Spider-Man: No Way Home Review - 7 Ups & 3 Downs

Downs...

3. The Setup Isn't Very Convincing

As soon as the movie's first trailer dropped, many fans noted that the setup for the multiverse plot seemed a little on the flimsy side.

As arrogant as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) can be, it just seemed a little too extreme for him to proceed with such a dangerous spell - making everyone forget Peter (Tom Holland) was Spider-Man.

Some even found it baffling enough to theorise that this wasn't Strange at all but an impostor like Mephisto, while others simply clung to the hope that the final cut of the film would deliver a more plausible primer for the rest of the movie.

But sadly that's not really the case, and the trailer gives a relatively accurate impression of how things play out.

It's really as simple as Peter asking Strange to cast a spell that makes the world forget he's Spider-Man, which ends up being corrupted because he continually interrupts Strange's spell and asks him to make exceptions.

It isn't terribly easy to accept that such a game-changing spell could be screwed up so easily, or more to the point, that Strange and Peter wouldn't have an in-depth chat about the spell before casting it.

Ultimately it's one of those "just roll with it" moments that you need to accept in order to enjoy the rest of the movie, but it does feel a little lazy and underwritten as setups go, honestly.