Spider-Man: No Way Home is finally here, and wow, what a picture. One of the most ambitious Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to date, No Way Home is a celebration of Spider-Man and the comic books that inspired him. Now we’re not going to lie; there’s a lot going on in this action movie, we’ve five Spider-Man villains, a magical spell gone awry, and the future of the multiverse itself in peril, so it’s easy to get lost.
Thankfully we’re something of a scientist when it comes to Spider-Man, so if you did get lost in the sticky web of multiversal madness, we’ve got you covered. They’ll be spoilers from now on, and we should say No Way Home really is a film that needs to be seen to be believed, so if you’ve not watched it swing on over to your local multiplex and soak in the Spider-Juices.
Still with us? Good, we’re about to get spoilery. No Way Home picks up exactly where Far From Home left off with Spider-Man’s secret identity outed to the world. While Peter (Tom Holland) quickly gets off his murder charge, he and his friends have their lives effectively ruined because of their association with Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Ending explained
Desperate and with nowhere to turn, he goes to the one man who might be able to help him, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). The Bleeker Street magician quickly agrees to help Peter by making the world forget his secret identity, but things quickly go wrong. As Peter puts caveat after caveat on the spell, Strange loses control of his magic and is forced to shut down the spell.
It’s soon revealed that rather than making the world forget Peter’s secret, it has instead summoned people from the multiverse who know who Spider-Man really is. After a quick battle with Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Peter manages to capture him and return him to Strange’s Sanctum Santorum, where the sorcerer reveals he’s captured the Lizard (Rhys Ifans) before tasking Peter with tracking down the myriad of multiversal miscreants still running free.
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After a battle with Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) at a powerplant, there’s just one bad guy left, the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). Amazingly though, the Goblin hands himself over to Peter, the Norman Osborn identity seemingly having reasserted itself over his villainous alternate identity. As Strange prepares a spell to send everyone back to their home dimensions the villains come to a realisation. The last thing they all remember is being killed by Spider-Man.
Not wanting to doom these villains to what’s effectively a death sentence, Peter asks Strange what they can do to help them, but the sorcerer dismisses the idea. The two heroes then begin fighting, and Peter comes out on top after using the power of math to steal Strange’s magical ring trapping him in the Mirror Dimension.
Peter then vows to cure the villains before he sends them back, so they’ll get the opportunity to survive in their own dimensions. With no other option – Peter gives MJ (Zendaya) a device designed by Strange that will send them all home immediately – the villains agree. Taking the villains to Happy Hogan’s (Jon Favreau) condo where Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) has been living, Peter uses a Stark Fabricator (a magic machine that can build anything you design) to start ‘fixing’ his old foes.
They make the decision to start with Ock replacing the chip in Otto’s neck, restoring the Doctor’s sanity and giving him control over the tentacles again. Seeing Peter’s success, the other villains realise that this is the best chance they might have at a new life, but Electro is resistant to being cured.
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It’s then that the Green Goblin persona reemerges, attacking Peter and giving Electro time to flee. In the confusion, Otto, the Lizard, and Sandman also manage to get free, but Peter can’t give chase as he has his hands full with the goblin. In what has to be one of the most brutal Marvel movie fight scenes, the Goblin gets the better of Peter, knocking him through several floors and into the lobby. Summoning his glider the Goblin goes to deliver the finishing blow to Peter but Aunt May jumps in the way, and Norman flees but not before throwing one last bomb.
In the rubble of the lobby, Peter finds his Aunt May, and he tells her he made a mistake trying to help the villains, but she disagrees. Telling Peter that when you have great power, you have great responsibility, Aunt May stumbles to the ground. As Peter tries to help her, he realises the extent of her wounds, and May dies in his arms.
Meanwhile, MJ and Ned (Jacob Batalon) have been waiting for instructions from Peter. Desperate to hear from him, Ned nervously plays with Strange’s magic ring and realises he can open portals. He and MJ attempt to use the ring to get to Peter, and they do manage to open a portal to Peter Parker, just not their Peter Parker. Instead, they summon the Amazing Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) version of the character who was brought to the MCU by Strange’s spell. He wasn’t the only other version of Spidey to make the leap either, and as Ned opens a second portal, another Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) steps through.
After a bit of an explanation about the multiverse, MJ, Ned, and the other Spider-Men track down a distraught Peter. Desperate to give up after the death of his aunt, the other two Peters remind their MCU counterpart that they have a responsibility to the world and that May wouldn’t want him to give up. The three Spideys then get together to work out how to cure the remaining villains.
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After a brief scientific interlude where we get some fun banter between the three versions of Peter, they make their location known to the world using an unwitting J. Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons). At the Statue of Liberty, the three Spidey’s make their last stand. They plan on curing the villains before finishing Strange’s spell and sending them home. As the villains pile in, they briefly find themselves overwhelmed but after learning to coordinate their movements and help from a reformed Doc Ock, they start bringing the villains down, curing them as they do so.
Soon there’s only the Goblin left facing off against the MCU version of Spider-Man. Wanting revenge for his Aunt, Peter launches a violent assault on the Goblin, proving himself far stronger than anyone realised. Picking up the Goblin’s glider, Peter goes to deliver the death blow, but Maquire’s Spider-Man stops him reminding him May wouldn’t want him to kill. This gives the Goblin time to stab Maguire’s Spidey from behind.
As the Goblin goes to attack Garfield’s Spider-Man throws Peter the Goblin cure, and they inject Norman, removing his powers and his evil persona. With the villains dealt with, all they have to do is send them home. There’s just one problem the spell that Strange cast has grown too strong and now everyone in the multiverse who knows Peter’s secret is coming through.
Strange (who Ned freed from the Mirror Dimension) tries to stop them, but he’s too late. Desperate, Peter makes the ultimate sacrifice, knowing that the only thing that will stop the spell is erasing the world’s knowledge of his secret identity. He asks Strange to make the world forget Peter Parker, including MJ and Ned. Strange warns him that this means everyone will forget him and their lives together. Pete then says a tearful goodbye to his friends. As Strange finishes, the spell, the villains and alternate Spider-Men are sent home, and the world forgets Peter Parker ever existed.
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Months later, we see Peter approach Ned and MJ, who no longer remember him, and he decides not to tell them about the life they once shared. Moving into a cheap apartment in New York City, Peter’s forced to start his life over. As he looks over a box of souvenirs from his time as an Avenger, he dons a new suit (the traditional red and blue suit) and swings out into the city, ready to protect it from crime.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Mid-Credit Sting explained
In a bar in Mexico, a now drunk Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), aka Venom, quizzes the barman about the world he now finds himself in. Eddie and the symbiote are bemused by the idea there are so many superheroes about and decide to visit New York to meet Spider-Man.
As they get up to leave, though, they’re transported back to the Sony Marvel Universe with Venom whining they didn’t get a chance to do anything. As the confused bartender watches him disappear, we see a small part of the Venom symbiote has been left behind.
Spider-Man: No Way Home post Credit Sting explained
Less of a sting and more of a trailer for Doctor Strange 2. This short tease cues up the main players of the Multiverse of Madness. We see Strange recruit Scarlet Witch, a confrontation with Baron Mordo, Shuma-Gorath, and what appears to be the collapse of reality itself.
The biggest tease, though, is the fantasy movie’s bad guy. It seems that the version of Doctor Strange who turned evil from What If…? has returned and is ready to do battle with the MCU’s version of the good doctor.