My Review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) - SPOILERS INCLUDED

 

Written by Chris McKenna And Erik Sommers

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton 

Peter: "Hi. My name is Peter Parker. You don't remember me, but we used to know each other. Something bad was gonna happen, and the only way to stop it was to make everyone forget about me. Because I'm not just Peter Parker. I'm Spider-Man. And sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing, even if it breaks Peter Parker's heart."

Has it really been nearly five years since Spider-Man: No Way Home? It was the perfect end to Tom Holland's first Spidey trilogy. Now it's time for the beginning of what I'm assuming would be a new trilogy for this particular iteration of the infamous web slinger.

For those hoping for a more grounded film after the Multiverse heavy previous one will be happy with this one. It's as grounded as you can get but there's still some big potatoes as Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) would like. Yup, she's in two scenes and her banter with Peter and later MJ Watson (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) was rather delightful to watch.

Peter's got a lot on his plate. He started the film by stopping a few of his own rogue gallery members like Scorpion (Michael Mando) and Tombstone (Marvin Jones III) while also forming a rather snarky rapport with Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal). Honestly their dynamic might be the best thing about the whole film in itself.

Of course the other highlight would be Sadie Sink herself. Yes, she's Jean Grey and the film didn't waste too much time in revealing both that and the extent of her powers. However for a large chunk of the film, she's more of an antagonist who had no problem trying to get into Peter's head and everyone else around him.

Jean's actions saw both Frank and even Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) being under her control. It's particularly for the latter who ended up losing himself to the Incredible Hulk yet again. Although I do generally like the character in the MCU, I don't think this was the best use of the character for this film.

While Jean definitely caused a lot of chaos in the film, I don't really think she was the baddie here. It's clearly meant to be Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman). As the head of the Department of Damage Control, he appeared as a neutral party until what transpired with Jean's sister, Sara (Olivia Booth-Ford) revealed him to be the absolute worst. No wonder Jean was the way she was here.

As an introduction to a side of the MCU that's on the way, I do think the film handled Jean Grey interestingly enough. She's volatile but sympathetic and of course, it would be a shared loss between her and Peter to be the thing to get her come around. I also think that Peter saving her from a bullet might have factored into things as well.

Going beyond the big threats (which also included The Hand but they were underused), I liked the way in which both MJ and Ned ended up remembering who Peter was to them. Both done in separate moments and both effectively handled. In particular, Zendaya got some of the best material she's had in this franchise. I hope that bodes well for further appearances.

- Peter's friendship with Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas) was rather sweet. He even knew her kids names.

- I loved the use of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) in this film. I still miss her. 

- MJ's boyfriend (Eman Esfandi) seems nice enough while characters such as Cindy Moon, Ramrod, Boomerang and Tarantula also popped up briefly.

- Yelena's office was a bathhouse while Frank had a boat as his base of operations. Bruce was sent to a mental health facility.

- The credit scene teased about Spider-Man returning. A fifth solo movie will definitely happen but I'm betting he's in the upcoming Avengers movies as well.

- Chronology: It's been four years since the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day turned out to be the second best movie from this iteration. There's strong performances from Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink and Jon Bernthal and an obscene amount of man flesh on display. Not everything worked (Hulk, The Hand) but they're minor quibbles. As a later summer blockbuster, there's a lot of fun to be had here.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day - First Trailer Released

It's been a long time coming and we've had a whole series of Wonder Man and teasers for Avengers: Doomsday. This morning, Sony/Marvel released the first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

So, what were the highlights of the trailer then? Highlights and some facts as well.

• It's the fourth solo movie with Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and it's been four years since the events of the previous one.
• Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi, Wonder Man).
• Both MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are back and still don't remember their prior connections to Peter.
• Peter is shown to be in a cocoon and to be developing organic webbing.
• For the gays he's also in a nice black tank top, shirtless and in boxers at different points. Like the MCU don't know their audience.

• Sadie Sink's mystery character only very briefly appears. She's got to be playing someone major for this level of secrecy, right?
• MJ has a new boyfriend played by Eman Esfandi.
• There's scenes that Peter and Spider-Man share with Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal).
• Villain wise, there's an appearance of Scorpion (Michael Mando) as well as Boomerang, Tarantula and The Hand.
• Charlie Cox is expected to appear as Daredevil/Matt Murdock as well as Tombstone (Marvin Jones III).

As a trailer, I think it did a really good job in selling it. It definitely feels like a smaller scale one, compared to Tom Holland's original trilogy but that's certainly a good thing. I think it's going to do very well.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be in theatres from July 31st. The trailer is on YouTube.

My Review of Kraven The Hunter (2024)

 

Written by Richard Wenk And Art Marcum And Matt Holloway

Directed by J.C. Chandor

Sergei: "I stared Death in the face, and for the first time... I saw my true self."

Oh, Sony, you just never learn. For all the success of the Spiderverse animated movies and inadvertent success of a Venom trilogy, these Spider-Man adjacent movies have been more trouble than they're worse. The all too predictable failure of this movie really should put paid to any further films like this but I feel it likely won't.

Now, what exactly went wrong here? In some respects, there's a serviceable enough story but it feels like an executive at Sony saw the subversive of Cruella and thought they could replicate that with this character. There was potential for it to work but the idea didn't quite land as well as it should've done.

Our titular antihero, almost known as Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson/Levi Miller) found out that his mother died and his father, Nikolai (Russell Crowe) was less upset about that than he would've liked. Nikolai also liked pitting Sergei and his younger brother, Dmitri (Fred Hechinger/Billy Barratt) against one another and an incident with a lion saw Sergei putting some distance with his family for a good sixteen years.

In the present day, Sergei became Kraven the Hunter while Dmitri's penchant for imitation had him as a lounge singer. It also got Dmitri kidnapped by both Aleksei Sytsevich aka Rhino (Alessandro Nivola) and the Foreigner (Christopher Abbott). It also had Sergei reunite with Calypso Ezili (Ariana DeBose/Diaana Babnicova) as she too found herself up in events.

In terms of the villains of the piece, there's four of them. Both Rhino and Foreigner provider solid and physical threats for our antihero but it's the misdeeds of Nikolai that set off the whole chain of events. It's also Nikolai's actions that saw about a villainous turn for Dmitri in a reveal that we're not likely going to see play out in the future.

