Spider-Man: No Way Home showed that, as far as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, dying in a long-since abandoned cinematic continuity doesn't mean that an actor/character can't come back. Although the floodgates are open for them now to do anything, don't expect Robert Downey Jr to come back as Iron Man again anytime soon.
"I think honestly that's a non-starter in the halls of Marvel, at least in our experience," Spidey co-writer Chris McKenna said on The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith podcast. "They just don't really like constantly evoking [Iron Man].
"I mean, obviously, Tony cast such a large shadow even after Endgame – which we dealt with in Far From Home – but I think everyone felt like we can't just keep on going to the Tony well."
Related: Tom Holland backs Andrew Garfield getting an Amazing Spider-Man 3
As McKenna and fellow writer Erik Sommers worked out the story of No Way Home, they realised that while Tony had been the father figure in the MCU Spidey films so far, Aunt May needed to be the one to impart the 'with great power comes great responsibility' message that, combined with what Doctor Strange does at the end of the film, leaves MCU Peter in the place familiar to most comic fans.
In fact, the writers even call No Way Home "an origin story", which is quite bold for the third solo MCU Spidey film – and the sixth MCU film — that the character has appeared in so far.
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Related: Spider-Man: No Way Home script changes the ending
A second trilogy of movie starring Tom Holland has been heavily rumoured, unsurprisingly since they make so much money, but the actor himself has remained coy about what's been discussed so far.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is out now in UK and US cinemas.
![Spider-Man: No Way Home [Digital Download]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1647961109-512Rpz1f9pL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Spider-Man: No Way Home [Digital Download]")
![Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1567432777-516p8YXuEdL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]")
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
