who is completely oblivious to the chaos. Positive themes The positive themes of Spider-Man are abundant throughout the film. These themes include social responsibility, single-mindedness, and a sense of honor. They also highlight the contrast between loving family relationships and destructive ones. The film also draws a clear line between good and evil, with Spider-Man often falling on the right side of the line. What's more, the movie also features a surprisingly strong female lead, Mary Jane.

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Interestingly, the film's themes aren't exactly confined to the positive, as the negative ones dominate. For example, the love theme, though central to the film, isn't given its own long suite. Despite its importance, it is only incorporated sparingly in the film. One of the best pieces of the score, Still Crazy, combines strings and mournful electronics to create an epic piece.

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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Review: Tom Holland Cleans Out the Cobwebs of Sprawling Franchise With Multiverse Super-Battle

Convoluted as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gotten, Holland's latest opus spins two decades and three iterations of the Spidey brand into a satisfying meta-adventure.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains spoilers.

What do you call the opposite of a reboot? The “system overload” of “Spider-Man” movies, Sony’s ninth (and almost certainly not last) feature-length riff on the friendly neighborhood superhero, “ Spider-Man: No Way Home ” seeks to connect Tom Holland ’s spin on the web-slinger with the previous live-action versions of the character by first reassembling a rogue’s gallery of all the villains Peter Parker has vanquished to date. Returning director Jon Watts — whose bright, slightly dorky touch lends a welcome continuity to this latest trilogy — wrangles the unwieldy premise into a consistently entertaining superhero entry, tying up two decades of loose ends in the process.

The mind-bending plot hinges on a convenient comic book device called the multiverse, which allows infinite iterations of Spider-Man/mineral/vegetable to exist in their own parallel dimensions. That’s a radically different strategy from the one Sony has been peddling till now, whereby the studio simply recast the character every few years (lest the rights revert back to Marvel), without offering much in the way of closure to fans of Tobey Maguire’s or Andrew Garfield’s earlier outings.

Granted, the idea should be familiar to anyone who saw 2018’s animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which introduced the thrilling possibility that virtually anyone could be Spidey. But whereas that toon suggested infinite paths for the character going forward, “No Way Home” serves to wrap up what has come before, starting by reviving Spidey’s past adversaries, forcing Holland’s Peter Parker to face off against five of the villains pulled in from the movies that preceded him.

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It all happens because Peter’s life has been turned upside down by Mysterio (the bad guy he vanquished at the end of “Far From Home” two years ago), who managed to unmask Spidey before biting the dust. Desperate to protect his family and friends, Peter appeals to all-powerful wizard Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that will make everyone forget his identity. Instead, the plan backfires, calling everyone who ever knew that Peter was Spider-Man out of their dimension and into his.

To make things a little easier for the movie to manage, it’s really only the villains who answer Strange’s calling — which is impressive enough, considering that means enlisting Alfred Molina (Doc Ock), Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin), Jamie Fox (Electro), Thomas Haden Church (Sandman) and Rhys Ifans (The Lizard) to reprise their roles. Meanwhile, to make things easier for Spider-Man to manage, none is even remotely as intimidating as we remember them.

“No Way Home” keeps the surprises coming up to (and even through) the end credits, but perhaps the most unexpected is Peter’s decision — together with girlfriend MJ ( Zendaya ) and best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon) — not to defeat these villains the way his predecessors did. Instead, Peter hopes to “cure” the goons of the mutations that are making them unhappy, even if it means defying Doctor Strange (one of several characters on loan from the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which Holland’s Spider-Man has been making now-regular appearances).

Peter’s empathy seems perfectly fitting for a movie that targets a fresh wave of idealistic teens very much engaged with questioning everything Western civilization thought it knew about crime and punishment, power and privilege. As a critic who grew up on movies in which the bad guys were routinely impaled (Tony Goldywn in “Ghost”), decapitated (Dennis Hopper in “Speed”) or otherwise made to pay dearly for their sins, it’s fascinating to encounter an escapist Hollywood offering that seeks to understand the root of these characters’ megalomaniacal behavior.

The reason, as Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers’ screenplay tries to explain, is that this version of Peter is still dealing with Mysterio’s death. In that reaction, we see the franchise trying to make the character more fully dimensional and dare I say “realistic” — much as 21st-century Bond “Casino Royale” and Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” did in recognizing the physical toll saving the world had on their respective protagonists.

For my money, Holland has been the least interesting of the three big-screen Spider-Men, coming across younger and less mature than Maguire or Garfield. Until now. This simple plot development makes him more than just an acrobat in spandex, juggling awkward high school experiences with flashy visual effects battles — although both elements carry through to this film, in which college acceptance carries equal weight with a big CG showdown at the Statue of Liberty. He’s further disrupting the Marvel-movie formula (which already got a massive upset with the “Infinity War”-ending “snap” and inevitable time-travel gimmick it took to reverse it) and even going so far as to redefine audiences’ collective notion of heroism in the process.

As complicated as it all sounds, “No Way Home” sticks to a relatively straightforward idea of the multiverse, taking extra care to walk us through the logical loop-de-loops its plot requires. Whenever Doctor Strange shows up in a Marvel movie, audiences ought to be prepared for some magical monkey business — the kind of rule-bending that essentially makes anything possible. Superhero movies are only as good as their villains, and it’s a thrill to be reunited with Doc Ock and Green Goblin. Though the other three baddies were relatively disappointing in their original incarnations, this film focuses on the tragic dimension of their characters and their capacity for redemption.

It’s not quite so successful at identifying the rage building in Peter Parker, whose good intentions directly result in an irreversible loss. While incendiary news reports — from conspiracy-monger J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), an unlikely constant across the multiverse — paint him as a menace, Spidey is torn between the instinct to help his adversaries and a much darker impulse to seek revenge (a watered-down version of the Jedi-Sith tug-of-war we’ve seen in “Star Wars” protagonists). Though Holland looks too much like an eager Boy Scout for us to believe he’ll go rogue, that conflict serves as a promising setup for the movie’s obvious midpoint twist — one that trailers have hidden, but reviews really ought to unpack. Be warned that spoilers will follow.

If villains can make the dimensional leap, it stands to reason that other Spider-Men can too, and sure enough, first Garfield and then Maguire show up seemingly up-to-speed on Peter’s villain-infestation problem. Because they’ve all faced variations on the same challenges — from losing loved ones to reconciling their romantic interests with a demanding day job — the movie balances easy-target comedy with more profound life lessons. What could easily have felt like one of those tacky Disneyland parades, where all the princesses are assembled to do fan service, instead finds a strong emotional foundation.

Garfield, so good in this year’s “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” radiates more charisma here than he ever did in his two Spider-Man installments. And the older-and-wiser Maguire, who’d gotten soft and lazy between his second and third Spider-Man movies, reminds audiences who haven’t seen him on screen in years why we found him so appealing in the first place. There’s something fundamentally worrisome about dissolving the barriers between these separate iterations of the franchise, and yet, the entire creative team seems committed to treating the multiverse not as a stunt or a crass corporate ploy (it does conveniently repair a rift in the MCU), but as an opportunity to more fully explore what Peter Parker stands for.

“No Way Home” doesn’t pretend that the earlier films were perfect, poking fun at elements we can all agree were weaknesses while also leaving room for the villains and Spider-Men alike to do some much-needed healing. The movie can be ungainly at times, and it’s much too committed to setting up even more craziness to play out in upcoming Marvel product (these aren’t stand-alone films so much as overloaded episodes, after all), but it provides enough resolution for the past two decades of Spider-Man adventures that audiences who’ve tuned out along the way will be rewarded for giving this one a shot.

Reviewed at AMC Century City, Los Angeles, Dec. 13, 2021. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 148 MIN.

