Slap Comics

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Does Whatever a Spider Can. As a kid I was a fan. A mega fan. Comics was my life and Spider-Man was my hero. The closest thing I had to Spider-Man on screen was the 90’s animated show. It was quite a thrill every week. After years of developmental hell, Spider-Man was finally getting a movie. 

In 2002, the Spider-Man movie starring Toby Macquire came out and it was huge. The Largest weekend opening at the time and one of the most talked about movies. I saw it four times in the theater and the dozens of times on DVD afterwards and then later Streaming. While the Green Goblin played by Willam Dafoe was cheesy, overacted and looked like a Power Ranger, Macquire was great as Parker. Special effects were Amazing (pun intended) and the supporting cast was great, especially JK Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. Two sequels followed with Spider-Man 2 being the best of the three with Doc Ock as the best villain and Spider-Man 3 being the worst with too many villains and bad performances being the reasons. 

The Amazing Spider-Man series with Andrew Garfield was next and was at best subpar. Garfield played an Emo Spider-Man. A little dark in character and atmosphere. While Toby Macquire’s Spider-Man was mostly silent and didn’t have the humor we would expect from Spider-Man, Garfield’s Spider-Man did his trademark quips and jokes. Although the jokes seemed more hurtful than funny. The villains in both movies were bad and Sony seemed more interested in making a cinematic universal than making good Spider-Man movies. Thankfully they stopped at two. 

Finally, Spider-Man came home. Marvel Studios and Sony made a deal to share Spider-Man and inserted him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is played now by Tom Holland. His first appearance in the MCU was Captain America: Civil War where he interacted with the likes of Iron Man and Cap. It was wonderful. His first solo movie Spider-Man: Homecoming was the best Spider-Man movie yet, making Spider-Man so much like the comics. Holland as Peter made it believable that he was just a kid in High School. Michael Keaton as the Vulture worked very well. A sympathetic yet equally cunning man who would do anything for his family.  The sequel was as good if not better. It was a different type of story than the usual Spider-Man story. A European adventure, A Love story, and Coming of Age story all in one. Mysterio was a great villain, different than Vulture, he was out for revenge and glory. The ending had major consequences for our hero and made us as fans craving more. 
Now comes No Way Home. It’s hard to describe without giving things away. All I can say is I LOVED THIS MOVIE. 

*Spoilers*

If you are a Spider-Man movie fan there is so much to love about movie. All the villains return from the Raimi movies: Doc Ock, Sandman, and the Green Goblin. Also, the Amazing Spider-Man villains: The Lizard, and Electro. All the original actors returned, and they even improved Jamie Foxx’s Electro which originally looked like an Electric Blue person from Avatar. Basically, a movie version of the Sinister Six (minus one). Also, the previous Spider-Men returned. Both Macquire and Garfield returned to their roles and created some great moments between the three. The ending was a low point for me. A little sad but hopefully if future movies come out. 

My favorite scene? Hands down. Matt Murdoch as Peter’s lawyer. It gave me a Koop Aid smile. 

Later