This Thursday, April 7, is the date chosen by Sony to launch ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ in Physical format. It does so in several editions, since we can get hold of it on DVD (17.95 euros), Blu-ray (19.95 euros) or UHD (24.95 euros), including a special version in a metal box that will soon be available. wear out. I remind you that I already shared my opinion about the film when it hit theaters.
The steelbook versionwhich goes on sale at the price of 29.95 euros, is the one that interests us now. For the occasion we will focus both on the presentation in a metal box and on the included extras, but also the evident jump in quality that occurs from blu-ray to 4K -something that those who have a Smart TV with adequate features will notice more, which which is not my case-, it is also worth noting a change in the original audio in English, present in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on blu-ray, but for uhd it becomes Dolby Atmos. The Spanish track is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 in both versions.
This article contains spoilers for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, so if you’ve managed to dodge them so far and want to keep it up, don’t read any further.
DEEP FOCUS AND SPLIT LENS
This is the steelbook
There are several designs of the ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ steelbook -here you can see a different one and exclusive to Amazon in the UK-. In Spain we have received the one defined with pop-art which on its cover features both the superhero played by Tom Holland and the three main villains of the show, while Doctor Strange is the main character in the back. A very colorful design that also knows how to play very well with the extension of Doctor Octopus’s tentacles.
The interior part is somewhat less attractive by focusing solely on Spider-Man’s webs. It makes sense with the theme of the film and is better than leaving it empty or black, but something more daring would have been appreciated there.
Finally, I include these two images so you can see how does it fit both the front and side design with the designs of the steelbooks launched at the time in Spain of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and ‘Spider-Man: Far from home’, in these cases the blu-ray version, since two versions of both were released in a metal box, one on blu-ray and the other on UHD ( including in turn copy on blu-ray). With ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ only a metal box version is released in Spain.
Here the size of the letters of the first installment is recovered, dispensing with the Marvel Studios logo for the first time, which had already lost its presence in the second. In addition, the Sony Pictures logo disappears at the bottom to make way for the Columbia Pictures logo. Small details, but some collectors are sure to appreciate having them at their disposal.
all extras
The Spanish edition of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ includes more than 80 minutes of additional content. All of them are also present on the blu-ray disc, which is included in both the simple 4K version and the one that concerns us now, and are divided as follows:
- ‘Outtakes’ (4:01). A compilation of some funny moments on set where things didn’t go as planned. It has a short introduction by Zendaya and Jacob Batalon. Personally, perhaps the most curious is the moment focused on the problems of benedict cumberbatch to find balance when landing on the snow. You can see them here.
- ‘Action choreography in the multiverse’ (6:25). A little review of the importance of all the preparatory work, especially that of George Cottle, second unit director and coordinator of film specialists.
- ‘A spectacular arachnid journey with Tom Holland’ (6:16). A look at Holland’s evolution in the character, including some moments from his audition for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’. More laudatory towards the figure of him than with any spirit of exhaustiveness.
- ‘Realities collide and spiders unite’ (8:09). A fun piece about the measures that were taken to keep the secrets of the film, including an injury and the selfie that one of the actors took with a doctor.
- ‘Graduation Day’ (7:07). A short report on the work of young actors. Tom Holland has a presence, being the one who closes the piece, but it revolves more around Zendaya, Tony Revolori and Jacob Batalon.
- ‘Let Strange in’ (5:04). A tour around the participation of Benedict Cumberbatch, both on the fact that he represents more of a father figure than a mentor and on the great deployment of Marvel to make the decorations of his refuge in a real way instead of limiting himself to using the digital touch-ups.
- ‘Weaving the fabric of Jon Watts’ (7:18). Several involved in the saga value the work of Jon Watts in the trilogy, who admits that “in the first I just wanted them not to kick me out“. His professionalism stands out, but also the margin that he leaves to the actors for improvisation or that the idea of giving the films an air reminiscent of John Hughes’s cinema was his idea.
