WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home, now playing in theaters.

All the live-action cinematic adaptations of Spider-Man are revisited prominently in Spider-Man: No Way Home, from the Sam Raimi-helmed trilogy that starred Tobey Maguire as the web-slinging superhero to the pair of films directed by Marc Webb that starred Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. And in drawing in numerous elements and plot points from 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the film helps give some overdue love to a movie that has been widely maligned and brought a premature end to Garfield's tenure as Spider-Man, effectively redeeming The Amazing Spider-Man 2's place in the wider Spider-Man franchise.

While The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has certainly earned its fair share of loyal fans, it also has the lowest critical score in the cinematic franchise's history, with a critics' score of 52 percent on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. The 2014 film also has the lowest box office totals in the franchise to date, earning $202.9 million in North America and $709 million at the combined worldwide box office. This led to Sony quietly canceling plans for direct sequels starring Garfield scheduled for 2016 and 2018 along with a whole line of spinoff films. And with No Way Home bringing back Garfield's portrayal as Spider-Man back to the big screen for the first time since The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the 2014 film gets the cinematic continuation it was denied for the past seven years.

RELATED: LISTEN: Spider-Man: No Way Home Launches Real-World Tip Line for Peter Parker Sightings

Peter Parker looking at a wall of potential spin-offs in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

In the final moments of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker was still working through the grief of his universe's Green Goblin murdering his girlfriend Gwen Stacy, taking approximately a year sabbatical from being Spider-Man to mourn before reclaiming his superhero mantle to battle the Rhino. No Way Home's climactic battle not only gives Garfield's Peter closure over Gwen's death but allows him the chance to reconcile with Electro after the supervillain is cured by a device that the heroes develop to ensure Max Dillon will survive his battle with his world's Spidey at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

More than just giving Peter closure, however, the return of Garfield's Spider-Man offers a darker contrast to the Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man and Maguire's portrayal of the superhero. Over the course of No Way Home, Garfield's Spider-Man reveals the death of Gwen left him more violent and bitter as he continued to fight villains in his universe. And with Tom Holland's Spider-Man struggling with his own feelings of vengeance that makes him ready to cross the line and kill the Green Goblin, Garfield's Spider-Man shows the MCU Peter what could happen if he continued to be motivated by grief and revenge, echoing the unseen adventures that followed after the events The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in that Spider-Man's universe.

RELATED: Spider-Man: No Way Home Includes a Subtle Update on Vulture's Daughter Liz

andrew garfield in the amazing spider-man Cropped (1)

Themes and narrative possibilities aside, No Way Home gives Garfield, as an actor, closure he was denied by having his intended return to the role of Spider-Man for an Amazing Spider-Man 2 sequel canceled. Maguire similarly is provided the opportunity to gain his own sense of closure in playing Spider-Man after plans for a sequel to 2007's Spider-Man 3 were also canceled. Both actors get to don the familiar red and blue costumes once again on the big screen and Garfield is afforded multiple occasions to good-naturedly poke fun at his films while getting a major emotional payoff. Fans may not have gotten an Amazing Spider-Man 3, but, with Garfield's prominent role at the end of No Way Home, his Spider-Man gets one last chance to shine while its revisited plot elements restore the film's importance to the overall franchise.

To see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 find redemption, Spider-Man: No Way Home is in theaters now.

KEEP READING: Tom Holland Looked Too Cool, Not Nerdy Enough in His First Spider-Man Audition