• Production: A Columbia Pictures release and presentation of a Pascal Pictures, Marvel Studios production. Producers: Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal. Executive producers: Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, JoAnn Perritano, Rachel O’Connor, Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach. Co-producers: Mitch Bell, Chris Buongiorno.
• Crew: Director: Jon Watts. Screenplay: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers, based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko. Camera: Mauro Fiore. Editors: Jeffrey Ford, Leigh Folsom Boyd. Music: Michael Giacchino.
• With: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire.

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‘No Way Home’ is a joyous valentine to Spider-Man movies and their fans

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The plot of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is set in motion by a threatened bout of collective amnesia, which is fitting because I could barely remember anything that happened in the last of these movies. That’s odd, because I definitely saw it. ( I’m pretty sure I reviewed it. ) Fortunately, like most installments of endless cinematic franchises, this latest Spidey adventure seldom stops explaining itself or referencing its predecessors (more on that in a bit). Within moments you are helpfully reminded of how 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” ended, with that belligerent hack journalist J. Jonah Jameson (Spidey mainstay J.K. Simmons) exposing the famous webslinger’s true identity to the entire world. And most thoughtlessly of all, he didn’t even think to preface it with a spoiler warning.

The people at Sony Pictures, by contrast, have taken their usual care to warn journalists not to spill the secrets of “No Way Home,” expecting us to behave with more scrupulousness and care than some of their own marketing materials. I’ll proceed as cautiously as I can, with the caveat that your spoiler sense may tingle differently from my spoiler sense.

If you’re that concerned about plot details, I implore you: Put down this review and read something else. Read the sports section. Read a Thackeray novel. (Do not read Twitter.) And yeah, sure, see the movie first if you must. If “West Side Story” hasn’t already sated your appetite for impetuous teenagers leaping acrobatically around New York, this one might do the trick.

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ tried to hide its lineup of villains. One leak upended a Marvel-ous strategy

The cast and creatives of Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ discuss spoilers, returning villains and the Marvel multiverse at the film’s premiere.

Dec. 14, 2021

Or you could just plunge ahead and read on, especially if, like me, you harbor some skepticism about the way studios use the promise of jaw-dropping, game-changing twists to preempt criticism and sell material that’s actually fairly predictable at its core. Really, given the months of speculative hype that have preceded “No Way Home,” the most surprising thing about it is how … unsurprisingly much of it plays out.

If you’ve had your ear even remotely to the ground, you know what’s up: Due to unprecedented ruptures in the multiverse, characters from the first two Spider-Man series make appearances in this one. To discuss who those characters are and what they do would apparently be a crime on par with leaking the nuclear codes, so let’s just swing around them, Spidey-like, as gracefully as possible.

The narrative pretext for all these series-blending shenanigans is charming enough, in a low-stakes teen-movie kind of way. Due to an accompanying whiff of scandal, being outed as Spider-Man hasn’t exactly done wonders for Peter Parker (the excellent Tom Holland). Nor has it boosted the reputations of his girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), and his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon), whose associations with Peter have gotten them rejected from MIT. With bricks flying through the window of the Queens apartment he shares with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei, winning as ever), Peter calls on his old friend Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), asking him to cast a spell that will cause the entire world to forget that he’s Spider-Man. Much digitally confected spectacle and human error ensue, and rather than erasing the world’s memory, Doctor Strange winds up accidentally jogging ours.

And so a caper becomes a point of convergence, a nearly 2½-hour reunion special. Amid a jumble of clashing timelines and multiplying meta-paradoxes plotted out by screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers (who also wrote “Far From Home”), the familiar faces include a handful of villains from the Tobey Maguire-starring, Sam Raimi-directed trilogy of “Spider-Man” (2002), “Spider-Man 2” (2004) and “Spider-Man 3” (2007), as well as the less fondly remembered Andrew Garfield-starring, Marc Webb-directed duo of “The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012) and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014).

I doubt anyone will be shocked when Willem Dafoe’s snarling Green Goblin arrives, or when Alfred Molina’s metal-tentacled Doc Ock turns up, daring Spider-Man to beat him to a bloody poulpe. My own surprise was entirely genuine when Jamie Foxx resurfaced as Electro, a super-baddie I had completely forgotten about from the misleadingly titled “Amazing Spider-Man 2.”

As I was saying: amnesia. But “No Way Home,” directed by Jon Watts (who also steered “Far From Home” and 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming”), does strive to pull off something memorable, and largely succeeds. It’s rare to see such surreally elaborate narrative gymnastics arise from what is basically a long-running game of corporate tug-of-war. The Spidey custody battle that has ensnared Sony, Disney and Marvel Studios over the years is too tedious to rehash here, but there is something admittedly disarming about the solution that “No Way Home” hits upon. Without saying too much — OK, without saying anything at all — three parallel Spider-Man universes that once were forced to stand apart now get to belatedly salute each other, in a warm, even reconciliatory spirit.

This exercise — call it the Spidey Variations — may be fan service on a maximalist scale. And it doesn’t have quite the delirious invention of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” the 2018 animated feature that made the most of its multiverse-collapsing conceit. Still, it’s nice to feel a persistent human touch amid the otherwise mechanical sound and fury of “No Way Home,” especially during its wobbly, draggy midsection. Bridges rumble and scaffolding crumbles; the Statue of Liberty really should file for hazard pay. Comic relief arrives on cue (hello, Jon Favreau); tragedy strikes without warning. It’s a Spider-Man movie, in other words, and also a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.

But while the action ultimately turns as murky as in any Avengers epic, the smug, depersonalized air that often mars those glorified cinematic frat parties is notably absent. And for all “No Way Home’s” vertiginous heights and precipitous drops, few things here shake you more fully than the anguished closeups of Holland, in which Peter’s genetically modified strength — and his all-too-human vulnerability — are on tear-soaked, grime-smudged display.

Holland was only 19 when he landed this role (he made his scene-stealing first appearance in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War”). And while his Peter has always seemed younger than predecessors Maguire and Garfield, what united the three of them was a fundamental sweetness, an immutable sense of decency. The movies weren’t always great or even particularly good, but the actors kept you watching. Maguire put the most distinctive stamp on the character, his awkward, wide-eyed charm aided by the freshness and pop energy of Raimi’s direction. Garfield had a rougher time of it, being the standout element of a rudderless middle-child cycle that felt more commercially motivated than any of its brethren, and that’s saying a lot.

Holland’s task hasn’t been much easier. Like his predecessors, he’s an enormously likable screen presence, which has been crucial to making this third go-round with Spider-Man feel like more than just another retread. That’s no small thing, since every Spidey cycle must essentially trace the same arc, hit the same beats and rites of passage: the loneliness and isolation of superheroism, the all-too-relatable challenges of teenagerdom, the bittersweet ache of young love, the pain of sudden, irreversible loss. When someone here intones, “With great power comes great responsibility,” it’s with a wry awareness of how often those words have been spoken before, and how often they’ll likely be spoken again. The poignant (and ultimately spoiler-proof) achievement of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is that, for the moment at least, it leaves you considering that prospect with more affection than fatigue.

Here’s what we can tell you about ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

Arguably the year’s most anticipated movie had its world premiere on Monday, and fans are likely to rejoice at what’s in store.

Dec. 13, 2021

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

Rating: PG-13, for sequences of action/violence, some language and brief suggestive comments Running time: 2 hours, 28 minutes Playing: Starts Dec. 17 in general release

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'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Spoiler-Packed Review: A Marvel Masterclass

As Tom Holland and Zendaya swing into home release, let's just say we'll all be signing the Amazing Spider-Man 3 petition.

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No Way Home stuck the tricky landing.

