Was the Spider-Man: No Way Home re-release more fun or overdone?

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Disney

How Spider-man: No Way Home’s re-release casts a new light on an already incredible film.

Dominique Moise, Online Editor

When Spider-Man: No Way Home was re-released on Labor Day weekend, there were a lot of questions surrounding it. Why release a great film again when it just came out last year? Is there really much more to tell? How much more is Marvel even adding? Does any part of the plot change?

However, the answers are a bit more complicated than you may think. Yes, the original film is an absolute masterpiece, but a new version wasn’t exactly asked for. The Marvel Cinematic Universes’ latest Disney Plus shows are already providing enough new content to keep fans satisfied. On top of that, Marvel films are rarely re-released of this stature with more content. Besides, can that much more be shown in just 11 minutes? Some critics would say no. That leaves us with the biggest question of all: Was a re-release necessary?

Let’s first look at what changed and what didn’t. The new version’s biggest difference is seen early in the film. After Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity is exposed to the world, the Department of Damage Control confronts him along with his girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya), best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). While this scene was somewhat brief in the original, more context is added by making the interrogator seem even more snide and contentious. The Daily Bugle news reports (by the slanderous J.Jonah Jameson) get extra footage as well. Soon after, Parker and his friends come back to school where his life feels even more nightmarish. From being peer pressured into wall-crawling during P.E. to having his powers questioned when he stops a thief, Parker feels more stress than ever.

Spider-Man and Doctor Strange’s interaction and the disastrous spell that incites chaos remains the same: find the interdimensional foes and put them back where they belong. Spidey still rejects Strange’s blunt method of sending them back and attempts to rehabilitate the criminals. Tragedy occurs with Aunt May’s death. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield come into the fold and the ramp-up to the final battle begins.

The second-to-last extra is an extended version of the three Spideys’ pre-battle discussion. Their conversation goes into even more detail about Maguire’s natural web-shooting ability. In the best way possible, it felt like a normal conversation between the boys rather than scripted dialogue.

However, the most useful part of the new version was the post-credits scene. It features Betty Brant (Angourie Rice) giving her final school news segment. Due to Doctor Strange’s memory-erasing spell, all photos and videos showing the senior class’s memories are either missing Parker entirely or have him blocked out. It truly demonstrates how drastically the spell has erased his existence. It also puts to rest the uncertainty fans had about what changed for Peter in the original showing.

But back to the original question: Was this re-release necessary? If you love Spider-Man or just want the extra bits, then yes. It’s a must-see and should excite you once again. But if the original cut was satisfying enough, then that’s all you need. Some scenes would have been better off in the original cut, while others were justifiably excluded. Overall, Spider-Man: No Way Home is still one of the best movies of all time.