Up until Deadpool & Wolverine came along, Spider-Man: No Way Home was easily the most financially successful and culturally impactful MCU movie of the decade so far. By teaming Tom Holland up with both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, it managed to deliver such a potent blend of multi-generational nostalgia that it took the combined might of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman for anything else to come close.
The downside of No Way Home‘s enormous success has only become apparent to Marvel fans over time, though: it’s going to be nigh on impossible for Spider-Man 4 to top it. Director Jon Watts, however, realized this straight away, even in the midst of enjoying a career high when the film came out in December 2021 to insane box office and audience acclaim.
At the premiere for his first film since, George Clooney and Brad Pitt two-hander Wolfs, Watts reflected on how “unbelievable” the release of No Way Home was — and how he was aware he would never experience anything like it again. He told The Hollywood Reporter:
“That was such a specific moment in time, and the reaction to that movie was just so unbelievable,” remembers Watts. It was at this point that the director came to the realization: “It’s never going to be like this, ever again.”
Of course, if there is one common criticism of No Way Home, it’s that it displays less of an authorial flavor than previous cinematic Spidey outings, particularly those from director Sam Raimi. Watts indicated this is something he may well be aware of as he hopes his new film will prove his critics wrong.
In a fuller interview with THR, Watts admitted that Wolfs presented a thrilling opportunity for him as it meant that, for the first time since his feature debut Cop Car, he was finally able to work on a movie that fully belonged to him and allowed him to better explore “my vision and my style.” He explained:
“I was just getting started and Marvel came along — and I take full creative ownership over all those films — but Spider-Man is always going to be Stan Lee and Steve Ditko‘s creation,” he says. “This was the chance for me to go back to my voice and my vision and my style. Wolfs is mine, and that’s a really good feeling.”
Can Spider-Man 4 be better than No Way Home?
Watts’ comments obviously refer specifically to his awareness that he’ll likely never make a project more popular than No Way Home, but his point does make you wonder: will the Spider-Man franchise as a whole be able to recapture that same lightning in a bottle next time around?
This conundrum is likely what’s causing such a long delay with Spider-Man 4 (not to mention Holland’s dedication to taking on a range of other acting challenges). As Marvel and Sony have already pulled the chord on the ultimate Spidey team-up, is there anywhere to go but down? Clearly, Deadpool & Wolverine proves multiversal crossovers are the best way forward, but No Way Home used all the best ones up in one go. I’m not sure Spider-Man 4 being built around Peter Parker battling Paul Giamatti’s Rhino with the help of Mr. Ditkovich the landlord would have the same oomph.
Then again, the latest rumors point to Spider-Man 4 tying into Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars in a big way, so perhaps a showdown between Holland’s wallcrawler and Robert Downey Jr.’s Doom could be the way to recapture the magic, in a neat inversion of the Iron Man team-up of Homecoming. It’s never going to be like this ever again, says Watts. but let’s hope he’s wrong about that.