Spider-Man: No Way Home

It is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and the 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The film was directed by Jon Watts and written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. It stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man alongside Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire.

In the film, Parker asks Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) to use magic to make his identity as Spider-Man a secret again after this was revealed to the world at the end of Far From Home. When the spell goes wrong because of Parker’s actions,

The multiverse is broken open and visitors from alternate realities are brought into Parker’s universe.

A third MCU Spider-Man film was planned during the production of Homecoming in 2017. Negotiations between Sony and Marvel Studios to alter their deal—in which they produce the Spider-Man films together—ended with Marvel Studios leaving the project in August 2019,

But a negative fan reaction led to a new deal between the companies a month later. Watts, McKenna, Sommers, and Holland were set to return, and filming took place from October 2020 to March 2021 in New York City and Atlanta. No Way Home serves as a crossover between the MCU and the previous Spider-Man films directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb.

Several actors reprise their roles from those films, including previous Spider-Man actors Maguire and Garfield. The pair’s involvement was the subject of wide speculation and numerous leaks despite the efforts of Sony, Marvel, and the cast to hide their appearances.

Spider-Man: No Way Home premiered at the Fox Village Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on December 13, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 17, as part of Phase Four of the MCU.

The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $1.9 billion worldwide, surpassing its predecessor as the highest-grossing film released by Sony Pictures. It became the highest-grossing film of 2021, the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time,

The highest grossing Spider-Man film, and set several other box office records, including those for films released during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 94th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades.

An extended version of the film, subtitled The More Fun Stuff Version, had a global theatrical release in September 2022. A sequel is in development.

Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson; his best friend, Ned Leeds; and his aunt, May Parker. Lawyer Matt Murdock gets Peter’s charges dropped, but the group grapples with negative publicity.

After Peter’s, MJ’s, and Ned’s MIT applications are rejected, Peter goes to the New York Sanctum to ask Dr. Stephen Strange for help. Strange starts casting a spell that would make everyone forget Peter is Spider-Man, but it is corrupted when Peter repeatedly requests alterations to let his loved ones retain their memories. Strange contains the corrupted spell.

At Strange’s suggestion, Peter tries to convince an MIT administrator to reconsider MJ’s and Ned’s applications. He is attacked by Otto Octavius, who rips nanotechnology from Peter’s Iron Spider suit which bonds with his own mechanical tentacles and allows Peter to control them.

As Norman Osborn arrives and attacks, Strange teleports Peter back to the Sanctum and locks Octavius in a cell next to Curt Connors. Strange explains that the corrupted spell summoned people from other universes within the multiverse who know Spider-Man’s identity.

He orders Peter, MJ, and Ned to find and capture them; they locate and retrieve Max Dillon and Flint Marko at a military research facility.

Osborn reclaims control of himself from his split Green Goblin personality and destroys the Goblin mask. He gets help from May until Peter retrieves him.

While discussing their battles with Spider-Man, Osborn, Octavius, and Dillon realize they were pulled from their universes just before their deaths.

Strange prepares to reverse the contained spell and send the villains back to their respective universes, but Peter argues that they should first help each villain to possibly change their fates upon their return.

When Strange refuses, Peter steals the spell, traps Strange in the Mirror Dimension, and takes the villains to Happy Hogan’s apartment. He uses Stark Industries technology to cure Octavius.

Before Peter can cure anyone else, his Spider-Sense is triggered and he realizes that the Goblin persona has retaken control of Osborn.

Goblin convinces the other villains to betray Peter and fatally injures May as Dillon, Marko, and Connors escape. Before she dies, May tells Peter that “with great power, there must also come great responsibility”.

Ned discovers that he can create portals using Strange’s sling ring, which he and MJ use to try to locate Peter. They instead find alternate versions of Peter from the villains’ universes who were also summoned by Strange’s spell and are nicknamed “Peter-Two” and “Peter-Three”.

The group finds this universe’s Peter, nicknamed “Peter-One”, who is ready to give up and send the villains home to die. The alternate Peters share stories of losing loved ones and encourage Peter-One to fight in May’s honor. The three Peters develop cures for the villains.

The group lures Dillon, Marko, and Connors to the Statue of Liberty. Peter-One and Peter-Two cure Connors and Marko, while Octavius arrives to help cure Dillon, and Ned frees Strange from the Mirror Dimension.

The Goblin appears and unleashes the contained spell, which breaks apart the barriers between universes, pulling in countless others who know Parker’s identity. Strange attempts to hold them off while an enraged Peter-One tries to kill the Goblin.

Peter-Two stops him but gets stabbed by the Goblin. Peter-Three helps Peter-One inject the Goblin with his cure, restoring Osborn’s sanity.

Peter-One realizes that the only way to protect the multiverse is to erase himself from everyone’s memory and requests Strange to do so while promising MJ and Ned that he will find them again.

Strange reluctantly casts the spell, and everyone returns to their respective universes—including Eddie Brock, who unknowingly leaves behind a piece of the Venom symbiote.

Two weeks later, Peter visits MJ to reintroduce himself to her and Ned, but he decides against it. While mourning at May’s grave, he has a conversation with Hogan and is inspired to carry on, making a new suit and resuming his vigilantism.