Not many movies come close to rivaling a Marvel movie in terms of success, especially one done this well. The fans were given exactly what they wanted with “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

To be fair, the movie was dripping with nostalgia, which in recent years has been used to oversell movies. Bringing back actors like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Willem Dafoe filled many seats on its own and was a great decision on Marvel’s part.

The numbers agree as the movie dominated the box office for a whole month. It only recently lost its top slot after “Scream” stole the spotlight its opening weekend.

Regardless of its success, I believe that “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has been blatantly overhyped, which can largely be attributed to the return of old actors.

The basis for the plot of “No Way Home” is one of the most ridiculous I have ever seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). 

When Tom Holland’s Spider-Man asked Dr. Strange for help returning his life to normal and getting his friends into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), I was laughing at the absurdity. The resulting disaster from such a simple request then left the world in danger. It is easily one of the dumbest reasons in the MCU for having the world put in harm’s way.

The ordeal made Tom Holland’s Spider-Man harder to root for since it felt like he had put the world in danger for next to nothing. The ranking of each viewer’s Spider-Man actors is surely shaken after this movie and seeing all three side-by-side. Andrew Garfield, especially, brought more to the table than I thought he would.

Villains encountered in the movie are also sure to bring back memories of days gone by. The interesting thing to consider is that every villain in the movie has already been defeated in a previous movie. This leaves a strange feeling and makes the villains feel less threatening. It leaves room for other conflicts which create more depth than would be seen in a stereotypical superhero movie.

While the world was in danger during the movie, the only people seen trying to save it were mainly the three Spider-Men and Dr. Strange. The other Avengers were nowhere to be found, which is an annoying detail that Marvel expects you to overlook for the sake of your own entertainment. This issue can be pointed out in other Marvel movies but is a glaring issue in “No Way Home.” Cutting it close always makes for better entertainment, but this detail is annoying.

The movie itself feels like it was meant to fill certain holes in the MCU or erase them entirely. The movie will be pivotal for coming Marvel titles, but the problem is that more questions were raised than were answered. The end of the movie leaves far too much on the table. Marvel will find a way to have it all make sense somehow, but it does not make it any less frustrating now.

In terms of Marvel movies, “No Way Home” is a great movie. However, in relation to other recent Marvel releases, I thought “Eternals” was much better. With “No Way Home,” recency bias is strong. The plot and ending both left too much to be desired to have this much hype.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing, however, and seeing old actors brought back left me with a large smile on my face. 

Overall, a strong showing by Marvel even with a few issues. I fully believe the movie deserves an 8/10.