[Note: this article contains spoilers related to the movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”]

Marvel had been giving Disney Plus show after show during the earlier half of 2021. With the 2021 year opening “WandaVision” and “The Winter Soldier” while closing it off with “Hawkeye” during the latter half, Marvel fans were left with only “Shang-Chi,” “Black Widow,” and, of course, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Closing off 2021 with a bang, Sony and Marvel finally released one of the most anticipated Spider-Man movies. After three retentions of the iconic web-slinger, the three Spider-Mans have finally come together in an epic encounter to fight some of their biggest villains. 

Now the winning moneymaker for Sony (domestically), the new Spider-Man broke box office records over Christmas. Surpassing the first Avengers movie and following close behind the lucrative “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is up with the top 10 highest-grossing movies worldwide at number eight. Ahead of some of the world’s most popular films such as Disney’s “Frozen” (one and two), Pixar’s “The Incredibles,” and eight of the nine Star Wars Movies, Spider-Man surpasses all of them despite being released during a global pandemic. 

With the rise of the highly contagious Omicron variant, it is an untimely coincidence that Marvel and Sony decided to make the new Spider-Man movie exclusively for theaters. After a wave of streaming services offering shows and new movies from the comfort of your own home, millions have been running back to theaters to watch No Way Home. Unfortunately, people sitting, eating, and occasionally screaming in an enclosed space could be a prime breeding ground for the new variant to spread. And although it seems excitement has won over fear, the launch of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in theaters could end up sending viewers all the way home.