With buildup for the newest “Spider-Man: No Way Home” spanning multiple years since the last movie, excitement soared to new heights in what was already a widely proclaimed Spider-Man series. Rumors surrounding the film lasted months, speculating the return of former Spider-Man villains, and even a possible appearance of past Spider-Men themselves (Tobey Maguire, from the “Spider-Man” trilogy, and Andrew Garfield, from the “Amazing Spider-Man” 1 and 2).

However, going into the film, the trailer and other promotional material for the new Spider-Man showed very little about the storyline; the trailer did tease the return of former Spider-Man villains but little more. After the conclusion of the last movie in the series, “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” Peter Parker’s hidden identity had been revealed to the world. Many questions were left to be answered leaving fans, such as myself, on the edge of their seats. How would Spider-Man adjust to being in the public eye? Who would he even be fighting in this movie? And could we potentially see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprise their roles as Spider-Man?

After watching the movie, it easily surpasses the past movies in the series, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” I’d even go so far as to say that this was one of the top superhero movies I’d ever seen, with nearly every aspect of the movie reaching or exceeding the high expectations coming in. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” captivated me throughout with a wide variety of fights, an interesting storyline, great performances by every main character, and the nostalgia of the return of Maguire and Garfield.

One of my few complaints was the slow start to the movie. Though it effectively developed the backstory to Peter Parker and reminded fans of what happened previously, the beginning of the film left me worried about the direction of the movie. Peter Parker was battling with how he should fix the consequences of his actions after convincing Dr. Strange to go through with an impossible spell. However, after an entertaining fight scene with Dr. Strange had the action catapulted to a high level, I would stay intrigued throughout the rest of the movie.

Next, the villains provided the perfect foil for Spider-Man. The past villains combined to form a strong team to torment Spider-Man. The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) has a scary good performance that will leave you thinking about his maniacal laugh and intimidating actions long after the movie concludes. Doc Ock reprises his old role nearly as strong and carries a few terrifying scenes in the movie. While a few villains were left underdeveloped such as The Lizard (whose entire motivation was to turn the world into lizards), as a whole the group of villains is a hair-raising group and left me wondering whether Spider-Man would succeed, a necessary element in a superhero movie.

Finally, the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield was more than just a service to the fans; I felt their parts cemented “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as such an entertaining movie. After their entrance, the trio of Spider-Men steals the show, with nostalgic call-backs, and great chemistry between the three acting as the same character with different qualities. The fight scenes with the Spider-Men working together were fascinating, and any viewers of the earlier Spider-Man films would be excited to see these former heroes in action again. While the movie would have been good without Maguire and Garfield, with them it was something unlike I’d ever seen before in a superhero movie.