The Best Tom Holland Movie Is Trending On Streaming
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Sure, at the end of the day, whether or not a movie is good or bad is subjective. Likewise whether or not a movie is the best or worst of any particular category is subjective. But every great once in a while a movie comes along that is so universally embraced that it’s genuinely difficult to not see its supremacy as indisputable fact. Among the films in which Tom Holland stars as a leading man, last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is certainly an example of such a flick. Whether or not it’s the best Holland flick is, yes, a matter of opinion, but in more than a few ways, it’s already won the #1 spot. For all the reasons it’s considered the best Holland movie, it’s currently at the #6 spot on Hulu’s top ten movies.
Spider-Man: No Way Home begins precisely where its predecessor, 2019’s Spider-Man: Far from Home, left off with J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) unveiling the webhead’s secret identity to the world. Fittingly, considering what happens in the rest of the film, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man almost instantly finds himself in something like a different world. With his identity revealed and a significant chunk of the world seeming to believe the lie that Peter Parker murdered Mysterio, the hero finds himself and his loved ones in all kind of trouble. Damage Control wants him behind bars, he and his Aunt May are forced to move in with Happy (Jon Favreau) in an apartment with more security than your average bank, and their new reputations as criminals leave Parker and his friends without any colleges willing to take them.
Peter turns to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help, and there’s where the real trouble begins. Strange’s attempt to cast a spell making the world forget Parker is Spider-Man damages the boundaries between the prime MCU reality and alternate ones, pulling in villains from other corners of Marvel’s multiverse. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has his first clash with the Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) of 2004’s Spider-Man 2, and soon Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) of 2002’s Spider-Man is dropping pumpkin bombs in the wrong movie. Eventually Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) of 2007’s Spider-Man 3, the Lizard (Rhys Ifans) of 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and Electro (Jamie Foxx) of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are along for the ride.
It’s to the credit of director Jon Watts — along with screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers — that Spider-Man: No Way Home breathes new life into all of Sony’s retired Spidey rogues. Spider-Man 3 is often considered one of the worst entries of the franchise, and one of the criticisms it was slammed with upon release was that with three bad guys — Sandman, Venom (Topher Grace), and New Goblin (James Franco) — the filmmakers tried to cram too many villains into one movie. In the meantime, Tom Holland faces no fewer than five villains in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and each gets a chance to shine. In particular, Willem Dafoe is more menacing than ever as the Green Goblin. Unlike in his first film appearance as the Spidey villain, Dafoe gets to jettison the mask for No Way Home, letting us see him actually act.
Holland’s third solo outing as Spider-Man stayed in theaters for months, smashing all kinds of box office records along the way. By the time it left theaters and headed for streaming, Spider-Man: No Way Home made an incredible worldwide gross of $1.9 billion. Reviewers loved the blockbuster as well, heaping enough praise upon it to give it a 93% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, coupled with a 98% audience score on the site. The only Tom Holland film with a higher score on the Tomatometer than Spider-Man: No Way Home is Avengers: Endgame, though Holland is barely in that one. As far as the audience score is concerned however, nothing has managed to beat No Way Home yet.
It remains to be seen whether or not Tom Holland will return to play the role of Spider-Man and, if so, when. Both during the promotional lead up to No Way Home and after its release, the star had some mixed messages as far as whether or not he’d continue. In some interviews he seemed to prefer the idea of another actor taking over the role, while in others he expressed interest in playing Spider-Man in specific projects. The only thing we know for sure is if he wants to return to the part, no one in their right mind will say no.
