“Spider-Man: No Way Home” gave us the chills with its epic final battle between the Spider-Men and the multiverse villains. Let’s break it down. Going straight to the point, because all of you must have seen it by now, right? The final battle between the Spider-Men and the multiverse villains is perhaps at par with that of “Avengers: Endgame.” And that’s purely because of our love for Spidey and the impact the character has had on our childhood. However, here we shall discuss only the battle and the ending of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which might just get a tad bit nostalgic.
To begin with, we have our villains. The Green Goblin is played by Willem Dafoe, Electro is played by Jamie Foxx, Lizard is played by Rhys Ifans, and Sandman is played by Thomas Haden Church. Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus is also there, but he is on our side, i.e., with Spider-Man. The fight begins with the three Spideys’ taking on Electro, Sandman, and Lizard. Unable to take them together, the three Spider-Men decide to coordinate their movements and pick one target after another. Something very interesting happens here. Tom Holland’s Peter counts himself as Peter one, Tobey as Peter Two, and Andrew as Peter Three. Andrew as Peter Three seems to be a potential easter egg for his return in “The Amazing Spider-Man 3,” which is rumored to be in development at Sony. And the way Andrew throws his hands in the air, as if to demonstrate that it is natural for him to be Peter Three, adds credence to the rumor. For fun, we’ll start addressing the three Spider-Mans in this manner from now on.
Coming back to the fight, the three Spider-Men first choose Sandman as the cure. And it is Peter Two who applies the cure to Flint. Next in line is Electro, who too is discharged, thanks to some well-needed assistance by Doctor Octopus, who is now “thankful” to Peter One for giving him back control over his arms. Soon after, the Lizard is also cured by Peter One. Meanwhile, Doctor Strange arrives only to find out that Peter One is now being assisted by two other Spider-men from other universes.
Then we get a reunion of the universes. Peter Three meets Max Dillon, whereas Peter Two meets Doctor Otto Octavius. Here, we get a short conversation between Electro and Peter, which has another easter egg. Max tells Peter Three that he hoped that there was a black guy under the suit. When Peter Three says he’s sorry that Max is disappointed, Max mentions that it’s alright and that there must be a Black Spider-Man somewhere. This is a clear sign of Miles Morales’s arrival in the MCU. We’ve already got his mention in Spider-Man: Homecoming. And this one only makes it clearer.
On the other hand, we have a beautiful exchange of words between Peter Three and Otto. “The power of the sun…” says Otto, and Peter three completes it with “… in the palm of your hands.” This seems to be the best way to bring these two characters together as a homage to Raimi’s creation. Using even the same BGM, the scene becomes emotional for the fans, tingling our spider senses to the point where our hairs stand on end.
What happens next is what will take the events in the MCU further. Strange is about to send all the people from other universes back when they are all attacked by Dafoe’s Green Goblin. While it seems that everything has come to an end, the Goblin has quietly fixed a pumpkin bomb inside the Macchina di Kadavus, the ancient relic that will reverse the spell that brought them all together in the first place. And it explodes, thereby breaking the relic and letting the trapped spell free.
The whole monument of the Statue of Liberty loses its shield and comes crashing down to the ground. In the process, Mary Jane slips off the platform and is in free-fall. Contrary to our expectations, Tom misses Mary Jane after Goblin’s glider hits him. But to our surprise and yet another emotional déjà-vu, Peter Three, aka Andrew’s Peter, saves MJ from falling. Tears rolled down his eyes and a little from ours too. We know that things would have been better only if he had caught Gwen in time (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), just like he caught MJ. Also, he couldn’t let another Spider-Man have the same fate as him and lose the love of his life. Just a simple “Are you okay?” seems enough to say it all.
Meanwhile, Peter One brings down Goblin’s glider and throws punches at him out of utter rage. He is about to kill Osborn with the glider when Peter Two intervenes. This is to show that Spider-Man has never killed anyone. This is what makes him so human, perhaps more than any other superhero. Peter Two’s look itself seems to tell Peter One, “No, you don’t kill. That’s not who you are. “It’s “amazing” how expressions work their magic in this scene, one that is underrated. Unfortunately, Peter Two is stabbed by the Goblin, who is then injected with the cure by Peter One. Peter Two is not fatally wounded, though.
Coming back to where the trapped spell isn’t trapped anymore, the multiverse has cracked open, and we see all the characters, i.e., Spider-Man villains from other universes, starting to come through. It is a little odd to think that all those coming through are supposed to know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. How is this possible? We literally see hundreds of them, and for all of them to know Spider-Man’s identity is a bit much, isn’t it? Anyway, Strange is trying hard to hold them back, but it seems impossible. It is only a matter of time before they all enter this universe (the MCU), something that will be catastrophic. This is when Peter One makes the ultimate sacrifice and tells Strange to make everyone in this universe forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Strange doesn’t want it as much as he knows that it’s the only way. Tears in his eyes are visible to us as he wishes Tom’s Peter “so long.” However, it is doubtful whether Strange too will forget him. Maybe he isn’t the Sorcerer Supreme, but he is the closest a sorcerer can ever get to someone who is (Wong). Since we mention Wong, we must also remember Wong’s words right towards the beginning of the movie when he warns Strange about the Runes of Kof-Kol, saying that the spell travels the dark borders between known and unknown reality (basically the multiverse). He is the one who mentions how dangerous it is, something that Strange later stresses after the spell goes haywire. So, ultimately, the whole world forgets that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Peter Two and Peter Three, along with the villains, go back to their respective universes (we don’t know whether they go back to the same moment where they came from or not).
Next, we see Peter walk into a café where both MJ (who works there part-time) and Ned are present, but both are oblivious to his presence. This is the beginning of the next stage of the life of Tom’s Peter. There is a sweet conversation between Peter and MJ where it seems that MJ too has some kind of déjà-vu while talking to him. Her uncertain words and expressions do seem to say that her memories of Peter lie hidden in her subconscious. Perhaps we will see her again in the upcoming Spider-Man trilogy. As for Ned, he is the MCU’s potential Hobgoblin. There is even an easter egg dropped when Ned tells Tom’s Peter that he will not turn into a supervillain and try to kill him. In the comics, Ned Reeds are brainwashed by the real Hobgoblin, aka Robert Kingsley (one of the many who donned the goblin suit, and the most infamous of the lot). This makes him Kingsley’s scapegoat. As Hobgoblin, Leeds has pulled off some big moves, like collaborating with Richard Fisk, son of Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin, who is one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes. We have already got Wilson Fisk in the MCU. So now that Ned doesn’t remember Peter, the path is clear for the MCU to introduce Kingsley and turn Ned into the Hobgoblin after that. But all this will happen, if at all, in the distant future.
The ending of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” gives us the first genuine homemade iconic Spider-Man suit, as sewn by Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. He has rented a small apartment, which, for some reason, looks a lot like Tobey’s apartment in Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. And we get the comic-driven arc in the MCU as a new introduction. He is our exclusive, friendly neighborhood crime-fighter who has a new beginning to make the most of himself.
The first post-credit scene of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” shows Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock still trying to wrap his head around this new universe he is in. But before he and Venom can go and talk to Spider-Man, they are sent back to their universe (Sony). However, there is a small chunk of the Venom symbiote that gets left behind. It might also be purposely left behind by Venom to look for Spider-Man. So, we might just get a new Venom in the MCU or, even better, MCU’s own Black Spider-Man.
In conclusion, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is the stepping stone for Marvel into the “web” that is the multiverse. Now, all we have to do is wait to find out just how and in what ways this web is spun.
See More: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Mid-Credits Scene, Explained
