So the title of the new Spider-Man movie has just been announced.
It’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. That’s good. Cool name. Dark, maybe kind of sad. I like it. I’d like to point out, though, that if this will be a trilogy when all is said and told (is it a trilogy? I tried to Google it, it doesn’t really say anything one way or the other), the title order is, shall we say, perhaps more sad and dark than it needs to be. Take a look at the movie order right now:
Homecoming
Far from Home
No Way Home It’s a bit bleak when you look at it just in terms of the title (disregarding the actual content of the films, which of course makes sense given the titles). The metaphorical context is like, Peter is home, or coming home, good. Then he’s far from home, which—again, with the context removed (he’s just in Europe for that movie, right?)—is a kind of sad, even stressful title. And then, the final kicker: no way home. Just going from the titles alone, it’s dark. I’m sure it’ll have a happy ending—but you wouldn’t know that from the title. Let’s look at it another way instead:
Far from Home
No Way Home
Homecoming That way, Peter starts out somewhere else, and has to find his way home. In the second instalment, it’s the darkest before the dawn; the challenges are greater, Peter doesn’t know if he can succeed. And then, the ending: metaphorically and literally, Peter is finally returned home. It tells a completely different story. It’s true, none of this matches the actual content of the movies—the homecoming dance plays a major role in the first one, in the second one he isn’t at home in New York—but I thought it makes for an interesting shower thought.