- ‘Alternate Reality Winks’ (4:41). A review of 23 easter eggs included in the film. It’s not bad and you may have missed some at the time, but a complete review would be appreciated and that in the end they don’t invite you to continue looking for some not yet discovered when the video was made.
- ‘A multiverse of villains’ (6:38). Focused on the returns of Willem Dafoe, who confesses that he does not want to admit that he may be too old for projects like this, Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx and what Watts was looking for by slightly altering the image we had of these villains. Curious.
- ‘Spider Gathering: Committee of Heroes’ (7:23). Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield review different aspects of the film, from the return of villains to everything related to the problems of putting on the suit, the latter being where we find the most striking confession. It leaves you wanting a longer conversation and what is included in the blu-ray you can see here.
- ‘Sinister Summit: Committee of Villains’ (8:44). Dafoe, Molina and Foxx talk about their involvement in the film. It becomes the equivalent of the previous piece but focused on the main villains of the show. It is still a comeback version of this piece that has been online for a long time, but it is seen with pleasure, mainly because of the good vibes that the three actors transmit.
- ‘The Daily Bugle’. Three small pieces centered on the efforts of J. Jonah Jameson (J K Simmons) to tarnish Spider-Man’s good name. The funniest is the first, titled ‘Teen Horror Hits the Power Grid’ (1:15), in which the attempt to discredit the superhero goes awry. Also includes ‘Web of Lies’ (1:18) and ‘The Spider Flatterer (1:41). In the latter he also participates Tony Revoli like Flash.
- ‘Scene preview with specialists’. A review of two action scenes with comparisons between what we saw in the film and what took place during rehearsals. They are ‘The fight in the apartments’ (1:46) and ‘The Battle of the Shield’ (1:49). The second includes more scenes of the previous preparation than the first, being grateful to be able to know a little about the physical preparation behind a battle with vital importance in the film.
- ‘Film Marketing Material’. Three short promotional pieces, the first entitled ‘Lie Detector with Tom and Jacob’ (1:58), it’s basically a game between the actors using a lie detector – the most curious thing would be the ending when they ask each other if there are more Spider-mans in the movie. The second, ‘Press conference with Tom’ (1:03), turns at the start of the campaign in Paris, including brief appearances by footballers Messi and Mbappé, and the third, ‘Georgian promotion’ (1:15), is basically a publicity piece highlighting the versatility of the city of Indiana to shoot there. None of the three is of special interest.
Finally, it is worth noting that it is not included any kind of physical extra. Recall that ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ had a small comic, while in the case of ‘Spider-Man: Far from home’ a travel diary was included.
None of the extras are in a special mood to go deeper in any of the aspects that surround ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, missing some of the juiciest additional content in that direction. That yes, what there is has enough interest for those who enjoyed the film, more when it offers scenes from the shooting than when it focuses on highlighting how positive the experience was.
Unfortunately, there is no trace of audio commentary, nor are there any deleted scenes. Deleted scenes are mentioned on the back cover of the Spanish edition, but from Arvi Licensing, Sony’s distributor in physical format in Spain, we have been confirmed that it is a design error, not the disc content. A pity as well, that surely he was not the only one who was looking forward to seeing them.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (4K UHD + Blu-ray) [Blu-ray]
final notes
The steelbook is an edition essential for the most Marvel lovers in general and Spider-Man in particular, also launching at a lower price than usual -the metal box editions of Disney in Marvel in 4K come out at a slightly higher price-. With a visually attractive presentation, much more on the outside than inside, yes a little more generosity is missing in the additional content -I wish there was something about that alternative ending that was weighed-, but beware, there is more than an hour of extras when lately it is not uncommon for their presence to be reduced to the minimum expression. However, it is not just another film, we are talking about the sixth highest grossing of all time.
Arvi Licensing has given us a copy of the ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ steelbook for the production of this article.