Spider-Man: No Way Home ending explained

Spider-Man: No Way Home gave MCU fans plenty to talk about when it swung into cinemas nearly two years ago, especially with its bold ending.

As long-time Spidey producer Amy Pascal teased before its release: "You see Spider-Man make a momentous decision, one that you've never seen him make before. It's a sacrifice. And that gives us a lot to work with in the next film."

We thought she was just hyping up the release, but Pascal absolutely wasn't kidding. It's a rare movie where the much-anticipated returns of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield isn't the main talking point.

Tom Holland might be back in Spider-Man 4 (which has been officially confirmed, but not in development yet), but No Way Home's ending sees his Peter Parker make a huge decision that impacts his future.

Needless to say, that means major spoilers are ahead as we delve into every major moment of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The movie kicks off immediately where Far From Home left off as Peter's secret identity as Spider-Man is revealed to the world by J Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons). It doesn't just affect Peter though as MJ (Zendaya), Ned (Jacob Batalon) and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) are all questioned over the London attack.

Despite the attention from the Department of Damage Control though, Peter is told by Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) that he won't be charged for anything. However, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) might be in trouble for some missing Stark Technologies equipment as a result of Mysterio's attack.

Public opinion is still split on Spider-Man, even at his school when he returns for senior year. What's more, it leads to Peter, MJ and Ned all being rejected from MIT and worried about the impact it's having on his friends, Peter seeks out Doctor Strange for help.

While reversing time is out of the question (no time stone, remember), Strange agrees to cast a spell to make everybody forget who Spider-Man really is.

Peter can't stop interfering in the spell though to alter the terms, but before it all goes wrong, Strange does manage to contain it... or so he thinks. Shortly afterwards, Peter is thrown into a battle with Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) who appears to know him, even if Peter doesn't.

Shortly before the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) arrives, Strange magically whisks Peter and Doc Ock to the Sanctum, where he imprisons Doc Ock. He reveals the botched spell brought people who know Peter is Spider-Man "from every universe" into their world, including an already-captured Lizard (Rhys Ifans).

Strange magics up Peter's suit so that he can instantly bring any villain into a cell at the Sanctum, and charges him with rounding them all up. Peter loops in MJ and Ned to what's happening and they act as his tech support, using the internet to track down the villains.

It's all surprisingly easy, it turns out as Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) helps Peter catch Electro (Jamie Foxx). Sandman isn't best pleased when he's locked up with the rest of the villains though, but that leaves just one to get: the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe).

This also turns out to be relatively easy as Norman Osborn goes to visit Aunt May at FEAST, having seemingly shut out the Green Goblin personality by destroying the mask. Aunt May encourages Peter to help them rather than send them back, which is what Strange plans to do by reversing the contained spell.

After learning that Norman, Doc Ock and Electro were taken from their universes before being killed by Spider-Man, Peter refuses to send them back and steals the spell.

Strange chases him through the mirror dimension, but Peter outsmarts him and steals the box containing the spell and Strange's sling ring, trapping him in the dimension. Given what happens later to Aunt May, Peter might have changed his mind, but right now, he wants to follow her advice.

Peter entrusts the box and the sling ring to MJ and Ned, while he goes back to Happy's apartment to use the stolen Stark technology (a fabricator) to "cure" the villains with Aunt May's help. He manages to fix Doc Ock's chip, but unsurprisingly, his plan doesn't work when the Green Goblin takes over Norman and Electro steals the arc reactor.

A battle ensues, but Peter doesn't really stand a chance against the Green Goblin, Electro and Doc Ock. During it, Aunt May is hit by the Green Goblin's glider and although it looks like she's OK, she's severely wounded and passes away in Peter's arms.

Back at Ned's home, they're getting worried that they haven't heard from Peter and as they talk about him, a portal appears. However, it's not their Peter that comes through it, but Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker and when Ned repeats the trick, Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker arrives.

They both came into the MCU universe at the same time as the villains and can sense that Peter needs their help. MJ and Ned takes them to visit Peter who is hiding out on the top of their school, and the three Spider-Men bond over their losses (Uncle Ben for the oldies, naturally).

"[Tobey, Andrew, and Tom] care so deeply about the characters, and what their characters— what their journey had been as Spider-Man," Zendaya said recently about the major cameos.

"It was so beautiful to see all of you guys connect on that and be able to talk to each other about such a special experience that very few people have been able to don the suit. It was great to see how much you guys all really cared and had each other's back. It was really sweet."

Back to the movie and Peter wants to kill the Green Goblin for what he did to Aunt May. However, the alternate Peters persuade him that instead of becoming "rageful" like they did, he should carry out his plan to cure the villains.

The trio all work together on cures for the villains, before they carry out a plan to lure them all to the Statue of Liberty with the magic box.

Electro, Lizard and Sandman take the bait, while MJ and Ned escape through a portal with the box. Ned fails to close it though and they're drawn into the heat of the battle, with the box still in play.

When the three Spider-Men learn to work together, they manage to cure Sandman. The heroes get an unexpected boost when Doc Ock arrives and cures Electro for them, before Lizard is the final one of the trio to be cured.

When Ned opens another portal for them to leave, Doctor Strange walks through instead.

Unfortunately for the Spider-Men and Strange, the Green Goblin arrives and destroys the box. Garfield's Peter saves MJ when she falls from the Statue of Liberty in the chaos, while Ned is saved by Strange's cloak when he falls as well.

As the spell starts to crack the multiverse open, Peter brutally battles the Green Goblin and goes to stab him with his own glider. Maguire's Peter stops him and is stabbed by the Green Goblin as a thanks, not fatally though, fortunately.

Peter cures the Green Goblin instead of killing him, but even with the villains' threat gone, the damage has been done. Strange can't contain the spell, so Peter persuades him to do the spell again and this time, make sure that everybody forgets who he is – including MJ and Ned.

As he explains the situation, Peter promises that he'll find them later and make them remember him. The spell is completed by Strange and everybody is sent back to their various universes, with the villains all seemingly facing a new future.

We catch up with Peter a few weeks later as he goes to see MJ at the diner she works at. He's about to tell her the truth when Ned arrives, and he sees how excited they are about joining MIT. When he sees a plaster on MJ's head (a result of the final battle), Peter chooses not to tell them the truth as they'd be in danger if they knew who he was.

The final moments of No Way Home sees Peter visit Aunt May's grave where he sees Happy who no longer knows him, before Peter moves into a new apartment and gets ready to continue fighting crime as the (now anonymous) friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

Does this mean Spider-Man is still an Avenger? We can't see why he wouldn't be as the world clearly hasn't forgotten that there is a Spider-Man, as shown by J Jonah Jameson's rant just before we see Peter head to the diner.

But maybe without his mentor Iron Man around, Peter will take it as an opportunity for a clean break and to work on a smaller scale. We'd love to see a more intimate Spider-Man movie next time around and, after all, it's not like they can go even bigger than No Way Home.

Maybe it'll be a standard Spider-Man vs one villain story and if so, the mid-credits scene does set up the arrival of Venom in the MCU, while an earlier gag in the movie does tease the villainous Hobgoblin turn for Ned from the comics.

All we can do for now is watch this space. (And rewatch the movie again and again.)

Spider-Man: No Way Home is available to buy now on Prime Video, iTunes, Microsoft Store and other digital retailers.

Ian Sandwell

Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.