It's the next Avengers: Endgame . It's bigger than Avengers: Endgame, because it combines 20 years of movies, instead of 10. It's the movie that will save cinema, and it features the best best-friend handshake of all time.

Prepare for all of those hot takes and more right here in CNET's global spoiler-packed review of Spider-Man: No Way Home , available to buy and watch at home on Vudu now (and coming to Blu-ray and DVD April 12). The third Tom Holland Spider-Man movie  broke box office records , and the reviews are, for the most part, radiant. It's the crowd-pleasing, fan-servicing Spider-Man bonanza years in the making, and somehow it sticks the landing.

Check out how CNET staffers reacted to Spider-Man: No Way Home below.

'A masterclass'

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a masterclass in balancing MCU Peter Parker's story with nearly 20 years of legacy elements. Green Goblin is particularly intense, and Willem Dafoe is clearly having an amazing time being a total monster. Ditching the silly flight suit was a wise move; the new look lets Dafoe do plenty of face acting and brings him much closer to the horrible comics version of the character.

The arrival of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Peters was magnificently timed, bringing hope in a super dark moment. It was fun to catch up with Maguire after 14 years – I was super relieved he and MJ stuck together. However, Garfield reminds us that he's the most talented actor to play the role (but got stuck with a mess of a movie in The Amazing Spider-Man 2); he oozes charm every moment he's on screen. 

-- Sean Keane, London

'Best bit: Charlie Cox's pitch-perfect Matt Murdock cameo'

Pretty much everything you've read about in the online rumor mills is in the film – even the now-iconic midair fight, which has its missing characters airbrushed back in. The result is that, much as with an Apple press event when all the news has leaked ahead of time, the surprises aren't really all that surprising, even if they're still pretty cool. 

The three Spider-Men do what they came to, although I would have liked to see more Maguire-Garfield interaction as a pair of fish-out-of-water (universe?) heroes, and they could have clawed back some excess Happy Hogan screen time. One of the film's best grace notes is how the characters from the first two Spider-verses are stunned that magic (of the Dr. Strange variety) exists on Earth-616 ( or is it Earth-199999 ?). In fact, in the film's denouement, Spider-Tom resets himself to something closer to those more grounded incarnations, with a hand-sewn suit and a new shabby neighborhood to patrol. Best bit: Charlie Cox's pitch-perfect Matt Murdock cameo. Worst bit: They couldn't find a spot for 1970's TV Spider-Man Nicholas Hammond .

-- Dan Ackerman, New York

'Redemption'

I've always said Avengers: Endgame is the best MCU movie because it's the movie that pulls from more than a decade of movies to make an amazing and coherent movie. Then we have No Way Home, and it does that even one better. It combines three different universes that were never meant to tie together, and it just works. 

What I appreciate the most about No Way Home is how much redemption this film provided for Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx. These are two great actors who were put into a bad sequel, but they were given another shot. Foxx establishes himself as the smoothest supervillain Spider-Man ever faced, while Garfield gives everything that you want from a great hero. I think the biggest compliment for No Way Home is that it's easily on the same level as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which many consider to be the best Spider-Man movie. 

-- Oscar Gonzalez, New York

'Sense of closure'

No Way Home is not only an excellent movie on its own, but it somehow retroactively makes prior movies — going back to the original Tobey Maguire trilogy — better. The film could have easily brought in the cast of the previous films in one-off cameos, but No Way Home brilliantly incorporates many of these characters so they're critical to the plot and the development of Tom Holland's Spider-Man.

Andrew Garfield, as mentioned, was dealt a poor film, and the way the film resolved his arc by saving Tom Holland's MJ (after, spoilers, losing Gwen Stacy the same way) was powerful, as was seeing Maguire stop Holland from killing Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin. Little grace notes like Maguire reconnecting with Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and Garfield talking with Jamie Foxx's Electro were nice moments that offered a cathartic sense of closure.

The ending, when Holland's Spider-Man opts to live in a world where no one remembers his Peter Parker, brings back that classic down-on-his-luck character that doesn't have the luxury and Stark technology or aid from the Avengers. By turning the "Home" trilogy into an extended origin story, it lets us better appreciate the films while getting hyped up for what's next.

-- Roger Cheng,  New York

'Incredibly moving'

I'm struck by this film's emotional impact. Not only was it thrilling to see the three Spider-Men come together, but it was also incredibly moving to watch them relate to one another's pain and loss. Nothing makes a superhero more relatable than the problems they can't solve, and their struggles with accepting a fate they can't change. 

I loved the advice the older Spider-Men gave to Tom Holland's character to never become bitter about what's happened in the past, because it won't fix anything. It made me think about how everyone watching in that theater had surely experienced some form of loss and grief, and we could all take a moment to disconnect from that pain and find comfort in these characters – and, by extension, in each other.

-- Abrar Al-Heeti, San Francisco

'Real stakes'

My favorite thing about this film is its commitment to real stakes and the consequences that come with them. It would have been easy for the writers to have come up with a quick fix from Dr. Strange to make a happy-ending all around, but Peter is forced to make a real sacrifice and give up the things that are most important to him.

The dynamic between the three Spider-Men was absolutely brilliant. Some people might think that the "joke" got old during their dialogues (for example, how the eldest Spider-Man's superhero body could actually make webbing), but I was eating up every minute of it. All three absolutely nailed their characters, and where they realistically could have been in their lives this many years later. Though this proved once and for all what I've always thought: Andrew Garfield is the king of all Spider-Men.

 --  Andy Altman, San Francisco

'Blending vibes'

If there's one thing you absolutely need to give this film credit for, it's how seamlessly it blended the vibe of each Peter and his film set. Tobey Maguire's mature Peter has always held more of the weight of this responsibility, so it felt all the more rewarding to see him as a sage mentor for not just Tom Holland's Spider-Man, but also Andrew Garfield's. Meanwhile, Garfield's Peter was easily the most troubled, so to see him finally shed the emotional baggage and guilt in No Way Home felt right. 

Yes, this is me echoing all the demands for an Amazing Spider-Man 3. 

Tom Holland himself did a lot of heavy lifting, but I think it was most important to have No Way Home bring back Peter's wild science brain. From mid-dimension mathematics through to developing cures for not one, but five different ailments, Peter grounds himself in science in a world that feels more magic than reality half the time. Science gives him something to hold onto.

-- Steph Panecasio, Sydney

'Educational'

No Way Home turned out to be an incredibly educational movie. It taught me several things. The golden ratio is a unique mathematical relationship that can be found in the natural world. Tobey Maguire is 46 (and still in incredible Spidey form). And, unequivocally, Andrew Garfield is the best Spider-Man ever and The Amazing Spider-Man 3 needs to happen. Please look up #MakeTASM3 for more information.

-- Jennifer Bisset, Sydney

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• Spider-Man: No Way Home ending explained and all your questions answered
• Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scenes, explained
• All the Spider-Man movies ranked, from No Way Home to Into the Spider-Verse
• Spider-Man: No Way Home review -- an impossible triumph
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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Review: Hero Wrestles with Place in Universe in Emotional, Unsteady Sequel

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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There’s little question that diving deep into the psyches of superheroes can render some dark finds (hell, Batman has turned that into a signature move over the course of numerous film franchises and television series, and that’s just one bat-eared dude), but the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s treatment of the state of young Spider-Man’s ( Tom Holland ) soul has continually added fresh dimension to an ever-expanding franchise. Spidey has always been an emotional dude — baseline biographical bits like “is just a teen when that damn spider bites him” and “is orphan” help that along with ease — but Holland’s appealingly wide-eyed superhero has spent a number of movies grounding wild action in a human frame. Being a superhero is both hard and lots of fun, and few MCU heroes have been able to quite so ably strike that balance in the midst of world-destroying action sequences.

