First 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' reviews call it 'darker' but 'entertaining'

Watch: The stars of Spider-Man: No Way Home talk to Yahoo about the superhero film

Spider-Man: No Way Home received its global premiere in Hollywood last night, and the first critical reviews have hailed it as an entertaining, fan-servicing, slightly overstuffed, superhero epic.

The film sees Tom Holland's Spider-Man grappling with his public unmasking at the end of 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, while battling some iconic villains from previous movie incarnations of the Webslinger including Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin.

Variety's Peter DeBruge calls Tom Holland's third solo (ish) Marvel Studios movie "a consistently entertaining superhero entry" teasing more surprises than fans might be expecting.

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Den of Geek's Don Kaye calls it director Jon Watts’ "most assured outing in the MCU so far" saying it bodes well for the filmmaker's next Marvel movie The Fantastic Four.

In her spoiler-free review for IGN Amelia Emberwing praised the actors "stellar performances across the board" paying particular tribute to Dafoe saying his "reprisal of Norman Osborn is something for the MCU history books".

Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, John Dafore is less effusive however, saying that Peter Parker's anguish "feels like the paint-by-numbers routine of superhero franchise-building".

The Guardian's Benjamin Lee similarly mourns the shift towards darker themes in No Way Home explaining "the lightness and genuine humour that had separated the Spider-Man movies from some of their more po-faced peers only comes in fits and starts".

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And as for those pesky rumours that have swirled around the new movie, which suggested every actor who ever played Spider-Man will pop up, the reviews are remaining mercifully spoiler-free for now.

But Indiewire's Kate Erbland teases that "the film is filled with both familiar faces and surprising additions."

Spider-Man: No Way Home is in cinemas from Wednesday, 15 December. Watch a trailer below.