Parker’s life – and the life of the people who love him – has become intolerable since he lost his anonymity back at the end of Far From Home, and he is hoping Strange can fix that. The story – what there is of it – features Strange casting a spell to make the world forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. And with a significant amount of screen time also given to Dr Strange, this No Way Home hits the screen like a couple of favourite old rockers, when all we’ve had lately is a diet of indie kids and up-and-comers. Good though those films were, they were never going to set the cinema on fire like the return of stone-cold favourite Spidey. It is unashamed fan service and probably a smart Marvel re-set after the muted and unfamiliar Eternals and Shang-Chi. It might not even threaten the box-office numbers of an Avengers instalment (although, I wouldn’t bet on that) and it won’t have the critics reaching for their dictionaries for fresh adulations.īut the film is a hellacious amount of fun. Spider-Man: No Way Home might not pick up any awards. Tom Holland's web-slinger is joined by Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr Stranger for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Two-and-a-half hours later, I was kicking my way back through the city, wondering if there might still be a drinkable coffee to be had and wondering why the crowds at superhero movies are the absolute worst at picking up their rubbish and putting it in a bin (like, y’know, a superhero might) – but also grinning at what had just unfolded around me. We just hope that the gods deliver and that the story up there on the screen scratches whatever ancient itch we still carry to see heroes triumph, villains vanquished, tragedy unfold – but never enough to rob us of a satisfying ending – and the promise of more to come. I wasn’t even the biggest fan of the Potter films – and the Twilight franchise could be wiped from the face of the world as far as I’m concerned – but that noise and that crescendo of enthusiasm was a potent reminder that nights like this can be more than just “going to see a film”.Ī midnight screening, with the right crowd, at the right venue, is an act of devotion and ritual. But on Wednesday night, in a sold out Embassy Theatre, with a crowd just happy to be there, whooping, applauding and cheering at every twist and turn and cameo of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it all sort of came flooding back.