Not so with this Peter Parker. The most believable on-screen Spidey — which is not to say that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield didn’t bring their own special sauce to their individual Spider-Man franchises, cough cough — Holland’s take on the webslinger has always felt like the most human, the most real, the most “holy wow, I’m a superhero!” version of this beloved character. Which also means we’ve seen this Peter Parker in some pretty tough spots — his bond with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man is some of the most darling stuff to pop up in the MCU, obviously its end was tear-streaked — and that we’re inevitably going to end up in some deep, dark places.

And that’s not where Jon Watts ‘ satisfying, emotional, and occasionally unsteady “ Spider-Man: No Way Home ” begins. The third film in the franchise picks up immediately after 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” and finds Holland at his grinning Peter Parker best: in love with a girl (Zendaya, continually a scene-stealer as the sarcastic MJ). Yeah, yeah, yeah, “Far from Home” might have ended with the death of a secret baddie (Jake Gyllenhaal, who appears in flashback footage) and forced Peter to really start grappling with his place in the world, but it also wrapped up with Peter and MJ both together and totally honest with each other. What could possibly go wrong now that the girl he loves knows who he is?

How about the whole world knowing who he is? As hinted at during the end of “Far from Home,” Peter’s identity is almost immediately disclosed at the start of “No Way Home” — big thanks to returning franchise star J.K. Simmons, who brings new life into a very current incarnation of loud-mouthed journalist J. Jonah Jameson, who he last played in the Tobey Maguire-starring Spidey films — turning his entire existence upside down in the process. And yet Watts somehow manages to keep this revelation feeling light, as Peter, MJ, Ned (Jacob Batalon), Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) soon band together to keep Peter’s life feeling, well, sort of normal. There’s even a scene in which he heads back to high school for his senior year, and an early focus on ensuring the Midtown High trio all get into college. (College! The stakes are college ! In a superhero movie!)

For far too long, the fate of the entire universe has dangled in the balance during Marvel’s many cinematic outings, and while “No Way Home” goes so far as to add in  multiverses  and the possibility that the very “fabric of reality” will forever tear, there’s still something charmingly small-scale about this film. It’s  personal , and that’s a theme and an idea that is only further hammered home as the film zips through its first act, starts to slow down in its second, and completely nails the whole damn thing by its eye-popping final forty minutes.

Rumors about not just the content, but the actual  cast  of the film have long abounded, and while we won’t confirm or deny anything here, suffice it to say that the film is filled with both familiar faces and surprising additions. The real trick, however, is that even bits that might, in a lesser film, feel like stunt-casting here exist in true service to the story. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has rarely balked at throwing in a winking cameo whenever the chance arises, but “No Way Home” is the rare MCU film to actually make them count, baking them straight into the story at hand.

So, back to the college thing: Peter is dismayed to discover that his newly-ousted superhero personality is something of a liability, particularly as J. Jonah Jameson, a rumor-spewing internet talking head who has (sadly) many real world parallels, is hellbent on making people think that Spidey is the bad guy. All that attention isn’t so great for a trio of eggheads who want to get into MIT, and when Peter, MJ, and Ned are all rejected explicitly because of their Spidey-tivities, Peter comes up with a genius plan: he’ll just get Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast some kind of spell to make people forget that he’s Spider-Man.

But Peter is indeed still a kid, and an impulsive one at that, and even when he gets the sorcerer to agree to the wish, his last-minute caveats (wait, did he say he wants  everyone  to forget? no, not  everyone! ) screw so badly with the spell that the whole thing has to be shut down. But magic is a weird thing, and so is the multiverse, and the nutty power cooked up by Doctor Strange works itself out in wacky, scary, and (sorry) strange new ways. Let’s put it this way: even with the spell cut short, ensuring that no one has forgotten that Peter is Spider-Man, its reach is wide enough to ensnare a special class of people, the kind of people who know few things as well as they know that Peter is Spider-Man.

Soon, Peter’s universe is overwhelmed with new friends and foes, including a few who have long been hinted at in marketing and interviews (hello, Jamie Foxx and Alfred Molina, reprising roles as signature baddies from those other Spider-Man series), and a few pleasant surprises. And while that franchise-spanning combination has been what’s kept so many fans thrilled about what “No Way Home” might hold, things start to stall out a bit when Peter and his pals attempt to wrangle up the many ( many ) baddies he and his pals need to battle. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers’ script spends far too long dwelling on the machinations of people and plans we already know, throwing in some awkward misdirection and simply delaying the inevitable. The pacing suffers, and that wonderful lightness that kicked off the film soon swings between something still wackier and the kind of deep despair this particular Peter has already endured.

Similarly, the film’s many fighting sequences run the gamut, starting off with an overpass-set battle in broad daylight that’s awe-inspiring and a jaunt through the Mirror Universe with Doctor Strange that out-“Matrix”es “The Matrix,” before dipping into a messy series of battles — so very many of them set at night — that are bland and dark, even when Foxx’s Electro is there to literally light the place up. At least it all leads to the film’s final act, a truly joyful (and often funny and wise and emotional) tour de force that will delight fans, both new and old, of the varied adventures of their Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Somehow both self-reflexive (sometimes, even self-mocking) and deadly earnest, these final sections combine so much of what makes Spider-Man special, across movies and times and places and even universes .

It also lays the groundwork for more adventures to come, even if the very past itself will look very different by the time the credits roll. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is not always willing to get  really  risky — particularly in standalone features that will undoubtedly impact the rest of the slate — but “No Way Home” isn’t scared of throwing down an entirely new gauntlet, with a truly reverential eye to the past, and hoping for a new future worth fighting for. The road to the closing moments of “No Way Home” — both warm-hearted and heartbreaking — might have hit a few bumps, but the darkness is worth it. After all, when was the last time the third film in a franchise got audiences truly thrilled for what comes next? Maybe there is no way home, but Holland, Watts, and company make a case for something else, something even better.

Sony will release “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in theaters on Friday, December 17.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Fun movie, but may be too intense for younger kids.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Core messages about empathy and responsibility are

Peter Parker is one of the comic book world's more

Lots of cartoon violence, with fight scenes (some

Passionate kissing. MJ wears a clingy wet T-shirt

"Ass," "damn," and one "s--tty."

Tie-in to vast quantities of related merchandise.

Parents need to know that Spider-Man 's PG-13 rating comes from a couple of swear words, a clingy wet T-shirt, and -- particularly -- a great deal of comic book-style violence. It can get very intense and includes not just fires and explosions, but people getting vaporized, shot (off-camera), and impaled…

Positive Messages

Core messages about empathy and responsibility are strong. "With great power comes great responsibility" is the lesson learned here as a new hero is born. Other themes include integrity, self-control, perseverance, and courage.

Positive Role Models

Peter Parker is one of the comic book world's more thoughtful heroes. He's all about saving people who are in trouble and learns important lessons about responsibility. On the other hand, he blames himself for one of the movie's sadder moments. The main villain is deceitful and conflicted, but wants the best for his son.

Violence & Scariness

Lots of cartoon violence, with fight scenes (some intense), fires, explosions and people getting vaporized, shot (off-camera), and in one case, impaled. A group of schoolchildren is in peril; and parents emotionally abuse their children.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Passionate kissing. MJ wears a clingy wet T-shirt in one scene.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Parents need to know.

Parents need to know that Spider-Man 's PG-13 rating comes from a couple of swear words, a clingy wet T-shirt, and -- particularly -- a great deal of comic book-style violence. It can get very intense and includes not just fires and explosions, but people getting vaporized, shot (off-camera), and impaled. Characters lose people close to them; a group of schoolchildren is in peril; and parents emotionally abuse their children. But the movie's core messages about empathy and responsibility are strong, and Peter Parker is one of the comic book world's more thoughtful heroes. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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• Parents say (70)
• Kids say (243)

Based on 70 parent reviews

Great film with positive message, but has scary scenes and suggestive themes

What's the story.

