Ep. 21 - Spider-Man No Way Home with Roseanne Caputi & Kids

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A happy and healthy 2022 to all of you Fabulous Film Loving Friends out there! We’re ringing in the New Year by pandering to the masses and discussing the latest and biggest Marvel blockbuster to date, 2021’s Spider-Man No Way Home, directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland as everyone’s favorite wisecracking wallcrawler. 

Joining me today are two of the stalwart members of  Disney/Marvel’s key demographic,  my 11 year old nephew Raphael and my son Marco. And serving in the role of the exasperated, disheartened chaperone, my sister  Roseanne Caputi. 

Before we dive in: the synopsis!

The 8th solo live action Spider-Man movie but the third film in a recent trilogy which picks up exactly where the previous film, Spider Man Far From Home left off, Spider-Man No Way Home finds its teenaged hero Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, framed for the murder of his enemy Mysterio, while at the same time, having his secret identity as Spider-Man revealed to the entire world via a prerecorded and heavily edited video sent by Mysterio before his death. 

With much of the world believing Mysterio to be a hero, Peter is thrust into the position of having to clear his name legally and endure the hostility of John Q. Public. This, in turn, causes not only his college application to M.I.T. to be denied but also the applications of Pete’s girlfriend M.J. and best friend Ned Leeds as well. 

Believing his life and that of those around him to be ruined, Peter solicits the help of Dr. Stephen Strange, a fellow superhero and sometime teammate on the super team known as the Avengers. Strange is the Master of The Mystic Arts and Pete asks him to create a spell that will make the entire world forget that he is Spider-Man. 

Dr. Strange agrees reluctantly, but the spell goes awry due to Peter’s interference in its incantation and instead of making everyone forget Spider-Man’s secret identity, the spell opens a portal to comic book gobbledygook known as the multiverse, where all the villains in the various dimensions (i.e. different movie series with Spider-Man) who know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man start to appear.   

This villainous roster includes Dr. Octopus, The Green Goblin and Sandman from the first Sam Raimi directed trilogy, and Electro and The Lizard from the second film series directed by Marc Webb. 

Dr. Strange has the ability to send the villains back to the universes in which they belong, but upon hearing that most of those villains will die battling Spider-Man, Peter disobeys and disables Strange and sets upon a mission to cure the villains of their evil ways. 

This plan, of course, backfires terribly and Pete is beset by unimaginable tragedy and a sense of utter hopelessness but Ned and MJ, in trying to locate Peter through a magic ring, call upon other figures from the multiverse who arrive to help Peter see the truth about the purpose of Spider-Man and to save the day. 

And that, my friends, is NOT a simple plot synopsis but I think it’s as clear cut and fathomable as I can make it. 

What's it all mean? Is it any good? 

Find out!

WARNING:  this podcast reveals MASSIVE SPOILERS!!