The smell of buttered popcorn and the sound of excited whispers while the big screen glowed over the crowd is a familiar feeling for movie lovers everywhere. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, those familiar feelings turned into memories as streaming dominated release. When it looked like movie theaters had no hope left, there was one movie who brought it all back.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” gained plenty of hype once the trailers came out. Although the Omicron variant was surging, the movie was too tempting to wait for. People flooded theaters to watch the highly anticipated film.

“One of the reasons I went to the movie theater was because I don’t like waiting,” junior Sebastian Gil said.

Gil went to the showing with a group of friends and was relieved to be surrounded by other movie lovers.

“It’s like everyone and their mom went to see this movie,” Gil said, “It was kind of nice to be honest. I didn’t want an empty theater. This was a hype movie that needed a hyped up audience.”

As more anticipation was building up, more people wanted to see if it all was true. Junior Saioa Elesgarai gave into the pressure.

“I like the Marvel franchise, but I didn’t plan on seeing the new Spider-Man right away,” Elesgarai said. “But everyone kept hyping it up. Finally I thought, ‘screw it,’ and just went. I have no regrets.”  

One thing that may have contributed to the full movie theaters was how exclusive the movie was marketed. While other movies were released into streaming channels right away, this movie will be only in movie theaters for now. Amazon Prime will have it available for streaming in October. Because of the wait, it encouraged more people to go out into theaters after two years of dealing with the pandemic.

“It was honestly a good experience,” junior Ricardo Bello said. “I also saw a bunch of trailers from the other movies. I think I’m gonna go see those in person too.”

Before watching the film itself, Bello was able to see other movie trailers, along with everyone else in the theater. After a successful event, students reported feeling more comfortable going to additional movies, and even more social events.

“I’m relieved,”  Bellos said. “Now I feel like I won’t have to miss out on things. Obviously I’ll still take precautions, but I can also be a teenager.”

Years of fear may finally come to an end now that people found a way to come together. After selling more than 38 million tickets, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has brought new hope that social events will not die out just yet.