As for Calypso, she did get some decent moments in the movie but it's a more subdued version of the character. Even the comic book romance between her and Sergei was mostly played down, though she did save his life at crucial points, so I have to give points for that alone. As for Sergei he certainly embraced a certain look by the very last scene of the movie.

- There's no mid or post credit scene and considering how this movie has bombed, that was a wise decision. I'm surprised Dmitri revealing his chameleon powers to Sergei wasn't used as one.

- Both Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Russell Crowe have previous been in the MCU as Quicksilver and Zeus respectively.

- Standout music: Dmitri does perform a rather nice version of Harry Styles Sign Of The Times in his piano bar.

- Chronology: Present day and sixteen years in the past. Scenes in Africa, Russia and London.

Kraven The Hunter ain't a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but it's not an entire car crash. It just feels a tad pointless but the action sequences are decent enough, though it's surprisingly longer than expected. Keep your expectations to a minimum and you won't be too disappointed.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

 

Written by Tom Hardy And Kelly Marcel

Directed by Kelly Marcel

Venom: "Eddie ... It is time."

What an appropriate subtitle for the last in this trilogy and the only success story in these Spidey adjacent movies that Sony insist on making. Weirdly though, for a movie that was meant to end a trilogy, it seemed more interested in setting up more stuff that I'm not sure will be resolved.

For example, the main villain of the piece, Knull (Andy Serkis) has his presence felt but not once do we get to see him share any screen time with Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy). It's such a baffling choice and Hardy co-wrote the script.

From last time we saw Eddie/Venom they were in a bar, where the bartender (Cristo Fernandez) was getting freaked out by him to finding out that Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham) was dead with Eddie as the main suspect. Except he's dead.

Instead Mulligan's holded up in a secret facility because he's gotten himself attached to a green Symbiote. Our secondary antagonists of the piece included Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and scientists Teddy Payne (Juno Temple) and Sadie Christmas (Clark Backo) and even then, they're not really that bad.

Most of this movie was spent with Eddie and Venom bonding along the way, meeting up with a hippie alien fan family, led by Rhys Ifans and bumping into Mrs Chen (Peggy Lu) during a stay in Las Vegas. There's a very funny dance scene during that particular moment.

As for the rest of the movie, the third act's pretty rushed with Knull's Xenophages on the loose, fight scenes between them and the symbiotes and something of a rushed separation between Eddie and Venom. I mean the scene did hit the right moments but it needed a bit more time to breathe, even if a reunion of sorts was implied.

- The credit scenes included the bartender looking at a destroyed Area-51 and Knull planning his next move now Venom out of the way.

- In the comics, Teddy Payne became Agony. She's attached herself to a purple Symbiote towards the end of the movie.

- Standout music: Yes, it was the uses of Don't Stop Me Now and Dancing Queen.

- Chronology: From where the events of that scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home left off.

I didn't mind Venom: The Last Dance too much. I mean, it's a disjointed mess that felt more set up than a natural trilogy ender. There's fun to be had with it but it's not the greatest way to end what's been a mixed bag anyways.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Morbius (2022)

 

Written by Matt Sazama And Burk Sharpless

Directed by Daniel Espinosa

Michael (to Martine): "I went from dying... to feeling more alive than ever. Increased strength and speed... the ability to use echolocation... and an overpowering urge to consume blood."

I finally got to the worst of the Spider-Man adjacent movies and yeah, it's reputation preceeded it. If there was an actor potentially incompatible with the comic book genre, it's Jared Leto.

From playing the worst live action iteration of the Joker in the now ended DC Extended Universe to going to playing a familiar Spider-Man antagonist. Well, anti-hero in this instance.  Enter Michael Morbius. 

We opened with a flashback to Michael's childhood in Greece being cared in a hospital by Nicholas (Jared Harris) while also bonding with a other kid named Lucien over their mutual blood illness. That bonding also included Lucien being called by Milo by Michael and Lucien embracing the new name foisted onto him by his "brother".

Cut to a quarter of a century later, a grown up Michael (Jared Leto) was working on a cure for their blood condition with Milo (Matt Smith) very much in his corner along with Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona). However, the use of general splicing vampire bats came with consequences that Michael could've easily avoided.

Yes, Michael literally became Morbius, people died, he went to prison and Milo (who also went the same vampiric route) embraced the bloodlust. If Leto slept walked his way through this movie, Smith on the other hand completely embraced the sheer nonsense of the script and went with it.

Like the Venom movies, there's an incredibly messy third act with both brothers battling it out and Martine getting caught in the crossfire. As a love interest character, it's a thankless role for Arjona and the outcome for Morbius was basically the same as Eddie Brock's. However there might be a narrative point to that.

- This movie managed to flop twice for Sony and the second time was down to the company falsely believing the memes it generated would help save any losses.

- Matt Smith was originally announced to be playing Loxias Crown/Hunger. Milo does seem to be loosely based on the character.

- The mid credit scenes introduced Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) into this universe. He wasted no time in suiting up as Vulture and recruiting Morbius to his cause.

- Chronology: Twenty five years for both Michael and Milo, taking in Greece, New York and Costa Rica.

Morbius turned out to be as bad as expected. I wish I could say there was a guilty pleasure aspect to give it some glimmer of redemption, but it's crap, through and through. Leto's terrible and while Smith tried at least, it ain't enough to make me want to revisit this one anytime soon.

Rating: 4 out of 10

My Review of Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

 

Written by Tom Hardy And Kelly Marcel

Directed by Andy Serkis

Cletus: "Welcome back, Eddie Brock. It's been a long time. I miss you ... so much."

The biggest trick ever played on a studio was Sony gaining success with their Venom movies. It gave the false impression that audiences wanted movies adjacent to Spider-Man when in reality, I think they just like Tom Hardy in this role. Anyways, on to the review.

The end of the first movie had Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) meeting Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) in prison. This was at the behest of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham) and it was a meeting that didn't exactly go all that well either.  Not dissimilar to Eddie's life in general as this movie pointed out.

Yes, Eddie and Venom had this odd couple dynamic going well, until they didn't. There was only so much chocolate and chickens that Venom could consume and Eddie was tired of having to try and reign the symbiote in at times. Worse than that, another encounter with Cletus Kasady only resulted in the latter getting his own symbiote and Eddie and Venom going their separate ways.

