Hilarious Moments In Spider-Man: No Way Home That Had Us Cracking Up
Spoilers ahead for "Spider-Man: No Way Home"
Now that it's finally here, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" proves to be an emotional rollercoaster, cracking us up and then tearing our hearts out several times throughout the movie. As Tom Holland's Peter Parker deals with the fallout of having his identity as Spider-Man revealed to the whole world, hilarity and devastation ensue. In a poor attempt to fix things, he turns to magic to make everything go back to normal but instead ends up with strange supervillains and other versions of himself falling through the cracks in the universe.
For Peter, this movie is traumatic event after traumatic event, but of course, Marvel movies are known for having plenty of jokes sprinkled throughout the action, so "No Way Home" delivers on that comedy with several hilarious moments. It's almost too easy, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield coming in to reprise their roles as Spider-Man-slash-Peter Parker — the three of them in a room is something we could watch for hours.
So, to cope with that heartbreaking death and devastating ending, here are some of the movie's funniest moments.
J. Jonah Jameson in his makeshift studio
J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) is the true catalyst for chaos in "No Way Home," as he's the one who posts the edited video of Mysterio's (Jake Gyllenhaal) death that makes it look like Spider-Man kills him. He announces that Spidey is Peter Parker in the "Far From Home" mid-credits scene. In this world, he's reporting for his "controversial news website" called TheDailyBugle.net.
At the end of "Far From Home," his surprise appearance was everyone's first clue that "No Way Home" would get into the multiverse, as J.K. Simmons reprised his role from the Tobey Maguire trilogy. But when we see him in "Far From Home," it's clear that the MCU's JJJ has a few key differences from the one who ran a newspaper and paid Peter for his Spider-Man pictures.
When Peter gets home after having his identity revealed, he quips, "Maybe it's not such a big deal," before the scene cuts to JJJ spewing misinformation about Spider-Man. The real laugh comes when the scene reveals JJJ's amateur recording setup in front of a green screen, with tons of junk just out of his camera frame. Clearly, he's filming at home, inside of what might be his garage. This JJJ has not had the journalistic success of the original trilogy, but the amusement at his setup sours once the movie progresses and reveals that his clowning on Spider-Man gives him enough attention for him to upgrade to an actual TV set.
When Peter would rather use magic than make a phone call
The whole premise of "No Way Home" rests on Peter Parker's desperate attempt to make the world forget that he's Spider-Man. When MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) are denied acceptance to MIT, Peter goes to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in hopes of turning back time. Instead, Strange decides to cast a spell to make everyone forget, but things go awry when Peter asks him to amend it so that certain people can keep their memories.
However, this is serious magic with severe consequences, so when Doctor Strange discovers that Peter didn't think to simply call MIT and appeal to them before turning to a wizard to solve the problem, it's hilarious. While it works in the plot's favor, it also rings true for Peter, as phone calls are often the last resort — or not even considered an option — for many young people. In the end, MJ and Ned get into MIT but forget they ever knew Peter. It's a little sad to think that might have been avoided had Peter simply asked MIT to reconsider their applications, but if he'd gone that route, everyone would still know Spider-Man's identity.
MJ throws bread at Andrew Garfield's Spidey
After months of speculation about there being multiple Spider-Men in "No Way Home" and Andrew Garfield vehemently denying any involvement with it, few moments of the movie are more exciting than his first appearance in Ned's living room. Ever the funny Spider-Man, Garfield comes through the magic portal and quickly has us cracking up with his back and forth banter with the reasonably suspicious MJ.
She demands that he proves he's really Spider-Man and, inexplicably, throws a piece of bread at him. He doesn't catch it and retorts that he does have the tingle thing — you know, his spider-sense — just not for bread. The scene continues to make audiences laugh, with Ned's Lola (Mary Rivera) asking him to clean some cobwebs off the ceiling while he's up there. Fans think Garfield completely stole the show, and it's obvious he did it from his very first scene.
The best friend dilemma
One of the movie's best scenes comes after the three Spider-Men are introduced to each other and head to the high school science lab to formulate cures for the remaining villains. Perhaps the funniest part is when Ned talks to Tobey Maguire's Peter. Ned, of course, is fishing to find out if this Peter has his own Ned but quickly learns that his story is remarkably different. "My best friend died in my arms after trying to kill me," Maguire says morosely, but despite the truly tragic backstory, it's hilarious at the moment, thanks to Ned's reaction.
For context: Peter's best friend in the Maguire movies, Harry (James Franco), blames Spider-Man for killing his father — Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn — and dons the Green Goblin technology to fight him. However, before we can consider the implications of "No Way Home" curing Norman Osborn, potentially preventing his death, and what that means for Harry, the scene moves on.
The joke comes back around, though, when Ned boldly tells Tom Holland's Peter, "I won't turn into a supervillain and try to kill you." Not knowing the story about Harry, Peter is thoroughly confused by this statement, but it's funny to the rest of us. Still, knowing how the movie ends and the fact that Ned actually forgets who Peter is, it's a little sad in retrospect.
A hilariously sticky situation
The climax of "No Way Home" is rife with fantastic banter between our three Spider-Men, as they tell stories of the craziest villains they've fought and debate who will be nicknamed Peter 3. Andrew Garfield cracks Tobey Maguire's back in a cheeky little moment that shows how the two of them have aged since their early web-slinging days.
This battle with Sandman, Lizard, and Electro is full of humor, but the funniest line just might be Tom Holland's tentative but curious question upon learning that Peter 2's (Maguire) webs come out of his wrists. "Does it come out of anywhere else?" he asks. Peter 2 doesn't have time to answer before the battle is upon them again, leaving the audience, Peter 1, and Peter 3, to wonder at the sticky details of how his webs work.
Of course, web-shooting is a crucial aspect of Spider-Man's character. Still, the movies haven't all addressed it the same way. Out of the three superheroes, only Maguire's character actually biologically makes spiderwebs. In contrast, Garfield and Holland's Spider-Men had to manufacture the synthetic fluid and devices to shoot it. It works better if you try not to think about it too much.