Four years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), the world does not remember Peter Parker (Tom Holland). During this time, Peter has been protecting New York City from street-level crime anonymously as Spider-Man while distancing himself from his loved ones, M.J. (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), so that they may continue living successful, and safe, lives. After stopping a tank from crashing into the Department of Damage Control, Peter encounters a body-hopping consciousness that uses others to commit their crimes!

After being introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was limited to a high-school setting under the mentorship of established adult characters. In his fourth movie, he finally has a solo outing, catching up to Tobey Maguire’s interpretation of the character in 2004’s Spider-Man 2. Peter Parker now lives alone in a NYC apartment, spending his time working tirelessly as Spider-Man at the expense of his private life while undergoing a physical manifestation of his emotional state.

The movie looks rich and believable due to the use of real sets that incorporate real-world parkour movements and influences from PlayStation’s Marvel’s Spider-Man game. Lead Tom Holland digs deep to finally deliver an emotionally fraught Spidey caught in the middle of his crushing responsibility and his want of a life of his own.

Verdict: While reductive, it is the strongest MCU Spider-Man movie, finally positioning the character in line with his comic-book origins. The movie is, however, hindered by Marvel’s usual approach of shoehorning in characters and plot lines to serve its wider cinematic universe. 3.5 stars. Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net. Viewed at Dendy Cinemas.