Watching Venom trying to get new hosts while going to Mrs Chen (Peggy Lu) for comfort was amusing while Eddie was coping without being bonded to Venom as well as his ex-girlfriend Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) being engaged to nice doctor Dan Lewis (Reid Scott). Dan was also dealing with Venom being back on the scene again.

As for the main villain plot, Carnage bonded to Cletus. Cletus wanted to free his girlfriend Frances Barrison/Shriek (Naomie Harris) and Shriek wanted to kill Mulligan. Oh and Carnage didn't especially care for Shriek, creating conflict between him and Cletus. Not to mention the links between Venom and Carnage to boot.

Like the first movie, you've got a rushed third act that's a bit messy on the CGI battle between Venom and Carnage. Annie's got the thankless damsel in distress role, Shriek's poorly utilised and even Cletus got swiftly dealt with after being separated from Carnage. Oh and the movie totally rifled off the end of The Dark Knight and not in a good way.

- Tom Hardy got a story by credit for the movie as well as a producer credit too.

- Mid credit scene had Eddie and Venom see Spider-Man (Tom Holland) on the TV along with J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons).

- Andy Serkis agreed to make the movie if he got to film it in the UK. He was also in the MCU.

- This was originally scheduled for October 2020 but got pushed to 2021 due to COVID.

Standout music: Carl Cox's Carnage, Johnny Cash's San Quentin and Little Simz's Venom.

- Chronology: A few months from where the first movie left off as well as 1996 for the Cletus and Frances backstory.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage isn't the worst sequel you'll see but it's definitely not without its problems. The pacing was rough in parts, Carnage and Shriek are poorly developed and its got a very messy third act. Still the buddy duo between Eddie and Venom did a lot of heavy lifting.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Venom (2018)

Written by Jeff Pinkner And Scott Rosenberg And Kelly Marcel

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Eddie: "All right, fine, I'm sorry. So, what do you want to do now?"

Venom: "The way I see it, we can do whatever we want."

With the MCU having their way with everyone's favourite Web slinger and Tom Holland proving successful in that role, of course Sony weren't going to sit back and let the rest of the IP do nothing. This line of thinking has been a blessing and a curse for them.

With Sony garnering success with Miles Morales in the Spiderverse movies, for live action,  the idea was to play around with some of Peter Parker's known villains turned antiheroes for ideas. Starting with one of his biggest rivals made sense.

Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) was a smart mouth journalist who rubbed people up the wrong way but seemed to have the charm to fall back on. He also had a loving girlfriend named Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) but when Eddie pissed off the wrong guy aka, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), his relationship with Anne soon ended.

Eddie's mistrust of Drake however ended up being justified as the latter had found an alien parasite from space and he wasted no time callously using unwitting subjects to experiment on with it. One of the parasites named Venom attached itself to Eddie when Drake's scientist Dora Skirth (Jenny Slate) let him investigate the Life Foundation. Needless to say, this was where the movie picked up.

Eddie's symbiotic relationship with Venom definitely provided a source of comedy, battle of wits, a team up with Anne and her new man, Dr Dan Lewis (Reid Scott) and of course, the wrath of a very annoyed Drake. Oh and when Eddie wasn't trying to calm Venom's almost insatiable appetite, there was also another parasite named Riot that took control of Drake with similar results.

While this movie certainly has the entertainment factor, it's the big battle where things went off the rails. Carlton Drake isn't particularly intimidating to begin and his possession of Riot isn't as well thought out as it could've been. The fights between Venom and Riot alone are surprisingly rushed in a rather flat third act. 

On the plus side, once the big fight was dealt with, Eddie managed to get back into Anne's good grace and strike a compromise with his new best friend. We even got a scene where the pair help snarky convenience store owner, Mrs Chen (Peggy Lu) from getting robbed without killing. 

- Mid credit scene had Eddie make a prison visit to serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) who promised "Carnage".

- Post credit sequence was a long clip for Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse. 

- Stan Lee had a brief cameo near the end of the movie, walking g a dog and talking to Eddie.

- John Jameson (Chris O'Hara) appeared at the start of the movie to introduce the symbiote into things.

- Standout music: Enimem's Venom and Pusha T's No Problem.

- Chronology: There's a six month time jump during the movie.

Venom definitely has an entertaining factor that for the most along with a lively lead performance from Tom Hardy does carry this movie more than it should. The third act is a letdown with Riot being a poor counter villain and the love story with Anne does feel a tad tacked on. Saying that, the fun factor does outweigh logic gaps and certain creative choices.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Madame Web (2024)

 

Written by Kerem Sanga And Matt Sazama And Burke Sharpless And S.J. Clarkson And Claire Parker

Directed by S.J. Clarkson

Cassandra: "If you want to live, you have to trust me."

The first live action comic book movie of 2024 and we are definitely not off to the greatest of starts, are you? The curse of Venom being a hit was that Sony had a misguided belief that there was an audience for Spider-Man adjacent projects. This film currently bombing in theatres should put paid to that.

So, snarkiness aside, how bad a movie is Madame Web? I'll let you on a secret, it's not strictly bad per se, just painfully average and too plodding for it's own good, following by a very rushed conclusion, a desperate to bag a sequel and other stuff in between.

The movie started in the jungle of Peru where Ezekiel Sims (Tahir Rahim) betrayed his whole team, just to get his hands on a spider. This included leaving the heavily pregnant Constance Web (Kerry Bishe) for dead, only for a tribe of Spider people to deliver her baby girl.

Thirty years later and the baby in question turned out to be a snarky, emotionally distant woman named Cassandra (Dakota Johnson). She's a paramedic working with Ben Parker (Adam Scott), the uncle of you know who and pretty soon a freak accident at work managed to awaken Cassandra's psychic abilities. 

At the same of that the very rich Ezekiel had his girl Friday, Amaria (Zosia Mamet) track down three teenagers. The teenagers being Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced) and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor). Apparently these three will grow up to be Spider-Women and bring about Sims downfall, so he's desperate to take them out first.