In SPIDER-MAN, Toby Maguire stars as Peter Parker, a brilliant and sensitive high school student who's so deeply in love with his next-door neighbor Mary Jane ( Kirsten Dunst ) that he can barely bring himself to say hello to her. On a school field trip, he's bitten by a genetically engineered spider; the next morning he wakes up with some distinctly arachnid-like qualities: He can see without his glasses, climb walls, eject webbing with the swinging power of rope and the strength of steel, and anticipate danger. Peter plays around with his newfound superpowers but quickly learns that power comes with great responsibility. Great risk comes as well: Everyone Peter cares about is put in danger because of who he is. Meanwhile, Peter's best friend's father, industrialist Norman Osborn ( Willem Dafoe ), has decided to try out his company's new product on himself. He, too, develops extraordinary power -- and a mad fury. His new alter ego is dubbed the Green Goblin for his bizarre armor-like covering.

Is It Any Good?

Maguire is just right as Peter, the supporting cast is great, and the script is excellent, striking just the right note of respect and affection for the source material. Spider-Man has a contemporary feel without being showily post-modern or ironic. The special effects are thrilling. New York City is brilliantly stylized. Peter's relationship with MJ is sweetly romantic. The movie's weakest point is that it fails in the single most important requirement for a comic book-based movie: The villain isn't unforgettably crazy or evil or larger-than-life. Dafoe is a brilliant actor, but the part of Osborn/Green just isn't interesting enough to be truly scary.

Parents who are struggling with whether this movie is appropriate for kids under 13 should know that it's at about the same level as the X-Men movies. Keep in mind that just because kids can repeat after you that "it's only pretend" doesn't mean that they fully understand what that means until they're 10 or even older. Some kids may see the movie and appear to have no problems with it but later act out in other ways. Be watchful for kids who respond by desensitizing themselves to violence or re-enacting it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Uncle Ben's influence on Peter Parker in Spider-Man . What role does he play in Peter's life?

What does "with great power comes great responsibility" mean? Can you think of other superhero movies that tackle that theme?

Also, do you agree that people "love to see a hero fail"?

How do you think this live-action film compares with Spider-Man comics or the other Spider-Man films ?

How do the characters in Spider-Man demonstrate self-control , integrity , and empathy ? What about perseverance and courage ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 3, 2002
• On DVD or streaming : November 1, 2002
• Cast : Kirsten Dunst , Tobey Maguire , Willem Dafoe
• Director : Sam Raimi
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Columbia Tristar
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Superheroes , Adventures , Great Boy Role Models
• Character Strengths : Courage , Empathy , Integrity , Perseverance , Self-control
• Run time : 121 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : violence.
• Last updated : February 7, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Review: Worlds Wide Web

This charming sequel to the 2018 animated movie expands the multiverse concept, without shamelessly capitalizing on fan service.

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By Maya Phillips

Question: How many Spider-Men does it take to make a successful multiverse sequel?

I’m not certain, but it might be the countless number of Spideys that appear in the delightful “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

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A follow-up to the appropriately lauded “ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ,” this animated movie takes place a year after the Brooklyn teen and newly minted Spider-Man, Miles Morales (voiced again by Shameik Moore), was bitten by a radioactive spider. In “Into the Spider-Verse,” from 2018, Miles learned how to be his city’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man with the help of five other Spider-heroes — all different Spidey incarnations transported from their original universes after a super collider explosion tore through the multiverse. Now Miles is 15, and though he has a handle on his powers, he’s struggling to balance academics with his extracurricular hero work, on top of the usual adolescent woes.

As Miles’s parents get increasingly suspicious about their son’s double life, he has to fend off the pesky villain Spot (Jason Schwartzman, as the perfect goober), who powers up into a “transdimensional super-being” who poses a real threat to the multiverse.

In her separate universe Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), a.k.a. Spider-Woman, Miles’s pal and quasi-romantic interest from the first film, joins a task force of multiverse-jumping heroes called the Spider Society. They chase anomalies stuck in the wrong world in missions led by the brooding Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac). But once Gwen and Miles reunite, and Miles discovers the Spider Society, he finds out he might actually be the real threat to the Spider-Verse.

“Spider-Verse” achieves the challenging task of building a sequel that not only replicates the charms of the first film but also expands the multiverse concept, the main characters and the stakes, without overinflating the premise or shamelessly capitalizing on fan service. In other words, “Across the Spider-Verse” pulls off a “ Spider-Man: No Way Home ,” the Tom Holland vehicle that also played with alternate versions of Spider-Man, better than “No Way Home” did. That includes its inclusion of clips and cameos from former animated and live-action Spider-Man media, which nicely cohere with the rest of the film.

The Spider Society, with its delightfully bizarre potpourri of spider-entities (i.e., a Spider-Cowboy, Spider-Cat, Spider-Baby and Spider-Dinosaur), offers many opportunities for the movie to show off a compelling blend of visual gags, palettes and animation styles. The eye-catching action sequences among the Spider-folk serve the delectable chaos of a meme ( yes, that pointing meme ) exploded in a big-screen format.

Each Spidey we encounter, even briefly, is fully realized, and a welcome addition to the story, even for those who might not pick up on the deep-cut references to the ’80s and ’90s comics. Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), a.k.a. Spider-Man India, is designed with nods to contemporary Indian fashion. Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), a contrarian cool-guy rocker with combat boots, piercings and a devil-may-care attitude, is drawn in the wild 2-D-collage style of album covers, concert fliers and zines from the ’80s London punk scene. And the way they move — Pavitr’s fluid web-slinging, Spider-Punk’s stomps and thrashing and Gwen’s graceful acrobatics and en pointe landings — express as much about the characters as the buoyant dialogue and highly stylized character designs.

That’s not even counting the work of the impressive voice cast. Issa Rae brings an affable tough-love vibe to her pregnant, kinky-haired, motorcycle-riding Spider-Woman Jessica Drew. And Isaac, who brings as an exacting a performance as he did in the Disney+ series “Moon Knight,” is well-cast as the slightly unhinged and self-serious Spider-Man, à la the Dark Knight.

Steinfeld’s Gwen, a fan fave, thankfully gets more spotlight in this film, which delves deeper into her tragic back story and her feelings of displacement in her world, particularly in her own home. She gets a driving pop-punk theme — part of a killer soundtrack raging with rock, hip-hop and reggaeton — and a stunning color-streaked aesthetic, with soft pinks and lavenders and heavy brushstrokes, creating an almost immersive comic book experience.

The directing team, Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, builds a beautifully realistic, multicultural New York through details: a wheelchair basketball game in full swing on a nearby court, or a shelf of beef patties displayed in a Jamaican bodega.

Both “Spider-Verse” films, in what will be a trilogy, create dimension in these kinds of details, and I don’t just mean the animation. (Though, to be fair, the infinite reach of the city skyline, as viewed upside down from Gwen and Miles’s purview , is a satisfying visual callback to the first film and its own illustrative feat.) The dimension is in the thrust of the story itself.

This isn’t just another multiverse slogfest but a bildungsroman. Because what else is adolescence but a confrontation with the various possibilities in life, the infinite selves you can be? It’s about figuring out one’s identity — superhero or otherwise — and finding a place to belong. The fact that Miles and Gwen also shoot webs and swing around skyscrapers is incidental to their emotional arcs in the film.

“Spider-Verse” also asks intriguing questions about the limitations of the canon, and whether tragedy is a prerequisite for a Spider-Man origin story — the death of an Uncle Ben or Aunt May or Uncle Aaron. And whether trauma completely defines these heroes — and, if so, if they can find kinship in that.

