*Possible spoiler warning*

   The first Spider-Man movie was released in 2002, with Tobey Maguire as the face of the ‘friendly neighborhood’ superhero. For the past 20 years, Spider-Man has spent his time gracing the big screen as well as being a seminal figure in Marvel Comics history. Despite not being introduced until almost two decades after the first Marvel Comic was released, Peter Parker is one of the most beloved superheroes of all time. That isn’t an opinion or any stretch of the imagination. A study conducted in late 2021 by OnePoll, found that Spider-Man has a 46% lead as one of America’s favorite superheroes. 

  “Spider-Man: No Way Home” currently ranks as one of the highest-grossing films of all time and has a rotten tomatoes audience score of 98%. The movie sits at number four on the domestic box office record by Box Office Mojo.

   Connor Euton (12) has his own take on the beloved movie. The third movie of the Tom Holland series was not a triumphant film in Eutons eyes 

   “That movie sucked,” Euton said.

   Euton went to see the film over winter break and does not encourage anyone to see the movie. 

“I wish I wouldn’t have… It was such a waste of time,”  Euton said. wait until it’s on Disney plus,” Euton said. 

   However, the movie will not show up on Disney plus anytime soon. Sony Pictures currently owns the movie rights to Spider-Man and all of his side characters. Marvel has been able to negotiate Peter Parker into multiple movies owned by Disney, but the remainder of the movies exist separately across multiple streaming platforms. Fans can see their favorite adolescent superhero in multiple animated TV shows and shorts that now stream on Disney plus. 

   Delaney Ryan (9) went to see the film over break as well. She has only seen the Spider-Man movies led by Tom Holland and out of the three, ranked No Way Home number one.

  Ryan was shocked and impressed by the film 

   “It was really good. I think people should go see it,” Ryan said. 

   Euton described the movie as disappointing and underwhelming. 

   “It was really hyped up and… I was expecting it to be sweet but it just wasn’t,” Euton said. 

   Owen Patak (11) grew up watching the Spider-Man movies and has been a fan for years. Patak described the film as nostalgic. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” features villains from the past Spider-Man storylines. 

   “I [liked] sandman’s villain arc the most,” Patak said. 

“Spider-Man 3” is where the villain, Sandman, was originally featured and the actor got to reprise his role in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” 

   “He’s kinda doing it all for his daughter… At the end of [“Spider-Man: No Way Home”] he shows a lot of remorse and sympathy for Tom Holland,” Patak said.

   Patak encourages everyone to go see the third part of the Tom Holland series. 

   “I think neglecting all the other [movies] will really put you in a position where you’ll probably think it’s good because people told you it was good rather than you developing your own opinion on [the film],” Patak said. 

   Euton, like Patak, has seen the previous Tom Holland Spider-Man series as well as the movies led by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. 

   “[“Spider-Man: No Way Home”] wasn’t as good as the prior ones,” Euton said. 

  Teacher Brandon Allen has not seen the film yet but was spoiled on how it ends. Allen, like many fan theorists, saw the reprising of Maguire and Garfield’s roles as Peter Parkers’ from a mile away.

   “You can’t go on the internet and not get spoiled,” Allen said. 

   The villains featured in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” all came from prior Sony Spider-Man films. Allen was a kid when the Tobey Maguire films were being released 

   “If you didn’t see some of the older ones, [the villains] don’t mean as much to you,” Allen said.

   Although Peter Parker is the main character, many fans went into the movie excited to see the villains of past films. 

   “I remember vividly seeing Willem Dafoe or Doc Ock being the idealistic sympathetic villain,” Allen said. 

   What is known now as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has a plethora of villains to sympathize with.

    “[The villains are] kind of two dimensional… I feel like those earlier villains from those older Spider-Man movies had more flushed-out backstories…More time to be characters that you actually were attached to/hated/understood and that’s not something that we see as often anymore,” Allen said. 

   The web-slinger’s history is a long and well-known one. The story might be old, but the character is timeless. Peter Parker is a character that almost every high schooler can relate to. He experiences all the struggles that come with being a teenager, a high school student, and on top of it all, being a superhero. 

Gallery • 4 Photos

Emily Widman (Senior)

Pictures from the ‘Marvel: Universe of Superheros COSI exhibit. The exhibit will last til May 2022.