Because of that, the three teenagers and Cassandra become entwined with each other and the latter's powers continued to manifest, she took it upon herself to learn more of her mother's past while also stopping Ezekiel (who donned a black Spider suit) from killing Julia, Anya and Mattie.

The funny part was that while also this was happening, you also had the subplot of Mary Parker (Emma Roberts) being creeped out by Cassandra during her baby shower and of course giving birth to Peter, though his name was never stated in the movie. It's amusing but doesn't influence the main story itself.

Other than that, the last battle between Ezekiel and Cassandra was something of a rushed job with the former defeated in a rather anticlimactic fashion and the latter getting blinded and paralysed for comic book accuracy. As for that ending, yeah, we're never getting a resolution to that one.

- The original idea for this movie was actually Cassandra and the Spider-Women protecting a pregnant Mary Parker from a time travelling Ezekiel Sims, which would've made more sense.

- Despite marketing the leads in costumes, you barely see it. Superhero movies need to stop with grounding things like that.

- Standout music: Britney Spears Toxic, Cranberries Dreams and Yeah Yeah Yeah's Miles Away.

- Chronology: 1973 Peru and 2003 Manhattan during this movie.

Madame Web has definitely gotten 2024 off to a rocky start with this particular genre and it might not be the only movie to suffer as a result. It's far from the worst I've ever seen but there was clearly a better movie that got massacred with studio interference and far too many rewrites. Memes aside, this one should be quickly forgotten about.

Rating: 5 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse (2023)

 

Written by Phil Lord And Christopher Miller And Dave Callaham

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos And Kemp Powers And Justin K. Thompson 

Miles: "Everyone keeps telling me how my story is supposed to go. Nah. I'm-a do my own thing."

Ah, the Multiverse lol. In terms of the big screen, it seems like the web slinger reigns supreme over it and with this sequel, the goodwill from both Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse and Spider-Man: No Way Home has well and truly paid off. I mean, this middle part of a trilogy really was something to behold.

The movie opened with Gwen's (Hailee Steinfeld) perspective as her Peter Parker had died and her police captain father, George Stacy (Shea Whingham) was determined to bring Spider-Woman in, forcing a very difficult confession scene between father and daughter.  This movie definitely felt as much as Gwen's movie as it did Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and that's understating it.

Yes, Gwen had tough times with her identity but she also got a rather cool opening fight scene with a Renaissance version of Vulture (Jorma Taccone) while meeting up with both the grouchy Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and the rather cool, Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae). The latter served as something of a mentor to Gwen, though not without the two of them have a difference on how to handle the main topic of the movie.

The topic being Miles of course. Since we last saw him, Mile got himself a new look, was at odds with his parents over his big secret and also got himself an arch enemy named The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). At first Miles didn't take The Spot seriously but as the movie progressed, he realised he had underestimated his newfound foe.

Then there was the Multiverse shenanigans themselves. Miles and Gwen's reunion was sweet and there's still that underpinning of a potential romance between the two. However their scenes with both Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya) and Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India started off fun, only for Miles's random act of heroism to have its own far reaching consequences as the movie went into it third act and shock cliffhanger.

While Spider-Man 2099 could've worded it better about the real reasons of Miles's origins, the ending where Miles came face to face with an alternative version of himself who became the Prowler (Jharrel Jerome) was a fantastic way to end this movie. Let's just say, Spider-Man: Beyond The Spiderverse really will have to stick that landing.

- There was a nice supporting role for Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and his daughter, Mayday as Gwen recruited various favourites to help Miles.

- The live action clips of Donald Glover, Peggy Lu, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield worked surprisingly well. I also liked the use of Ben Reilly (Andy Samberg) aswel as some of the animated TV series versions of the character.

- Standout music: James Blake's Hummingbird and Dominic Fike's Mona Lisa.

- Chronology: 16 months since the events of the first movie.

Now I'm not going to declare Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse to be the best Spidey movie ever but it's easily a Top 5 and it easily builds on what the first movie, upped the ante and surpassed it. I cannot wait to see how this trilogy will conclude in 2024.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse (2018)

 

Written by Phil Lord And Rodney Rothman

Directed by Bob Persichetti And Peter Ramsay And Rodney Rothman

Miles: "When will I know I'm ready?"

Peter: "You won't. It's a leap of faith. That's all it is Miles. A leap of faith."

With Peter Parker getting more than his fair share of live action and animation, it was time for the other most popular version of Spider-Man to get some love and this animated movie was the very thing to break Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) into the mainstream.

Initially starting off as a sleeper hit upon it's theatrical release, this movie's explosion on Netflix months later really shows that if you deliver the goods, audiences will come out and prove that more than one version of a beloved character can hit big time. This movie really did put Miles on the map.

Of course, it's not just Miles who really hit big here. While this movie definitely served as his origin story in a world where he's already encountered  the original Spider-Man (Chris Pine) take on both the Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone) and  the Prowler (Mahershala Ali), the biggest arc of the movie was his friendship with Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld).

Miles and Gwen have the strongest friendship throughout the movie, especially as the former eventually gained some powers of his own and then tried his level best to live up to the role of Spider-Man. All the while another version of the Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) came into Miles's dimension and served as a bit of a feckless mentor to Miles. He's a mess but fortunately gets better as the movie progressed.

As for the movie itself, its about the Multiverse and it was the one to do it before live action got in there. Along with Miles, Gwen and Peter, there was also Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and Spider -Ham (John Mulaney) who also helped save the day from the main villains of the piece.

As for the villains, there was also Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber), Tombstone (Marvin "Krondon" Jones II), the Liv Octavius version of Doc Octopus (Kathryn Hahn) and Scorpion (Joaquin Cosio). Again it was a Multiverse and a team effort was needed from stopping Fisk from using it in order to reverse a previous pain of his own while the resolution of this plot will have consequences down the line in the sequel.

- There was some lovely scenes with Miles and his parents Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) throughout the movie. 

- Peter B. Parker's relationship with Mary Jane Watson (Zoe Kravitz) had broken down while Aunt May (Lily Tomlin) had died in his world.

- Standout music: Post Malone's Sunflower.

- Chronology: Present day Brooklyn. Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) also appeared in a post credit scene.

Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse was a terrific debut for Miles Morales with a pretty straightforward story for the character and some lovely moments that worked narratively well throughout.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man 3 (2007)

 

Written by Sam Raimi And Ivan Raimi And Alvin Sargent

Directed by Sam Raimi

Venom (to Spider-Man): "I like being bad. It makes me happy."

Ah, yes, has there been a more divisive movie for the webslinger than this one? Well, there was The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but prior to that, there was this movie. After two movies for Tobey Maguire's Spidey that really set a gold standard for Superhero movies, it's not hard to see why in a lot of respects that this one didn't quite cut the mustard.

For a start, it has a lot going on. Often too much for it's own good and there's a certain repetition with some of the character dynamics. Not to mention, it technical'y has three villains fighting for screen time and not enough development among the lot of them.

Let's look at Harry Osborn (James Franco). He was still bitter about his father's death and still held his former best friend responsible for it. Taking on the guide of New Goblin, Harry's attempts of making Spider-Man pay only resulted in temporary amnesia. When he did regain his memory, he made an attempt to keep Peter and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) apart but getting royally humiliated by the former really didn't make it worth it.

Then he got something of a rushed redemption arc when Spider-Man and Mary Jane both needed his help against the real villains of the piece - serial criminal Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and embittered rival photographer Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace). Only the latter really embraced the idea of being a villain and even then, he lagged by comparison, in spite of some great visuals as Venom. Not to mention a really horrible defeat as well.

Villain wise, Sandman's story was far more tragic and it's connection to Ben Parker saw both Peter and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) on the opposite side of things. Ultimately though, Peter showed compassion to Marko and the latter expressed remorse for his involvement in Ben's death. It's a good arc but it's a bit smushed together in a movie with a lot going on for itself.

Another huge component of the movie was Peter's temporary influence of the symbiote that would later destroy Eddie. You can tell Tobey Maguire had fun with the bad boy Peter Parker, even going as far as to use Gwen Stacey (Bryce Dallas Howard) in order to make MJ jealous, which was definitely a step too far. The plot is very Superman III in parts and the Peter/MJ drama was definitely the weakest we've seen in the trilogy even if their relationship status quo was restored by the end of this one.

As for Spider-Man himself, he was definitely seen in a more favourable light in spite of J Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) and Eddie's attempts to discredit and even got the key of the city. He might have went through something of a minor bad boy phase but he still remained every one's favourite neighborhood Spidey.

- The movie's opening credits recapped the previous two movies. We even got another Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) cameo for good measure.

- Speaking of cameos, Bruce Campbell as a maitre d and Stan Lee having a brief exchange with Peter Parker. Not to mention appearances from Curt Connors (Dylan Baker) and Flash Thompson (Joe Manganiello).

- Despite being the high grossing movie of the trilogy, plans for another trilogy and a Venom spin-off were all scrapped in favour of a reboot.

- Chronology: A year since the events of the second movie.

Spider-Man 3 without a doubt probably will remain the weakest live action Spider-Man movie we've had to date but it's not a train wreck. It's actually pretty fun in parts but easily could've done with a bit more focus and losing at least one villain. As a final outing of sorts for Tobey Maguire, it's mostly average at best.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man 2 (2004)

 

Written by Alfred Gough And Miles Millar And Michael Chabon

Directed by Sam Raimi

Peter: "You once spoke to me about intelligence. You said it was a gift to be used for the greater good."

Doctor Octopus: "A privilege."

Peter: "These things have turned you into something else ... don't listen to them."

What a difference two years can make both in terms of releases for this sequel and in terms of what actually transpired in this sequel itself. The first movie had the perfect blend of setting up Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) becoming Spider-Man and dealing with life's hurtles and this movie really went to town with providing a lot more of them.

Since the first movie, Peter has struggled to get on top of everything else. J. Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) has made the webslinger into a media villain with Harry Osborn (James Franco) holding him responsible for his father's death while Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) has become tired of Peter not making time for them. In fact, in this movie alone she only went and got engaged to Jameson's more likable son, John (Daniel Gillies) much to Peter's anguish.

On top of struggling with falling grades, paying the rent, keeping a pizza job and a very awkward conversation with Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) on what really happened to Uncle Ben, it seemed like something had to give and it did. For a brief period in the movie, Peter decided to give up being Spider-Man and opted for a less complicated life. Unfortunately for him, fate had a different idea.

The first movie hit the ground running with Willem Dafoe's take on the Green Goblin and for the second movie, it was Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) to take the baddie reins and boy, did he do a hell of a job here. Otto started off sympathetically here, even with a loving wife named Rosalie (Donna Murphy) but things soon got out of hand.

Notably, Otto's experiments with Tritium saw his robotic arms taking a life of their own and it didn't take long (shortly after his wife's death) before he fully embraced his dark side and gave Spider-Man one hell pf a challenge. One of them being the alliance with a vengeance obsessed Harry while also kidnapping Mary Jane because that trope was a constant within this trilogy.

As a baddie, Molina absolutely delivered on every level with the fight scenes between both Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus being truly sublime, especially the train scene moment. Their final confrontation though took the most surprising of turns with one of the most emotional defeats and redemption of sorts for a baddie we've seen in movies. Out of this trilogy's buddies, Doctor Octopus was definitely my favourite of the bunch.

As for Peter's relationship with Harry. Having the latter know about Peter's true identity provided a stark contrast to Mary Jane knowing. While Peter and Mary Jane became much closer, to the point where she ditched her own wedding, it only served to drive a further wedge between Peter and Harry. The latter also discovering some of his late father's secrets didn't help matters either.

- Bruce Campbell got to be a rude usher in this movie stopping Peter from seeing Mary Jane's play at first. Hal Sparks was also rather amusing as that guy in the elevator with Spider-Man for one scene.

- Dr Curt Connors (Dylan Baker) also appeared in this movie as Peter's professor while Aunt May sold all of Peter's comics. 

- Standout music: Dashboard Confessional's Vindicated.

- Chronology: Two years since the events of the first movie.

Spider-Man 2 might be the middle part of this trilogy but it's without a doubt the best part. Some of the best acting, writing, emotional stakes, action sequences and my favourite villain in this particular continuity. Yup, it's a goddamn classic.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man (2002)

 

Written by David Koepp

Directed by Sam Raimi

Uncle Ben (to Peter Parker): "With great power comes great responsibility."

