What makes a Spider-Man? Is it the spider powers? The tragic backstory? The dilemma of the dual identity?

Watch Spider-Man No Way Home Full Movie

The injustice of being penniless while being targeted by a ruthless media circus that frames him as a monster? The plight of Peter Parker is so irresistible that each of the "Spider-Man" movies can't help but try to tackle it in some way, putting a twist on that familiar origin story by introducing some fresh tragedy. But Tom Holland's Spider-Man hasn't really had the chance to have his origin story — introduced swiftly in the supersized extravangaza that was "Captain America: Civil War," and getting set up for teen superhero antics by his mentor/father figure Tony Stark in his first film "Spider-Man: Homecoming." It took a little time, but Holland's Peter Parker finally gets an origin story of sorts with "Spider-Man: No Way Home," a whirlwind universe-shattering adventure that might best be described as fan service with heart.

There's a lot to be nervous about with "Spider-Man: No Way Home," a film tasked with bridging the gap between the Marvel and Sony Spider-universes, introducing a novel concept (the multiverse) to the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and following up that whopper of a cliffhanger from "Far From Home," in which Spider-Man's secret identity was revealed to the entire world. It's a miracle that the movie has any time for Peter Parker at all. But despite all the clutter and the chaos, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" manages to bring it — well — home, for Holland's Peter Parker. And it does it by looking back at the past and grappling with the legacy of Spider-Man, both in-universe and out (pun intended).