20 Best Superhero Movies Since The Dark Knight

While Spider-Man: No Way Home was the most anticipated movie since 2019's Avengers: Endgame, it was easy to be pessimistic about it. The MCU is not doing too well right now in terms of its films (mostly, anyway) and it looked worryingly likely that this would be little more than a cheap nostalgia-fest.

Still, sometimes it is absolutely wonderful to be wrong.

No Way Home isn't a shallow nostalgia-fest in the slightest. It's a viscerally enthralling, beautifully acted - especially by Willem Dafoe, who arguably deserved an Oscar nomination for his work - and deeply emotional gem that delivers a heartfelt, devastatingly effective meditation of what it means to be Spider-Man. As for the fan service moments? They are all a vital part of Spider-Man's (Tom Holland) gripping, hauntingly powerful emotional journey and they never feel cheap at all.

Aside from the fan service though, in general this is a hugely well-done superhero epic that avoids (nearly) all of the pitfalls the genre's weakest efforts fall into. It's a lovely reminder of just how good Marvel movies are when they get it right and it's a movie certain other recent Marvel flicks (looking at you, Morbius and Doctor Strange 2) could really have learned a thing or two from.