I was excited to add a new DVD to my collection of Marvel movies this weekend. I wanted to see Spider-Man: No Way Home on its opening weekend, but I wasn’t able to. Even a week later when I went to the theater people were still cheering to see some special guests appear on the screen. Fans had been speculating for some time that there would be more than one Spider-Man in the movie, and they were right.

If you aren’t familiar with the history of the Spider-Man movies, let me bring you up to speed. The character first appeared in Marvel comic books in 1962. Sony Pictures bought the film rights to the character in 1999 and proceeded to make three Spider-Man films staring Toby Maguire. The series was rebooted in 2012 with a new actor, Andrew Garfield, and two more films. For some people, that was enough of the Spider-Man story–but not for everyone.

In 2008, Marvel started making its own movies, using characters that weren’t wrapped up in deals with other producers. Then, in 2009, Disney purchased Marvel Entertainment, bringing most of Marvel’s comic book characters into the Disney family. In a complicated deal with Sony, Disney obtained the right to use Spider-Man in five films. A new actor, Tom Holland, took on the role, first appearing in Captain America: Civil War in 2016.

After two full-length films of his own and two more appearances in other Marvel films, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man prepared for his third big movie. This time, Spider-Man would be up against several villains at once while also trying to repair a damaged barrier between the many realities of the multiverse.

A New Approach

According to movie trailers, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man would be battling the villains from the three Toby Maguire films and the two Andrew Garfield films when they all get pulled into our universe looking for Peter Parker (Spider-Man). If the villains arrived from other universes, it was hoped that the heroes would show up, too. And they did! In the new movie, Maguire, Garfield, and Holland team up on screen to the delight of Spider-Man fans everywhere.

Before Spidey helps arrives, the newest and youngest, Spider-Man has to deal with his strange new enemies and figure out how to get them back to their own universes. But that becomes a problem when he learns that for most of these bad guys, going back to their own timeline means going back to their fate—which is to die in a battle against their own Spider-Man.

Very quickly, the story becomes about redemption. Can the villains be saved from their fate? Can they be saved from what they have become? And can the Spider-Man versions from the other universes find healing by changing their own timelines? Do they all deserve a chance to escape the webs of their past and live a different kind of life?

A Second Chance for Them

We usually think of redemption as doing something good in the present to make up for something bad we did in the past. But here’s the amazing thing about Spider-Man: No Way Home. The villains of all the previous movies were given another chance—not because of anything good they had done and not because of anything they promised to do in the future. The only thing they had to do was to stop fighting.

Each of the villains in the first five movies (except one) died because he fought Spider-Man, trying his best to kill the hero who stood in the way of his evil plans. The villains were doomed, not because is their past crimes, but because they kept fighting.

The three Spidey guys work together to find cures for the odd ailments that turned each of the villains into super bad guys. Rather than finishing them off, rather than sending them home to face their fates, the Spideys take away the deformities that made each of the men evil by nature. The men are then sent home to finish their fights with their own Spider-Man. But with their hearts and heads changed for the better, there is hope for their redemption.

A Second Chance for Us

Does that story seem familiar to you?

As humans, we are born with a deformity that keeps us at odds with our Creator. It’s called the sin nature. As Paul said:

• “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out” (Romans 7:18).

• “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

• “And in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

But we have been offered redemption, just like the Spider-Man villains:

• “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

• “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe… and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22, 24).

Paul even explains how it all works:

• “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25-26).

We are given a second chance to live the kind of life God designed us for and to live in a close relationship with God. Not because of anything we’ve done. Not because of anything we promise to do in the future. The only condition for our salvation is this—we stop fighting and place our faith in Jesus. When we do, our story changes completely. And that’s pretty amazing!

If you would like to know more about what it means to place your faith in Jesus and to accept his offer of redemption, please send me a message. I would love to talk with you.

If you would like to know more about using movies and other stories to reach people with the gospel, please check out my book, Finding Your Part in God’s Master Story: An Exploration of Christian Worldviews.