One of No Way Home's lines basically sums up a frighteningly realistic fear: “Biggest challenge — college admissions!”
If you’re not a college student or graduate from generation Z specifically, you probably won’t fully understand. Millennials didn’t have it easy either, but the college application process has become a massively demoralizing, all-consuming road in which young adults think will determine the rest of their lives. And No Way Home emphasizes that to the point where Tom Holland’s Peter Parker goes so far to get his friends into MIT that he accidentally endangers the multiverse — aka all of humanity.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange associates Peter’s naivety from being “just a kid,” but he’s wrong. Peter’s impulsiveness isn’t because he’s young. It’s because he’s desperate to fix everything he inadvertently caused. And his and his friends’ college careers are of the utmost importance, according to societal customs. What are they going to do without getting into any college after attending a prestigious Manhattan science public school? Was all their hard work for nothing? After all, MJ and Ned aren’t superheroes; they’re just normal students who don’t have many options. So, they wouldn’t have the same thrilling sense of purpose that Spider-Man has. And of course, who could forget about the uber-obnoxious fellow student who (although unintentionally) brags about his college future by wearing an MIT sweatshirt? Good for you, bro, but not everyone can celebrate.
We all know what that’s like.
Aside from the nationwide college issue though, a huge part of NWH that separates it from the other Marvel blockbusters is its focus on loneliness, and how to deal with it.
After watching Aunt May die, Peter rightfully so feels deeply angry and vengeful. And once, of course, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Peters waltz in, MJ tells them that she and Ned are “all [Peter] has.”
To top it all off, Peter can’t even keep the only two people in his life at the end. He has to succumb to Strange’s spell and erase the world’s memory of him. But by putting away that love note to MJ that explained everything, Peter embraces a new life — alone. No friends, no family, no college, not even new roommates. However, he doesn’t wallow in self pity, like a tru hero shouldn’t do. He embodies the lesson that being alone is okay.
While it’s a painful ending for everyone rooting for him, primarily his relationship with MJ, the billion-dollar hit earns its place as one of the most effective Marvel hits, maybe even above Avengers: Endgame. But that’s a whole other debate that no one should get into for a while.
And now for what’s perhaps the most obvious theme in NWH: the media. In a bit of a satirical way, we see just how toxic the media in general is. Yet, we all still consume it. Some of us even work in it. So, why do we put up with it?
As you watch Peter get followed to his apartment by news helicopters (then of course J. Jonah Jameson), you’ll see just how crazy it all gets. But the real insanity is when MJ and Ned have to face it all too. That’s how NWH reveals the current toxicity of the media: no matter how aware we all are of it, we still gravitate toward the most fascinating story.
Most people still watch Dateline on 20/20, while others stream or watch CNN all day, and these outlets in addition to countless others all broadcast topics that certain audiences get divided over.
It’s hilarious when Peter runs into his school principal, who is clearly Team Peter, by creating a mirage of his face, yet it’s scary too because even the janitor is strictly against Spider-Man, choosing Team Mysterio — it all certainly looked familiar to eras of Team Edward vs. Jacob, or worse, Democrats vs. Republicans vs. stark Trump supporters.
The division as a result of the media isn’t just apparent throughout the movie. It’s unfortunately so ingrained into its storyline that audiences find it normal. And the characters within the movie even accept it after a while (sort of).
Overall, you may be wondering — why on earth is this particular Spider-Man movie getting its billion-dollar box office status (amid a pandemic no less)? You might mistake the reason as simply Garfield and Maguire‘s return. But this film has much more than just fanfare. And when you reach the end, you quickly realize this is not some cute coming-of-age story either. It’s reality, just warped into a fantasy within a multiverse of different realities.