I did this all backwards in terms of rewatches and reviews for the infamous webslinger. Now it was overdue my looking into the Tobey Maguire era of Spider-Man and twenty years since it's release, this movie has aged pretty well.

What I love about this movie at the time wad it's sheer simplicity and I love that just as much. Here we've got high school nerd, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) - in love with neighbour Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), the object of scorn by jock bully Flash Thompson (Joe Manganiello) and friend of rich kid Harry Osborn (James Franco). Cue a school trip and getting bitten by a radioactive spider and the rest of this movie essentially wrote itself.

It really didn't take long for Peter to embrace his new powers and for his odd behaviour to cause conflict with his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). One night after a wrestling match and Peter choosing to let a robber go free, he lost his uncle and as a result found Ben's infamous advice resonating with him. With power comes great responsibility and Spider-Man soon became a known presence in New York. 

Watching Spider-Man become an instant figure of infamy much to the appreciation of the citizens and derision of the cops and Daily Bugle editor J Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) was one thing but at the end of the day, every great hero needs a great villain and this movie absolutely excelled in that regard. For an opening baddie, this movie chose wisely.

Having Willem Dafoe suit as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was the absolute highlight of the movie. He's one of the most compelling comic book baddies we've seen on the bug screen and not only does he compliment Tobey Maguire but also provided a gripping foil for both Peter Parker and Spider-Man alike. With some absolutely breath taking fight scenes, moral choices and a final defeat, the biggest strength of this movie was it's villain choice.

As for the rest of the movie, the love story between Peter and Mary Jane was a lovely slow burn with both Maguire and Dunst giving it their all. That upside down kiss alone remains one of the most iconic romantic scenes in movie history. Meanwhile we got a lovely look into Peter's relationship with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), not to mention the more toxic friendship between him and Harry, which will only worsen in later movies. 

- Bruce Campbell made his first appearance in this universe as a wrestling announcer. Other Raimi alumni such as Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi had minor roles in this movie.

- Elizabeth Banks briefly appeared as Betty Brant. Peter unsuccessfully attempted to flirt with her.

- Stan Lee made a cameo appearance saving a girl during he big battle scene with Spider-Man and Green Goblin.

- Peter tried to take on the moniker of the Human Spider before a certain character coined his true identity. Jameson was the one to called Norman Osborn the Green Goblin.

- Standout music: Nickelback's Hero. We also had an appearance from Macy Gray.

- Chronology: The movie did come out in 2002, so I'm going to assume around that time as well.

Spider-Man (2002) kicked this trilogy off to a fantastic start. Tobey Maguire truly got off the from the ground as an excellent version of the webslinger and Willem Dafoe was a brilliant choice for the Green Goblin. Every single other cast member was also on fine form and some truly excellent fight sequences and character bits, this movie remains a classic.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

 

Written by Alex Kurtzman And Roberto Orci And Jeff Pinkner

Directed by Marc Webb

Peter Parker: "You know what it is I love about being Spider-Man? Everything."

Never since the events of 2007's Spider-Man 3 has there been a movie for the webslinger that upon it's initial release that has garnered such a divisive reaction. For an actor as beloved as Andrew Garfield, there's no denying that both his movies generated such a response. Saying that, ti,e has seemingly been kinder to both of these films.

The sequel to Garfield's first movie does see Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) both graduating from high school and on the verge of entering the big bad world. This movie also saw the couple breaking up but unable to stay away from one another as two different threats wrecked havoc here. Threats that I'll admit work well for this movie.

The biggest one would be in the shape of Peter Parker's old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) who resurfaced in New York, following the death of his father, Norman (Chris Cooper). It's not long before Peter and Harry reminisce over their past, reconnect and have their friendship absolutely devolve upon Harry's growing paranoia and mistrust over Spider-Man. The fact that his father's company was also being seized from under him certainly didn't help matters either.

I'm a little surprised this movie decided to kill off Norman so early and essentially do the Green Goblin storyline with Harry as quickly as they did but I sort of get it. Tobey Maguire's Spidey trilogy covered the more traditional handover of that particular villain so for this movie to do something different kind of worked well enough.

I don't find Dane DeHaan particularly menacing and I always preferred Norman than Harry as Green Goblin but DeHaan does play the role well enough and arguably better than James Franco did in the Maguire trilogy. DeHaan also had a strong rapport with Andrew Garfield and the battle between former friends turned enemies also resulted in the tragic death of Gwen Stacey here.

Let's talk about Gwen Stacey. There's no denying that Emma Stone gave a strong performance in these movies but the writing definitely wasn't to the character's strength here. Her death was handled well but it's often the most memorable thing about the character in these two movies aside from being Peter's love interest. Similarly Sally Field felt a little bit wasted as Aunt May, even if she did get some emotional scenes with Peter.

As for the secondary villain of the piece, I know Spider-Man: No Way Home did a lot to improve the character but at the time, Jamie Foxx's take on Elektro was more of a mixed bag. Like Osborn, he started off as a fan of the webslinger before becoming his enemy. There are some cool fight scenes between the pair but largely he's second fiddle to Green Goblin. 

- Other major canon characters in this movie included Felicia Hardy (Felicity Jomes), Alistair Smythe (BJ Novak) and Rhino (Paul Giamatti) with Mary Jane Watson (Shailene Woodley) being cut from the film.

- The Man In The Shadows from the previous movie also made an appearance in this movie as Harry planned to set up his own team against his former friend.

- Standout music: Alicia Keys It's On Again.

- Chronology: Two years since the events of the first movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 might not been quite as strong as the first movie but it's a movie that I feel has somewhat improved over time. Andrew Garfield definitely gave his best performance, Gwen's death had the right emotional impact and Green Goblin made for a decent baddie. It's a pity we didn't get a third movie before moving on to the Tom Holland era for the character for the MCU. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

 

Written by James Vanderbilt And Alvin Sargent And Steve Kloves

Directed by Marc Webb

Peter: "We all have our secrets: the ones we keep and the ones that are kept from us."

With this movie hitting it's tenth anniversary later this year and Andrew Garfield's tenure as the web slinger getting a certain appraisal from audiences, I thought now was the perfect time to take a look back at this movie.

