This is another superhero movie I was not looking forward to seeing. I saw all the Toby McGuire ones and then both Andrew Garfield ones (which I liked) so having to get into a new Spiderman again was not something I was pumped up to do.

What a surprise when the movie was an absolute delight. I was giggling most of the way through. Jacob Batalon steals the show as Peter’s best friend Ned, and the entire movie read so well with Peter as a high school kid and not a grown man pining over a girl. I also liked the “admiring from afar” kind of romance story instead of the typical OMG PETER PARKER AND MARY JANE. And I was on the Academic Decathlon team in high school! I remember practicing and being an alternate and then on the team – what a neat inclusion for the plot.

There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this movie, and with the addition of Michael Keaton as Vulture the cast was just about perfect. The origin of Vulture’s motivation and methods is super clear and I love his sense of fairness and duty. This was a villain that you can feel sympathy for, a la Mr. Freeze. The story was also pretty airtight, I didn’t have a lot of complaints about plot holes, and the ending(s) feel real, appropriate, and not convenient (you guys know how I hate things that just “come together”).

The next Spiderman comes out after the Infinity War movies, so it’s going to be a while, but I look forward to seeing the next villain and the development of his relationship with MJ (Zendaya was very enjoyable in this role). Since it’s part of this long-term Marvel Universe, you should go check out this new Spiderman. I don’t think we’ll be changing again any time soon.