The most disappointing part of “Spider-Verse” is the merciless cliffhanger of an ending, ushering the film into a tradition of two-parters with too much story and too little time to tell it. But “Across the Spider-Verse” is never dull, nor precious with its characters and comedy. Which I suppose just proves that when it comes to a Spidey census, two’s a team, three’s a party and hundreds is a multiverse crawling with opportunities.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Rated PG. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes. In theaters.

Audio produced by Tally Abecassis .

Maya Phillips is a critic at large. She is the author of “NERD: Adventures in Fandom From This Universe to the Multiverse” and the poetry collection “Erou.” More about Maya Phillips

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Spider-Man: No Way Home Movie Analysis Essay Sample

The roar from the crowd was deafening on opening night of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as audiences tried to fathom what we were seeing. Cheers, profanities, and gasps filled the air, along with the muted sounds of tears rolling down cheeks. Marvel superfans and casual viewers alike sat stunned in their seats while the movie continued on with its impressive effects, heartbreaking plot points, and altogether excitement at every turn.

We can’t talk about this movie without addressing the return of Spider-Man veterans Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, who were incorporated into the movie quite seamlessly. Despite continued denial of their involvement, both actors reappeared on screen, and not just for small cameos. They built a lovely relationship with Peter Parker – that is, Tom Holland’s version – and became mentors to him, aiding in both his physical and emotional battles. Maguire and Garfield’s characters also developed a mutual respect and camaraderie with each other, even sharing a few good quips. The three’s dynamic was well done in that it was heartwarming without being overly cliche. They bonded over their shared pain and humored the audience with references to their respective movies.

I could easily see that the people behind this project knew what fans wanted. Along with the aforementioned moments, the particular parallel between Garfield’s portrayal of Peter being unable to save girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) in 2014’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” and rescuing MJ in “No Way Home” was not lost on viewers. We gasped and cried along with this Spider-Man as he realized he had succeeded where he once failed.

Along with these heroes came villains Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), all of whom were plucked from moments before their respective deaths in their universes and transported to ours. Though there were evidently a lot of characters and opportunities packed into the film, the pacing was good and everything was adequately spaced so that audiences were always captivated without being overwhelmed. One villain who stuck out to me was the Green Goblin. Willem Dafoe topped his original 2002 performance, delivering a frighteningly unhinged Norman Osborn that laughed in the face of death and seamlessly switched between personalities.

Something especially impressive regarding “No Way Home” was the visual effects. The way they were able to combine the mind-bending imagery of “Dr. Strange” with the traditional fight sequences we’d expect from a Spider-Man film, as well as the looks of each individual villain’s powers was astounding. The VFX team truly deserves so much credit for managing to adapt these 2000s and 2010s practical effects to the 2021 screen without making them look out of place within the newer technology, nor striving too far away from their original designs.

The storyline itself was well-written, incorporating a multitude of other characters while still focusing on Tom Holland’s Peter and his life, with the normal college admissions, friendships, and relationships that come with being a high school senior. The ending rounded out his character well, leaving room for more movies revolving around his new life and the introduction of new characters while also providing a nice closing point for this trilogy.

A downfall of this movie packing so much into its two-and-a-half-hour run time was that the writers were forced to sideline Dr. Strange for much of the film. While I agree that with him there would have been too many levels of conflict in the second half, it is unrealistic for a character of his skill to be rendered incapable how he was.

Another critique of the film is the sequencing of scenes, which at times gave viewers emotional whiplash. For instance, Aunt May’s death scene was followed immediately by Garfield and Maguire’s entrances. While this kept the pacing on track to include everything audiences wanted, it was a large emotional jump from despair and a sorrowful deja vu moment for audiences to inane excitement and applause.

None of this is to say that “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a bad movie or underdelivered in any aspect – it was all audiences hoped for and more, an “Endgame”-level film with enough surprises to keep even those who have done deep dives into the leaks on the edge of their seats.

If Garfield and Maguire’s appearances weren’t enough, the film includes a cameo by Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, who had not been confirmed as part of the MCU since his show came out, as well as other characters in the post credit scenes. The first featured Eddie Brock and Venom, a continuation of them being teased in the post credit scene of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” from October earlier this year. It was a humorous scene, but a bit disappointing. While I’m glad the Venom symbiote was left in this universe for Peter or someone else to find, I would’ve loved for Eddie to stay in the MCU and interact with other characters. However, the “Venom” franchise is one that doesn’t take themselves too seriously so it did not come completely unexpected.

The second scene, a full teaser for “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” exceeded expectations. With the return of Baron Mordo of the first “Dr. Strange” film and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, as well as a mysterious Dr. Strange doppelganger (a possible connection to the “What If…?” animated series) and young hero America Chavez’s first on-screen appearance, fans left the theater with much to speculate about. 

Overall, this film soared above viewer expectations and delivered a visually pleasing film full of twists and history-making scenes alongside a heart wrenching storyline that left viewers stunned. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a must-see for Marvel fans or anyone looking for an interesting, emotional, and jam-packed movie. While nothing will beat the excitement of watching it for the first time in theaters, I’d gladly rewatch “No Way Home” again and again.

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Spiderman Essay | Essay on Spiderman for Students and Children in English

Spiderman Essay : Spiderman is a fictional character who became very famous among children and also in teenagers. He first appeared in the Amazing Comics in August 1962. He was introduced by Stan Lee in Marvel Comics. Since then, he appeared in many movies and video games and is still a favourite among many kids and adults. The story of Spiderman revolves around a boy Peter Parker who got bitten by a radioactive spider which gives him a superpower and a will to fight against the crimes in New York City. So let’s know more about the character

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Spiderman for Students and Kids in English

A long essay of 450-500 words has been provided it is useful for students in classes 7, 8, 9, and 10. For the reference of students in Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, a short essay of 100-150 words has been provided.

Long Essay on Spiderman 500 Words in English

Spiderman is one of the famous cartoon characters who is liked by everyone. It is a fictional character that was introduced by a comic artist known as Stan Lee in the year 1962. He first appeared in the Amazing comics and then he got praised and loved by children so much that they started his personalised comic series. The story of spiderman revolves around a boy named Peter Parker. He is a college student who also works in a media house that publishes newspaper as a photographer. The name of the company is Daily Bugle which is owned by J. Johan Jameson.

The parents of Peter Parker died in an accident which makes him stay and grow up with his uncle and aunt. His uncle’s name was Ben Parker and his Aunt’s name was May parker. Peter Parker got his superpowers from a radioactive spider as one day, a radioactive spider bit him and changed his DNA. As a result of a change in DNA, he got superpowers such as super strength, able to climb on the wall like a spider, can throw and swing on webs, sharp senses as he can now sense the danger around him.

One day, his uncle got killed by a thief whom he spares. Then at that moment, he decided to use his powers to fight crime and save others in need. To hide his identity, he made a suit which was red and blue in colour and had a spider symbol in the middle. He then starts catching thieves and criminals for the police but the police would only call him a vigilante. Then he faces and defeats many villains like doctor octopus, rhino, venom, vulture, and many more. The main villain in the Spiderman series was a company known as Oscorp Industries. Peter Parker’s father Richard Parker worked as a scientist in the same company. Spiderman got many allies like a black cat, spider woman, and many more.

Apart from being a super hero, Peter Parker is a brilliant student in his class and also likes to build tech for his suit. He builds web-shooters which helps to throw webs on the enemies. Parker’s girlfriend was Mary Jane Watson who was a student of the same college where Peter studied. They liked each other and ended up marrying each other. Later with all the good work, Peter was then recruited by the Avengers, a team of superheroes to stop the attacks of aliens.