Sandwiched between Tobey Maguire's trilogy and Tom Holland's dominance in the MCU, Garfield's movies have definitely had their fair share of scrutiny in the past. It's a shame really because this first movie alone while not quite as strong as Spider-Man (2002), I feel definitely was a bit stronger than Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).

Andrew Garfield to me might be the best actor to ever play Peter Parker and likewise, Spider-Man himself The movie embarked on a straightforward origin story of the high schooler becoming the masked hero of the piece, learning more about the burden of responsibility, falling in love and battling his first major enemy.

The major enemy of the piece being Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) whose own experiments not entirely of his volition resulted in him mutating into the dangerous Lizard and Peter along with some help from Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and her cop father, played by Denis Leary have to work together in order to prevent the city from suffering the same fate as Connors.

For a first villain threat, the use of Lizard felt like a nice call back to the 1990's animated series and outside a few petty criminals here and there along with a wider conspiracy regarding Oscorp and Peter's parents (played by Campbell Scott and Embeth Davitz), just focusing on one major threat managed to keep things reasonably contained. The CGI for Lizard also looked pretty decent as well.

As for the more personal side of things, the flashbacks to Peter's parents helped to set up an ongoing mystery while both Sally Field and Martin Sheen did an excellent job as Aunt May and Uncle Ben respectively. Of course the start of Peter getting powers inevitably resulted in the latter's death and his determination to be a hero.

As for Gwen Stacy, it was a departure after Mary Jane Watson being used in both the 1990's animated series and Tobey Maguire's movies. I really do like Emma Stone as an actor and there's no doubt that she had fantastic chemistry with Garfield's Peter Parker and Spider-Man alike. It also helped that throughout the movie Gwen was written as both a sympathetic and competent character. Of course this would a romance very much destined to be doomed though.

-  Mid credit sequence saw Connors taking to a mysterious gentleman in prison. A gentleman who also seemed to have a rather keen interest in Peter.

- Flash Thompson (Chris Zylka) quickly went from being openly antagonistic towards Peter to being friendly to him, following Ben's death.

- Apparently both Big Wheel and Proto Goblin were considered for the movie. The latter would've been played by Irrfan Khan who played Dr Rajit Ratha here.

- Chronology: The movie came out in 2012, so I'm assuming that time as well.

The Amazing Spider-Man definitely has it's moments as a movie. For an origin story, it dies a good job in setting up this Spider-Man, has an engaging central romance and a pretty solid main antagonist in Lizard. I'm glad this duology has gotten a renewed sense of enthusiasm from fans and critics and I'll be holding on to that energy when I review this sequel for this one. Overall, a very enjoyable first outing for Andrew Garfield.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - SPOILERS INCLUDED

 

Written by  Chris McKenna And Erik Sommers

Directed by Jon Watts

Aunt May (to Peter): "With great power comes great responsibility."

Trilogies are an odd beast, aren't they? The third part might be a good ending, it might also be the weakest of the bunch. Then there's the possibility that it might be the best installment of the lot. Can you guess the category where this particular movie falls into?

Following being publicly outed as Spider-Man from the previous movie, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has found himself to become a polarising figure among the residents of New York. It's also gotten to the point where both himself and Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) move in with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and his associations with MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) have jeopardized their own futures. 

Because of that, it would make sense that Peter would try and fix things. However Peter's method to do that mean getting in touch with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in order to make the world forget about him being Spider-Man. A spell that Peter managed to mess up on Stephen and as a result, the Multiverse made it's introduction into the MCU on the big screen.

Specifically, Peter's bumbling resulted in enemies from at least two different universes landing in Peter's own world. The enemies in question being Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and a revamped Electro (Jamie Foxx). If they had added one more member, you would've had a Multiverse Sinister Six there.

The five baddies in question make their presence known to our Spider-Man and the latter teamed up with Strange in order to contain them. However it didn't take much for both Peter and Stephen to have different opinions on how to deal with the visitors from other worlds. Peter also learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when the baddies predictably turned on him and as a result, Peter found himself losing the one important adult figure in his life and felt despondent.

Of course the highlight of the movie and the elephant that has been in the room for a year now was the returns of two other Spider-Men. Yes, both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are in this movie and the moment they're in scenes with Tom Holland, everything elevated to pure cinematic heights. Seeing these three actors together could be dismissed as fanservice but it's far greater than that.

There's history with both Maguire and Garfield's versions of the web slinger and it's respectfully honoured throughout here. Our Peter learns from his other selves as they learn from him and seeing the three of them band together in order to save the day definitely feels like a moment you'll want to witness on the big screen if you can. It's comic book history made on screen and the joy in seeing it play out truly felt unbridled. 

However there are lingering consequences to Peter disrupting the spell that Stephen tried to initially do and it's our Peter who will feel them for a while. It's like the MCU not only acknowledged certain criticisms regarding their handling of Holland's Spidey and felt this movie was the perfect place to deal with them head on, by setting up an interesting new status quo for Peter to set up his next trilogy. Even I didn't expect it to play out like it did.

- Charlie Cox might not have put on a certain suit but we did briefly see him here as Matt Murdock, who represented Peter at the start of the movie.

- Of course Flash would write a tell all book about his 'friendship' with Peter Parker while Betty has a job at the dailybugle.com.

- J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) certainly went out of his way to antagonise Spider-Man that I really do hope they have scenes together in the next movie.

- Giving Aunt May that infamous line as well as having two Spider-Men say it too worked beautifully here.

- Chronology: We did get to see parts of Halloween and Christmas as time progressed throughout the movie.

- The mid credit scene gave us a brief cameo of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the Venom symbiote with a little of the latter remaining the current MCU. 

There's no denying that Spider-Man: No Way Home delivered and then some. Every single cast member brought their A Game with Tom Holland giving his best performance in the MCU so far. Seeing him with both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield was sublime and I cannot wait to see where the next trilogy will take this version of Spider-Man. An absolute triumph of a movie.

Rating: 10 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

 

Written by Chris McKenna And Erik Sommers

Directed by Jon Watts

Mysterio: "It's easy to fool people when they're already fooling themselves."

After an Iron Man reliant first solo adventure for the infamous webslinger, it was definitely time for Peter to have some adventures without Tony Stark. At least in theory.

