On PPV: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

 Former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada can be blamed for one of the most controversial Spider-Man storylines in the last 20 years, because it was published on his watch.

Sometime after the first Civil War miniseries, in which Spider-Man revealed his secret identity as Peter Parker, Quesada green-lit "One More Day", in which, in exchange for his ID being erased from people's memories, Peter's marriage to Mary Jane Watson ended after 20 years or so in the comics. Quesada's attitude was, heroes like Spider-Man shouldn't be happy. Apparently, he might've been in the minority when Marvel did the wedding as an Amazing Spider-Man annual, which was one of the first Marvel comics of the modern era to garner mainstream media attention.

This change briefly took effect in the daily newspaper strip, written by co-creator Stan Lee. However, Lee rebelled against Quesada's edict, and restored the marriage in the strip in short order.

Hollywood's answer is "Spider-Man: No Way Home". Where in the comics Mephisto made the deal with Peter, the iteration of the devil has not been introduced in the cinematic universe as yet. So, after the conclusion of the last Spider-film, "Far From Home", Peter's ID has been compromised, thanks to the machinations of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhall), who had been killed off in the last film. J. Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) and the Daily Bugle, of course, are at the forefront, but the Bugle's not just a newspaper anymore, at least in this context.

So Peter meets with Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Chaos follows because of Peter's bumbling. The multiverse opens, allowing some familiar villains to reappear. Electro (Jamie Foxx). Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina). Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). Dr. Curt Connors, aka The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). Flint Marko, the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). The two previous cinematic iterations of Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire & Andrew Garfield) also surface. There's also attorney Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), advising Peter (Tom Holland) and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), who's still got the attention of Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau).

Check the trailer.

Sony & Disney/Marvel spent a chunk of cheddar on CGI & FX for this one. A little too talky at the start, as if they thought they needed everything explained. Soundtrack includes De La Soul's "The Magic Number", from their 1989 debut, "Three Feet High & Rising". "Number" is based on the Schoolhouse Rock track, "Three is a Magic Number". The late Bob Dorough was given credit as the writer.

The current "Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness" picks up where "No Way Home" leaves off. We'll look at it another day.

Rating: A-.