Our Verdict on the Spider-Man: No Way Home 'How It Should Have Ended' Parody

We sat down to react to How It Should Have Ended's parody of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and our verdict was clear by the end: this was one of our favorite HISHE videos in a while. As we put it right after the credits rolled, "That was brilliant. I think that might have been one of my favorite how it should have ended videos in a while."

Fans of the film and of HISHE's usual format will want to know why this one landed so well for us, and it comes down to how much material No Way Home actually gives a parody to work with.

Doctor Strange's Hubris Gets Called Out Immediately

The parody opens by pointing out that Doctor Strange never bothers to nail down the details with Peter before casting a multiverse-cracking spell, and we spent real time digging into why. We reasoned that Strange's arrogance predates his accident and that learning magic "overnight" only fed that hubris, so of course he would not stop to write things down or brainstorm first.

Peter's Spidey Sense and Strange's Oversharing Get Questioned

We also raised a logic problem the parody pokes at: would Peter's Spidey sense even activate for threats to people he does not personally care about, and why would Strange divulge so much sensitive information to "some children" when he is trying to fix his own mistake as fast as possible. Our answer, only half joking, was "because movie."

The Green Goblin Stabbing Gag Hits a Real Frustration

The bit that got the most genuine reaction from us was the parody's take on Peter getting stabbed right after the emotional Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland eye contact moment. We admitted the original scene got us emotional, but we also called out that the stabbing ends up meaning nothing since Peter is barely patched up afterward, saying "that dramatic feeling that we all experience was absolutely nothing. That's stupid." We would have preferred a version where Peter knowingly lets himself get hurt for a real reason.

The MJ Fall and Kiss Spell Gags Were Our Favorite Moments

We rewatched the parody's spit take on MJ's fall about five times because it was, in our words, "great," even though we felt a little guilty laughing at it. We also loved the fairy tale kiss spell bit and the Batman cameo joke about kissing people on the hand instead of the lips.

We closed by reaffirming that No Way Home is full of plot holes and contrivances, but compared it to Army of Darkness, a movie you know is silly and just enjoy anyway.

Do you think a version where MJ actually died in that climactic fall would have worked, or would fans never have accepted it?