Variety has published a review of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, which confirms something that has been rumored for a long time. Both Andrew and Tobey Maguire are in it as alternate universe versions of Spider-Man.
If villains can make the dimensional leap, it stands to reason that other Spider-Men can too, and sure enough, first Garfield and then Maguire show up seemingly up-to-speed on Peter’s villain infestation problem. Because they’ve all faced variations on the same challenges — from losing loved ones to reconciling their romantic interests with a demanding day job — the movie balances easy-target comedy with more profound life lessons. What could easily have felt like one of those tacky Disneyland parades, where all the princesses are assembled to do fan service, instead finds a strong emotional foundation.
Garfield, so good in this year’s “Tick, Tick… Boom,” radiates more charisma here than he ever did in his two Spider-Man installments. And the older-and-wiser Maguire, who’d gotten soft and lazy between his second and third Spider-Man movies, reminds audiences who haven’t seen him on screen in years why we found him so appealing in the first place. There’s something fundamentally worrisome about dissolving the barriers between these separate iterations of the franchise, and yet, the entire creative team seems committed to treating the multiverse not as a stunt, nor a crass corporate ploy (it does conveniently repair a rift in the MCU), but as an opportunity to more fully explore what Peter Parker stands for.
