What a long, strange, marvelous trip this movie is.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Spider-Man’s third film in this universe, with Jon Watts continuing to direct. The story begins immediately after the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, where Peter Parker (Tom Holland) had his identity as Spider-Man revealed by Mysterio, who also framed him for his death. Now exposed and on the run, Peter faces countless new threats in his attempt to set things right.      

After fleeing the public with MJ (Zendaya) after they hear the news, Peter seeks out help from his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). They try to relocate to hide from the paparazzi and take time to help Peter be proven innocent. Time goes on and Peter, MJ and Ned (Jacob Batalon), can move on to worrying about college admissions. Peter’s new infamy leads the trio into trouble when trying to live normal lives.

Peter eventually gets an idea that may solve all of his problems, and more importantly help his friends’ lives become easier. He plans to ask Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) if he can perform a spell to make the world forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.      

Peter arrives at The Sanctum Sanctorum and is greeted by Dr. Strange and Wong (Benedict Wong), Peter suggests his idea for the spell and Strange tells him he can do it, and after ignoring a warning from Wong, they begin the spell. However, Peter doesn’t appreciate the spells vagueness and makes multiple requests to edit the spell during Strange’s casting, causing Strange to become more and more aggravated. This ultimately leads to a malfunction in the spell, causing consequences beyond Peter’s world.      

Later, Peter meets a few familiar (to us) faces while he’s out trying to get his college life on track. Fans of Spider-Man movies beyond the MCU will be excited for the return of many villains, such as Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), who are the first to attack Peter, leading to much confusion on Peter’s part. After his first encounter with multiversal foes ends, he learns that the spell’s failure caused people from other worlds to show up in search of Peter Parker. Strange tells Peter that he needs to round them all up – in addition to the Lizard (Rhys Ifans), that Strange captured earlier – in order to send them home.      

This search leads him to meet Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and after a fight with them he manages to capture them too. While Strange prepares to send them all home, Peter learns that some of them will be sent back only to die. He realizes that he instead wants to save them from their fates, even of it means going against Strange, and all the villains that have their own perspectives on the situation.    

J.K. Simmons returns in fine form as Peter’s main antagonist, J. Jonah Jameson (although here is an Alex Jones-type internet “news” presenter and not a newspaper editor), and though he played the same character in the original three Sony Spider-Man movies, he is not part of any multi-verse exchange here. 

This story takes Peter through many challenges, physical and emotional, something he may not be able to handle alone. His heroics and heart are put to the test in a movie with tons of amazing action and visuals. There’s something for everyone in this movie, with surprise appearances and references from all over multiple universes, even beyond the MCU in one case. Stay tuned for one more universe-crossing post-credit scene, along with an extended look at Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, coming out next year,

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a thrilling ride for fans of all kinds and an incredible chapter of this Spider-Man’s journey.