For Marvel, 2021 was a busy year, with the release of numerous high-profile TV shows and new movies. Predictably however, the one thing that stood out for them the most last year was the most highly anticipated movie of 2021; Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The excitement has translated into big box office results, being the only movie to make one billion dollars worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic (over $1.6 billion to be precise). It has also emerged as the highest grossing film of 2021, despite only having two weeks to claim that honour with its 15 December release date. It is by a country mile the most commercially successful film of the pandemic era, as well as being the most successful Spider-Man film and the eighth highest-grossing film of all time. So how has it managed this?
Nostalgia is something of a cliché in the blockbuster market and has been written about to death, but it is also impossible to fully appreciate No Way Home‘s success without a trip down memory lane. This is of course no unique to Spider-Man. With the revival of the Scream series and its returning faces (such as Neve Campbell’s character Sidney Prescott) as well as The Matrix Resurrections marking the return of Neo and Trinity, No Way Home is in good company when it comes to the use of nostalgia to attract fanbases. Except Spider-Man has been able to make use of it on such a scale and with more success than either of these two films, particularly Resurrections which opened strongly but has proven to be something of a box office bomb.
The form of sentimentality that Spider-Man in particular plays on has been an evident selling point for the movie. When the first trailer came out, it ended with the return of an old favourite; Doctor Octopus (played by the returning Alfred Molina, 17 years after he last appeared as Doc Ock). For fans of Spider–Man 2, this was very exciting to say the least. Another thing that fans of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films would have got psyched for was the return of Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, who first appeared in Spider-Man (2002.) The second trailer gave fans of The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2 equal cause for celebration, providing a better look at Electro and The Lizard—two of the most prominent villains from Andrew Garfield’s tenure as Spider-Man.
No Way Home was able to capitalise on not one, but three generations of Spidey fans, practically guaranteeing that audiences would be returning to the cinema in droves in spite of lingering pandemic concerns. However, the stars have made clear that they didn’t return to their iconic roles purely because of for commercial interest. During a Comic Con Experience (CCXP) panel held last month, featuring Dafoe, Molina & Jamie Foxx, you get an unmistakable impression of how much the roles mean to them on a personal level. Dafoe even reveals that he only agreed to do the role on the condition that he was allowed to do all of his own stunts, showing the passion he has for the movie and the role even at 66 years old. The veteran actor’s performance has entranced audiences, with many taking to social media to discuss how he is potentially the best villain to grace the Marvel scene.
After the movie’s release and one of Hollywood’s worst kept secrets of recent years was finally revealed, Andrew Garfield was able to break out of his shackles and talk about the movie on the Happy, Sad and Confused podcast. He talked about how much he loved his role, so much so he improvised certain lines during the film. “There’s a line I improvised in the movie, looking at [Maguire and Holland] and I tell them I love them,” Garfield said, “that was just me loving them.” He also goes on to say how he saw them as a family, with him being the middle child. All of this goes to show Garfield returned because he loved his role. This evident enjoyment filtered through into the movie, resulting in a Spider-Man film that is as thrilling as it is fun and genuinely emotional.
But looking back only partially explains No Way Home‘s success. Plenty of time spent looking forward has played its part too. As with anything released by Marvel, expectations and theories played a huge role in the success of the movie and helped to build sensational levels of pre-release hype.
On top of the records No Way Home has already broken, it has also enjoyed second-highest opening day box office gross. The only movie to have a better opening day is Avengers: Endgame, the biggest and most successful comic book movie that there is. Now it could be said that the fact that they are both Marvel is the reason for their huge success. However, another thing the pair have in common is expectancy. With Endgame, it was the hope of seeing their favourite heroes return following the snap. With No Way Home, fans were hoping to see three spider-men on their screens, with Garfield and Maguire’s notable absence from any trailers or marketing materials just fuelling the speculation. And in both circumstances, hopes became reality. With all of this excitement, fans did not want the movie to be ruined (with media leaks on services like TikTok coming perilously close to doing so). As is the case almost every time, unbridled excitement equals big audiences and big box office returns, a hype that the film managed to build almost effortlessly.
Other movies also gave fans something to feed on, movies that might have encouraged alternative audiences to seek out No Way Home. The post-credits of Venom: Let There Be Carnage features Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) being teleported to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man’s universe, which had people speculating about his role in the movie. Hardy was ultimately not in No Way Home, instead popping up in a mid-credits sequence. He is subsequently sent back to his universe, seemingly ending any immediate chance of Venom appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe… were it not for a part of the symbiote seemingly being left behind.
All in all, No Way Home gave fans what they wanted; more proof that fan service, when done right and with some thinking behind the surface appeal, is a sure-fire recipe for success. The latest Spider-Man film has just been usurped as the current box office leader, but it continues to rake in millions and it seems highly unlikely that it won’t go higher than eight in the all-time rankings.
Words by Arib Dauhoo
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