The story of spiderman comics was inspirational and liked by people. Thus, they decided to make a movie on it. The first live-action cinematic movie of spiderman was released in the year 2002 which was hit and loved by everyone. Further, the director decided to make the sequels of the film and from that moment, there are so many live-action movies of spiderman. Many companies launched its merchandise and video games to attract more and more customers. From a cameo in a comic to making its franchise, this fictional character was and still is loved by everyone.

Short Essay on Spiderman 150 words in English

The story of Spiderman is about a boy who got bit by a radioactive spider which gave him superpowers. With the death of his uncle during a robbery, he decided to use his powers to stop and prevent crime and help people. The boy’s name was Peter Parker and he works as a photographer in a media house. The superpowers of Spiderman include super strength, senses danger, throwing webs like spiders, and climbing walls. Peter Parker lives with his uncle and aunt. His uncle was killed by a thief. He lived in New York City and was known as the Friendly Neighbourhood spiderman. There is a very famous quote in Spiderman comics which is ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. With popularity, many companies started selling their merchandise and many directors came up with the idea of making movies. He is loved by everyone and by every age group.

10 lines on Spiderman Essay in English

• Spiderman is a fictional character of Marvel Comics created by Stan Lee.
• It first appeared in August 1962 in Amazing Fantasy comics.
• The story revolves around a boy who got bit by a radioactive spider which gives him a superpower.
• His superpower was to climb like a spider and swing through webs and super strength.
• A famous quote from the Spiderman comics is ‘with great power comes great responsibilities’.
• Many villains that appeared in the Spiderman comics like the Vulture, Venom, and Kingpin.
• The original name of Spiderman is Peter Richard Parker.
• He lives with his uncle and aunt.
• He lives in New York and works as a photographer in a company called Daily Bugle.
• Spiderman later joined other heroic team known as The Avengers.

FAQ’s on Spiderman essay

Question 1: How did Peter Parker become Spiderman?

Answer: Peter Parker was bit by a radioactive spider that gave him superpowers.

Question 2: What is the profession of Peter Parker? 

Answer: The profession of Peter Parker is a Photographer at Daily Bugle.

Question 3: Where did Richard Parker used to work?

Answer: Richard Parker was a scientist in the Oscorp industries.

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Madame Web's Streaming Debut Tops Netflix Chart, But Audiences Slam The Spider-Man Universe Box Office Bomb

• Madame Web surged in viewership on Netflix, scoring high on the streamer's movie chart despite low ratings.
• Critics and fans slammed the superhero movie as "embarrassing" and the "worst comic book movie ever."
• Financially, the movie underperformed, making only $15.1 million on opening weekend and $100 million altogether.

The recent Netflix release of Madame Web has achieved the predictable feat of receiving a wave of scathing reviews while leaping straight to the top of the streamer’s movie chart. Displacing the equally criticized Mother of the Bride , the Sony Spider-Man Universe movie is no stranger to being slapped around by viewers after securing a dismally low Rotten Tomatoes score during its theatrical run at the beginning of the year.

The Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney -starring superhero movie’s Netflix debut has revived the animosity shown towards the latest of Sony’s “Spider-Man without Spider-Man” movies. Although the film’s 57% audience score has not dropped any further, it has not been improved by the film’s exposure to all those people who did not turn out to see it in theaters.

Release Date February 14, 2024

Director S.J. Clarkson

Cast Isabela Merced, Sydney Sweeney, Tahar Rahim, Emma Roberts, Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott

Rating PG-13

Runtime 1hr 57min

Main Genre Action

Genres Superhero, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

Writers Kerem Sanga, S.J. Clarkson

Studio Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

Franchise Marvel

Critics and fans mostly agreed that Madame Web is an "embarrassing mess" and "the worst comic book movie ever." However, the difference between the Tomatometer score of 11% and an audience score of 57% suggested that critics were much harsher towards the film. Deep diving into the reviews themselves, though, proves that even the majority of positive reviews are not exactly glowing, but the film still has its fans. Financially, the film did not fare much better, only managing to make $15.1 million during its opening weekend, and ending its run at $100 million – roughly the same as its budget. You can see some of the latest reactions below.

What Went Wrong With Madame Web?

Madame Web follows Cassandra Webb (Johnson), a New York City paramedic who discovers she has clairvoyant abilities. As she unravels secrets about her past, she becomes the protector of three young women (Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor) who are all in danger from Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), who wants to kill them before they become Spider-Women in the future and kill him.

Before Sony released its first trailer for the movie, hope was high that the studio’s run of bad reviews for their non-MCU Marvel movies – which had already hit a low with Jared Leto’s Morbius – would come to an end with Madame Web. However, that was not to be. With many citing the film’s plot and dialogue as the main gripes, adding in characters and performances that did not resonate or excite saw the appetite for paying to see the movie in cinemas very quickly dissipate, leaving Madame Web in a tangled mess of disappointment.

Sydney Sweeney's Madame Web Failure Shouldn't Be the End of Her Marvel Career

The situation was further complicated by the reactions of the film's stars. Sydney Sweeney, during her Saturday Night Live monologue, joked about the film’s failure , indicating a general acknowledgment of the movie's poor reception even among its cast. Meanwhile, Dakota Johnson reportedly upset Sony executives by publicly criticizing the film, and not responding well during interviews.

While Madame Web is seeing a new lease of life on Netflix, it was always meant to provide a cinematic experience. The fact so many are willing to watch the film at home, but were not interested in venturing out to cinemas once again poses the question of how viable big budget cinema releases is in an era when streaming continues to be king. With Sony having pushed back their next Spider-Man Universe movie, Kraven the Hunter , the faith of their Marvel franchise outside of Spider-Man movies actually focused on a Spider-Man is rapidly being lost.

Madame Web is now streaming with other Sony Spider-Man movies on Netflix.

Nicolas Cage Will Play Live-Action Spider-Man Noir in Prime Video Series

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, spider-man: into the spider-verse.

Now streaming on:

“Mom, can we go see ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ again?” my nine-year-old son asked me as I was tucking him in to bed the other night. And I was happy to hear his request. I’d been thinking about how much I wanted to revisit the film for days after the screening we’d attended, myself—not only because it’s such a pure blast of creative joy, but also because there’s so much going on that a viewer couldn’t possibly catch it all the first time around.

It’s only fitting that my kid would be thinking about “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” as he was drifting off to sleep. As rooted in a vividly specific, recognizable New York as it is, and as closely as it hews to comic-book imagery and structure within its animated format as it does, “Spider-Verse” has a wonderfully trippy, dreamlike quality about it. And that’s not just because it features a wisecracking pig in a Spider-Man get-up named Peter Porker, the kind of character you might conjure in your subconscious after eating too much barbecue and taking a shot of Nyquil before bed.

It would seem like an impossible feat, but somehow, directors Bob Persichetti , Peter Ramsey , and Rodney Rothman have breathed thrilling new life into the comic book movie. The way they play with tone, form and texture is constantly inventive and giddily alive. Given that we get a handful of Marvel films every year—and we’ve certainly had no shortage of movies featuring Spider-Man among them, either as a main character or as part of an assembled ensemble—the idea of yet another might sound like overkill or worse: a shameless cash grab.

But “Into the Spider-Verse” is after something different, both in its storytelling and in its stakes. And it knows that you know all the various incarnations of this character, and might even be tired of them yourself. The screenplay comes from Rothman and Phil Lord —one half of the brilliant team behind “The LEGO Movie” (alongside Christopher Miller ), which also played in myriad meta ways with the audience’s knowledge about and expectations of ubiquitous pop-culture characters. It features plenty of fourth-wall breaking and self-aware narration, both of which might seem like trite crutches in less clever hands. These are comic-book characters that know they’re comic-book characters, which in no way diminishes the excitement of their adventures. On the contrary, this device welcomes us even more powerfully into their world.

