No Way Home: Review and What It Implies for the MCU
January 14, 2022
BEWARE!! Spoilers for No Way Home Ahead!
Spider-Man has been proven to be a fan-favorite many years ago; holding eight live action movies, eighteen shows, and over 575 complete comics to the franchise’s name. No Way Home was especially looked forward to by fans, following the cliffhanger of Spider-Man’s identity being revealed. However, this latest Spiderman movie holds more than the usual funny lines and Tom Holland’s beloved rendition of Peter Parker.
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is the first Spider-Man to be introduced into the MCU, with all of the characters we all know and love. For context, the MCU is the Marvel cinematic universe that contains many characters in the same universe, allowing for many interesting interactions and dynamics. First seen in Civil War, Peter Parker earned his own trilogy of movies in the MCU.
Unlike the past live action movies, we do not see Peter Parker’s transformation for the first time nor do we see Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben is an integral part of the Spider-Man character arc, as his death progresses the storyline and sets the precedent for his morals. We never see Uncle Ben with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, only Aunt May.
Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is not only a small-time vigilante for New York but a superhero who fights villains across the world and, in fact, much past Earth. He gets help from Iron Man, along with having relationships with other Avengers and superheroes.
This all changes in No Way Home.
A question posed long ago by fans has finally been answered: Will characters from other franchises make an appearance in the MCU?
Before this movie, this had been a speculation. The reintroduction of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man was cleverly integrated into the movie with a spell originally supposed to erase the knowledge of Spider-Man’s identity bringing familiar characters into the MCU.
Trying not to go into more detail, the ending of No Way Home is bittersweet and clears up the confusing differences between the MCU Spider-Mans and prior movies. Finally Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has followed the path that each Spider-Man has before him.
The end credit scene is Eddie Brock, or Venom, who is from another universe finding his way into the MCU and accidentally leaving a spot of Venom behind.
Now, what does this mean for the rest of the MCU?
This film finally connected the characters from Sony Pictures movies, following Marvel’s fourth phase which explores the multiverse and is the current phase. It was hinted at during Disney+’s Wandavision, in which Evan Peters somewhat revives his role as Peter Maximoff from the X-Men series which was produced by Marvel, but never discussed in the MCU.
As Disney+ was created, it seemed unlikely that the MCU would feature characters from the Netflix series, even as it was a joint collaboration between Marvel and Netflix. Yet, Charlie Cox’s Daredevil showed up in No Way Home. Along with Kingpin from the same Netflix/Marvel adaptation showing up in the Disney+ show Hawkeye. This is proof that these characters are canon in the MCU and will be showing up later in the franchise.
As the MCU develops, the movies and shows will begin to resemble the comics more and more. New characters and plot lines will be added, alongside the preexisting ones. It will be very hard for new people to watch a Marvel movie without the context of other movies. However, for longterm fans, this web of connections for all characters will be the final touch of bringing the comics to life.
There is also a possibility of Deadpool appearing in the MCU sometime in the future, with the hints from Evan Peters reappearing and Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock showing up in the end credit scene. Deadpool, Daredevil, and Spiderman had a lot of interactions in some comics. With the reintroduction of Daredevil, there is hope that our three favorite red superheroes will meet up.
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It seems that, eventually, the X-Men and Avengers will cross paths with the progression of the phases.