By now, you have likely seen Spider-Man: No Way Home, and are aware of the secrets and surprises that await audiences, and why we’re bringing up the now-iconic Pointing Spideys image. If you have not seen the movie, or are allergic to spoilers, or simply want to remain in the dark (something Spider-Man has been known to turn off) regarding some key twists and turns, don’t proceed any further. Spoilers ahead! Klaxon GIF! Sound of sirens
The big revelation, one denied by most of the movie’s cast for years while also being primed by the teased appearances of familiar villains, is that this is not a Spider-Man story so much as a Spider-Men one. There is not simply one webslinger in attendance here. There are not even just two. You get all three of the actors who have starred in Spider-Man movies over the past 20 years, together again for the very first time. How this happens is one of the more ridiculous aspects of No Way Home, a plot turn which involves secret identities being exposed, a kid borrowing a magical ring, and Peter Parker asking the Master of the Mystical Arts to completely alter the fabric of space and time because his friends can’t get into M.I.T. (The real answer, of course, is multicorporate synergy, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.) Yet the end result of all of this narrative backbending and the abundance of blast-from-the-past bad guys is the glorious sight of Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire standing there, a fraternity of commiserating and complementary cinematic webslingers. As we said in our review, why service just one generation of fans when you can service several at once?