The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.If there's one thing that Marvel has been able to nail down, it's how to give fans incredible theater-going experiences. A lot of their big releases have become events unto themselves; movies that you absolutely have to see on the big screen in a huge group of strangers or else you're not getting the "full experience" of viewing it. Avengers: Endgame is one of the biggest examples of this, as its release was a huge news item and demolished box office records. There was something so exciting and satisfying about watching epic moments - like Captain America picking up Mjolnir or the giant final battle with virtually every MCU character converging - in a theatre for the first time.
However, Endgame's glory didn't last for long after it was out of theatres. As fans and casual viewers kept rewatching, more and more problems with the story emerged. People pointed out inconsistent character writing and choices that didn't make sense, and began discussing the ways in which the movie fell flat and could have been done better. In a matter of months, Endgame went from being the most hailed Marvel movie to one that a lot of fans saw as mid-tier. Spider-Man: No Way Home is having a similar theater reception to Endgame, in that it's being treated as the event of the century and an absolute must-see in theaters. But does this mean that it's on the same track to being taken apart once its reign in theaters is finished?
It goes without saying that No Way Home is an absolutely unique theater experience. People were cheering and clapping for Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's appearances, and audibly reacting to many other moments in the movie. There's a lot of big action set pieces and cool visuals that play so well on a big screen, and it just works so well as a trip to the theater. It will still be a great watch from home once it's released on DVD and onto streaming services, but it has that special something that Endgame also had that allows them to play extra well in a theater.
No Way Home isn't perfect, because few movies are. Criticisms about certain choices, like Doctor Strange's plan and involvement in the movie, have already emerged. This will likely ramp up once there are home releases of No Way Home and fans can watch the movie over and over again for free. This is exactly how Endgame was dissected, and its fall from grace happened fairly quickly. However, it feels like No Way Home has a tighter story that will hold up a bit better upon multiple rewatches.
For one thing, the story is more contained. No Way Home centers around Peter Parker and his story, and isn't trying to develop ten different main characters at once. There's not a lot of jumping around to B or C plots, because the focus is on Peter and the characters around him. Not only does this lead to fewer plot holes, but it also allows for a much more coherent story that stays focused on its main goal.
It also helps that people adore Spider-Man, and love nothing more than a good Spider-Man story. No Way Home felt the most "Spider-Man" of the MCU Spider-Man movies so far, and used a lot of the conventions that were in past Spider-Man movies and comics that just make the character what he is. This movie acted as a sort of origin story for the MCU Spidey, resetting the character to something more familiar. He has a secret identity again, he had his "Uncle Ben moment" (with Aunt May this time), and he's broke and making his own suits again rather than relying on Stark tech. The movie managed to address and fix most of the problems that hardcore fans had with MCU Spider-Man, which gives it an edge against Endgame in terms of which movie is going to hold up better.
Endgame was the end of an era for Marvel, while No Way Home feels like the beginning of a new one for Peter Parker. It had a lot of pressure behind it to live up to expectations, but it wasn't expected to close an entire chapter of the MCU like Endgame was. It has its problems, for sure, but it seems like fans will be willing to look past a lot of those problems, at least more than they did with Endgame. There will probably be a lot of think pieces that come out in the next few months that discuss "Why Spider-Man: No Way Home Is Bad, Actually", but so far, it seems that it won't lose as much favor in the eyes of fans as Endgame did.
It's impossible to know for sure, since no one can predict the future, but the nostalgia that surrounds this movie might be able to shield it from a lot of criticism. No Way Home's story, while just as ambitious as Endgame's in a lot of ways, is a lot more focused and tightly written. It's harder to poke holes in because it's more contained, and people are less willing to dunk on their childhood favorite superhero Spider-Man than they are on, say, Tony Stark. Valid criticism of the movie is sure to increase as time goes on, but that criticism is going to have a much harder time lowering the opinion of No Way Home in the eyes of the fans.