It helps hugely that “Into the Spider-Verse” features a tremendous cast of voice actors to bring these characters to life. They hit the humorous beats with superb timing and élan, but they also find the humanity and pathos within their adventures to give the story dramatic heft. Familiarity with this parallel universe of Spider-Man characters isn’t necessarily a must. I didn’t really know any of them going into it, and I had a blast, but my son had seen them in various TV shows he’s watched and video games he’s played, which added a level of excitement with the introduction of each one.

At their center is Miles Morales (voiced with heart and smarts by “ Dope ” star Shameik Moore ), an ordinary Brooklyn teenager who undergoes an extraordinary transformation when he gets bitten by a radioactive spider. The streets and brownstones, cabs and subways of his daily life have a detailed, tactile realism about them, but also the heightened aesthetic of a comic book come to life, complete with panels and dialogue bubbles. It’s simply gorgeous.

As was the case with his Queens counterpart, Peter B. Parker ( Jake Johnson ), the newfound powers Miles discovers are simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. These characters, and the various others we meet in the Spider-Verse, introduce themselves in cheeky fashion, going through the familiar steps of their own respective spider bites in playful, knowing ways. The high-energy repetition of this well-worn origin story, in all its wild permutations, is a consistent source of laughs.

Whereas Miles is young, eager and full of promise, the version of Peter Parker he eventually encounters is middle-aged, jaded and paunchy. It’s an inspired new angle into this iconic superhero, and Johnson finds just the right combination of sarcasm and sadness in his reluctant mentor figure.

But wait, there’s more—so much more. Because Miles and Peter aren’t the only Spider-men out there. When megalomaniacal crime lord Wilson Fisk ( Liev Schreiber ) builds a super collider that tears a hole in the time-space continuum—or something—various Spider-beings from other dimensions come tumbling out. They include the elegant and acrobatic Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman ( Hailee Steinfeld ), who poses as a student at Miles’ school; Nicolas Cage ’s Spider-Noir, a black-and-white, hard-boiled detective; the anime-inspired Penni Parker ( Kimiko Glenn ), who fights crime with the help of her friendly robot; and the aforementioned Peter Porker, a.k.a. Spider-Ham (a perfectly cast John Mulaney ), who steals his every scene.

Previously, we’d already met another more traditional Spider-Man within Miles’ timeline, voiced by Chris Pine . And among the other characters we’re familiar with, we see Peter’s longtime love, Mary Jane ( Zoe Kravitz ); his reliable Aunt May ( Lily Tomlin ); and legendary nemeses including Doc Ock ( Kathryn Hahn , in a great bit of gender-bending casting). The always-excellent Brian Tyree Henry and Mahershala Ali respectively portray Miles’ father and uncle: two very different figures who have had an enormous influence on the intelligent, resourceful young man Miles has become. Luna Lauren Velez voices his warmly supportive mom, Rio.

Yes, it’s dizzying, and that’s part of the fun. But the characters are drawn so distinctly that they’re always compelling. And we come to care about them because they’re not cogs in a massive machinery where the fate of the entire universe hangs in the balance, as is so often the case in behemoth comic-book blockbusters. More intimately, their individual worlds are at stake, and the possibility that these characters will never be able to go back to the dimensions they call home. They fear being stuck in the purgatory of a madman’s making, an understandable cause for existential dread.

They all bounce beautifully off each other as they banter, draw from their strengths and learn to work together. It’s pretty linear from a narrative perspective, for a while. But then the climax unfolds, in which they fight for survival and a return to their own realms, rendered as a psychedelic explosion of color and style. What’s amazing is that this lengthy sequence is never hard to follow. We’re with it every breathless step of the way, which can’t always be said for live-action, CGI extravaganzas of this ilk.

So yes, we can see it again. And we will. And we’ll stay all the way through the credits again—and you should, too.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

117 minutes

Shameik Moore as Miles Morales / Spider-Man (voice)

Jake Johnson as Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voice)

Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen (voice)

Nicolas Cage as Peter Parker / Spider-Man Noir (voice)

John Mulaney as Peter Porker / Spider-Ham (voice)

Mahershala Ali as Aaron Davis / Prowler (voice)

Liev Schreiber as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin (voice)

Oscar Isaac as Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 (voice)

Chris Pine as Peter Parker / Spider-Man (voice)

Jorma Taccone as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin (voice)

Zoë Kravitz as Mary-Jane Watson (voice)

Kathryn Hahn as Olivia Octavius / Doc Ock (voice)

Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis (voice)

Lily Tomlin as Aunt May (voice)

Lake Bell as Vanessa Fisk (voice)

Stan Lee as Costume Shop Owner (voice)

• Bob Persichetti
• Peter Ramsey
• Rodney Rothman
• Christopher Miller
• Steve Ditko
• Alex Hirsch
• Daniel Pemberton

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Marvel Animation Exec Teases New Spider-Man and Black Panther Animated Series

Following the epic Season 1 finale of X-Men ‘97, Marvel Animation is teasing new animated projects for Spider-Man and Black Panther.

X-Men ‘97 , the Disney+ revival of the 1992 animated series, recently came to an end with the release of its epic Season 1 finale . Following up on the critically acclaimed X-Men cartoon, Marvel Animation is offering two exciting updates related to Spider-Man and Black Panther .

In an interview with ComicBook.com , Brad Winderbaum, the Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, is teasing the release of two animated Marvel projects that have been cooking for quite some time: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Eyes of Wakanda . Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man , formerly Spider-Man: Freshman Year , was originally announced on Disney+ Day 2021 but little information regarding the series or its premiere has been released since. "I mean, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is amazing, to say the least ," Winderbaum said. “I think it's really going to surprise people . It is very much like a cut from that Steve Ditko era of the comics. It's Peter Parker back in high school just trying to make it work, take care of his aunt, completely broke, and having to be a superhero.”

X-Men '97 Showrunner Reveals Morph's True Feelings For Wolverine

Winderbaum continued: “It's so essentially Spider-Man , and what Jeff Trammell, the creator of that show, did, which I think people are going to love, is he built this ensemble of characters around Peter that you fall in love with. Similarly, just because it's long-form storytelling, as those relationships brew when the stakes rise in that first season, things feel really tragic and dangerous, and pretty incredible. So, I love that show ."

Eyes of Wakanda Was Announced in December 2023

While reports of Eyes of Wakanda being in production began in 2021, the series wasn’t officially announced until December 2023. Here’s what Winderbaum had to say on the animated Black Panther spinoff: " Eyes of Wakanda is an MCU show . This is the history of Wakanda as told through the War Dogs, and it is some of the best animation we've ever done . Todd Harris is the creator of that one. That's just such a cool show."

X-Men '97's Cameo-Based Legacy Praised by X-Men: The Animated Series Director

Recently, Winderbaum confirmed that development of X-Men ‘97 Season 2 is far along and staying true to what former showrunner Beau DeMayo established in Season 1. "We are honoring Beau's ideas for the second season," Winderbaum said. "[But head director Jake Castorena is] an amazing architect in his own right. So much of the visual storytelling of this show comes from him and our amazing directing team. So it does feel like there's a consistent voice. The mantra is the same, the goals are the same, and the source material is the same. As long as that's our guiding principle, that we're honoring the comics and the original show, that's the core to the creative pursuit."

Source: ComicBook.com

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

In his latest adventure, the iconic web-slinger faces new challenges when a sinister villain emerges, threatening the safety of his city. Balancing high school, friendships, and his secret identity, he must harness all his abilities to protect his neighborhood and the people he cares about from impending doom.