Removing the Mask from Spider-Man: No Way Home

Sifa Ansari, Editor
Feb 3, 2022

No Way Home has, by far, been the most highly anticipated movie of the year, especially because of the potential involvement of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. That, and the fact that Peter Parker has always been one of the most beloved Marvel characters, which led to the hype surrounding this movie being similar to Endgame.

The movie did not disappoint. It had the perfect balance between humor and seriousness, which made it even more fascinating to watch. The characters were lovable, and they even improved on some of them. It was an even greater experience for older fans who grew up watching either Tobey or Andrew and finally got to see them one more time.

I loved this movie, even though I didn’t grow up with the older Spider-Men. But I did watch them all in preparation for this movie. I loved seeing all the villains, and the way they made Norman Osborn repeat some of his lines from the first Spider-Man movie. It was also amazing to see the bond that all three Peter’s had formed in such a short time, and the way they behaved like brothers. While I was happy for a sufficient amount of the movie, there were definitely parts that made me tear up, like Aunt May’s death.

It was an amazing movie that had the perfect balance of everything, but not everyone agrees. Let’s take a look into some of the plot holes, disputes, and must-watch movies for Spiderman: No Way Home.

Plot Holes

While it was an amazing movie, there are a few plot holes that have left viewers questioning if some of the events could have been resolved differently and what the aftermath of the movie would be.

The movie prior to this, Spider-Man: Far From Home ended with Mysterio revealing Peter’s identity to the public, and making him seem like the villain. He was being framed for Mysterio’us death. Because of this, Peter wanted everybody to forget who he was, and in order to do that he approached Doctor Strange, a sorcerer who specializes in the Mystic Arts. At first he refused, saying his problem was too insignificant for such an intricate spell. When Strange eventually agreed to it, he had to make changes as per Peter’s requests, which messed up the whole thing. The complications with the spell jump started the plot of the whole movie by bringing in people from other universes with a connection to their own Peter Parker, including their worst villains.

Towards the end of the movie, every person who knows who Peter Parker is begins to spill into our Peter’s reality, and to stop this, Doctor Strange must perform a spell to stop it. Peter faces the consequences of the first spell, and has to make the difficult decision of potentially losing all his family and friends by going through with a new modified spell. The new spell, different from the first, was meant to make everyone forget who Peter Parker was. This was so much worse because his own family, his girlfriend, all the Avengers and his best friend don’t have any recollection of who he was. The first spell would have ensured that they only forget the Spider-man part of him, which is better than his current situation.

So the question is; why couldn’t the second spell make it so that everyone forgets who Mysterio is instead of Peter? If they had used this spell instead, all the tension surrounding his death would have been resolved. Peter wouldn’t receive hate and there wouldn’t be people on Mysterio’s side. He would have been able to keep all the people he loved close to him, while helping everyone get back to their own universe. No one would know Spider-Man’s true identity. The route they took was effective, yes, but it left Peter in incredible pain and all by himself.

Peter will no longer have the same resources he used to have to protect himself. He has no nanotech suit, or any Stark Tech for that matter. He wasn’t able to attend Aunt May’s funeral and everyone who he could rely on before cannot be there for him. While this may seem like a curse, we may get to see Peter return to his roots of genuinely being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and having to do everything himself from scratch.

The final spell made everyone in the world forget who Peter Parker was. Did the spell extend itself into the rest of the Peter’s worlds? Are they all back home, only to realize they have to start all over again? Will we ever find out?

Fan service

Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfeild have returned to play Peter Parker one more time in Spider-man: No Way Home. There have been rumors and set leaks, but there was no way to confirm if it was true until the movie itself came out. Because of these rumors, most people’s main focus when watching the movie was whether or not Maguire and Garfeild would show up. It was something everyone wanted. There have been criticisms on how their appearance carried the whole movie, and without them it would just be a marvel movie like any other. The fanservice is considered to be too much by some.

According to Rohan Naahar from the Indian Express, “You’re so distracted by what could potentially happen an hour later, you forget the plot of Spider-Man”. This isn’t a lie. I know that when I walked into the theatre, I was thinking about if they would appear and so were all of my siblings. But that doesn’t make this a bad film. An enormous part of the movie-watching experience is how you feel while watching it. My theatre had thrilling reactions, and we were all simultaneously excited when Tobey and Andrew came through the portals. That’s what made the public love the movie so much. Not whether or not it was top tier writing, but because of the fervor that everybody felt.

I, for one, loved the fact that they were included. My sister and I both freaked out together when the portal scene came on, and it was overall just so overwhelmingly fun to watch and experience. I loved the way the three Peters behaved, and I loved the jokes and bonds between them all. I loved seeing MJ and Ned, and I love seeing how Peter (Tom’s Version) has grown and am excited to see how he will continue to grow in the upcoming movies.

What to watch before No Way Home

As No Way Home continues to blow up, more and more people want to watch it. The first question that they have is usually how many movies do they have to watch in order to even understand it. Marvel has a history of having movie plots that flesh out across multiple movies, so it’s sensible to ask that. Here are the must watch movies prior to No Way Home:

Tobey Maguire Movies