Arts & Entertainment

Tom Holland Delivers A Riveting Performance In 'No Way Home'

Jon Watts' "Spider-Man: No Way Home," starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, arrives this holiday season. Plus, see photos from the premiere.

Tom Holland attends the Los Angeles premiere of Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
Tom Holland attends the Los Angeles premiere of Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home." (Getty Images)

"No Way Home," the highly anticipated third entry in Marvel's "Spider-Man" film series, is all set to sling moviegoers back into theaters this holiday season.

Directed by Jon Watts, the new film brings a spectacular and dizzying fun adventure, delighting audiences with a wistful affection for the superhero's two-decade screen history โ€” and a fascinating glimpse into his ever-evolving future universe.


Watch the trailer.

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In the threequel, action star Tom Holland reprises his role as Spider-Man, the powerful-yet- vulnerable superhero with web-slinging and wall-crawling abilities. Conversely, the British actor is also back as Peter Parker, the shy and nerdy high school student who gained his spider-like superpowers from a radioactive spider's bite.

The saga picks up after the events of 2019's "Far From Home." This time around, Peter is in the throes of chaos, and the entire world now knows that he is Spider-Man. Even worse, he has been wrongly accused of crimes he did not commit, leaving the young man in a vulnerable position.

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Zendaya attends Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home" Los Angeles Premiere. (Getty Images)

Also, day in and day out, we see Peter and his friends hounded by a barrage of paparazzi and conspiracy theorists like the sardonic J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) who has labeled Spider-Man a divisive and disgraceful superhero.

Amid the scandal, even Peter's loved ones โ€” Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), uncle Happy (Jon Favreau), his girlfriend M.J. (Zendaya) and best bud Ned (Jacob Batalon) โ€” have been labeled as social pariahs.

What can Spider-Man do to rectify the grim situation? Can he turn back time to change the course of events in Peter's life?


Tom Holland arrives at the LA premiere of "Spider-Man: No Way Home." (Invision/AP)

Looking for ways to get his anonymity back, Spider-Man partners up with Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), a wizard who has the power to enter alternate dimensions and universes.

Strange then casts an amnesia spell for the entire world to forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. However, for some reason, the sorcerer's magic goes awry. Instead of inducing memory loss, it opens portals to parallel universes, summoning villainous figures from past spidey movies, including Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe).


Benedict Wong (from left), Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya, and Tom Holland attend Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home" Los Angeles Premiere. (Getty Images)

At this juncture, the plot thickens. Peter's life is about to get more intriguing and exciting as the past collides with the present, setting in motion Spider-Man's most unorthodox move ever yet.

Notably, the film's first half feels somewhat higgledy-piggledy because of the complexity of time and space in multiverses. Still, thankfully, the second half propels the entire film into great brilliance with the unfettered gusto of a web-slinger in action.

In all, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is a compelling and exhilarating crowd-pleaser, anchored in Holland's tremendous screen presence and riveting performance.


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Zendaya, left, and Tom Holland arrive at the LA premiere of "Spider-Man: No Way Home." (Invision/AP)

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