While Tony might be dead, his ghost definitely lingered on and it was the turn of Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) to Peter's guide as the young hero went on a tour throughout Europe with his classmates for this sequel.

Taking the action out of New York for most of this movie was a smart idea as Peter found himself being paired with the enigmatic Quentin Beck/Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to face the Elementals. Only things were not that simple.

As Peter showed some doubt with being suitable enough to use Tony's new AI EDITH, Beck was quickl revealed to another in a long line of people that Tony pissed off and despite some teasing of the Multiverse, Quentin was from this Earth after all.

As a villain, Mysterio is easily one of the MCU's most successful yet. Gyllenhaal is perfectly cast as Beck and his big brother type of rapport with Holland works a treat as Mysterio devastates Peter in more ways than one.

After the way this movie ended with Peter being outed as Spider-Man, courtesy of Beck getting the last laugh, it's going to be interesting to see how the MCU deals with this plot going forward.

Not that Peter's identity wasn't due to be exposed. Several characters noticed his absence at different points and even MJ casually figured out that he was Spider-Man as the two of them got much closer together in the movie. Not to mention a certain someone also made their debut in this movie, who will undoubtedly cause problems for Peter going forward in the MCU.

- The certain someone being J Jonah Jameson with JK Simmons reprising the role. 

- The other credit sequence involved the reveal of Skrulls such as Talos assuming the identity of Fury and Maria Hill while Fry himself was elsewhere.

- Ned got himself a summer romance with Betty Brant while Peter wanted to have a conversation about Aunt May and Happy being a couple.

- Chronology: Post blip with the tour taking in Italy, Croatia, Germany and the UK.

Spider-Man: Far From Home for me is an enjoyable sequel to the MCU's Spider-Man. Taking the action out of New York, Gyllenhaal's Mysterio and some truly great action sequences make this one of the best movies in this franchise for me.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

 

Written by Jonathan Goldstein And John Francis Daly And Jon Watts And Christopher Ford And Chris McKenna And Erik Sommers

Directed by Jon Watts

Tony (to Peter): "Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood spider?"

In less than two decades we've had three actors take on the role of the infamous webslinger. Now my stance is that Tobey Maguire got the best movies but Andre Garfield was my favourite take on the role.

Then there's Tom Holland. There's no doubt that his Spidey being included in the MCU has benefitted him big time and following his debut in Captain America: Civil War, there was certainly a lot riding on his own solo movie.

For me, I have to admit it's a mixed bag of a debut movie. On one hand, I'm glad it's not an origin story of sorts but on the other hand, the criticisms of the character being referred to as Iron Boy Jr are somewhat justified here.

Much as I enjoy Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark as the next person, his shadow does seem to loom over Holland's Spider-Man in a big way. As a mentor he has the worst timing in terms of guiding Peter towards becoming a better hero but I suppose maybe that works to the movie's advantage when Peter does step to save his city without an Avenger to help him.

The villain of the question is definitely the movie's plus though. Michael Keaton is excellent as disgruntled Adrian Toomes/Vulture and there's a complication when Peter becomes romantically involved with Toomes daughter Liz (Laura Harrier) bit in terms of romances, it's not one that the writers put that much emotional weight into.

Instead they focus on Toomes own resentment towards Stark costing him his business and the fight scenes between Spidey and Vulture are actually well done. There's also the added bonus of Toomes actually making it out of the movie alive, meaning that a future rematch between Spidey and Vulture is a possibility.

Another noteworthy thing would be Adrian knowing that Peter is Spider-Man but this is a movie that also wasted no time in having Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and Peter's best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) also become privy to his secret. Even Peter's other crush, the rather sardonic Michelle (Zendeya) seemed a tad suspicious of him.

- Donald Glover popped up here as the uncle of Miles Morales while other minor villains such as Shocker also made an appearance.

- We got Flash Thompson (Anthony Revolori) going out of his way to antagonise Peter while also being a fan of Spider-Man.

- Credit sequence saw Toomes keeping Peter's secret to himself in prison while Captain America made a public service announcement cameo in the movie.

- Chronology: Not long after the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Spider-Man: Homecoming to me is a decent but not spectacular debut movie for the webslinger. It doesn't quite possess the same magic as Maguire's debut but it's somewhat on a par with Garfield's. Holland does good in the role but I do feel that perhaps Tony's role should've been a bit smaller.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Spider-Man 2021 Movie - Let's Go All Multiverse

I think what I'm gonna post here will be less of a shocker and more of an inevitability. Also don't be surprised if this blog is edited in the next week or so when more information surfaces. 

It's safe to say that in the space of four years and several appearances in the MCU that Tom Holland has made the role of Spider Man his own and with his first two solo outings being overall crowd pleasers, it's probably the right time for his third outing, currently filming in Atlanta to really up the ante. Basically, it's time for the multiverse.

Rumours have been spilling for a while that Holland's upcoming third movie would delve into it's own Spider Verse and this week, that was probably confirmed. It seems that both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will be joining Tom Holland for the upcoming movie but they won't be alone. Nope, along with two other Spidermen, it's also been confirmed that Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone will be reprising their roles as Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacey respectively.

The returns of Maguire, Garfield, Dunst and Stone come after it was also revealed that Jamie Foxx and Alfred Molina would also be reprising their roles as Electro and Doc Octopus respectively. It seems that this current movie might not only be exploring the multiverse (along with WandaVision and the upcoming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness) but rumours are rife that this movie may also be giving Spidey fans the Sinister Six as several other villains (yet to be confirmed) will factor into the film. 

Other confirmed returns (as well as Holland's own cast, including Zendeya as MJ) are Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange along with Charlie Cox's Daredevil. The latter's return has especially generated excitement as many were disappointed when Netflix cancelled his show back in 2018. In the film though it seems like Cox's Matt Murdock will be representing Peter Parker in court but I don't doubt we'll get to see him briefly as Daredevil in the movie. There's also been rumours of Deadpool showing up but that hasn't been confirmed yet. Either way, this is exciting stuff. 

Press release: https://news.sky.com/story/spider-man-3-tobey-maguire-and-andrew-garfield-to-reprise-web-slinging-roles-alongside-tom-holland-reports-12156004

The yet to be titled third Spider Man film is currently in production in Atlanta with a scheduled release for December 17th 2021.