Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Film and Plot Synopsis

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero’s identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse. (Courtesy Sony Pictures)

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Movie Summary

Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) life is thrown into turmoil after the events at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home when Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) revealed Spider-Man’s secret identity to the whole world. Peter finds himself hounded by the media and law enforcement constantly. The chaos extends to Peter’s girlfriend Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson (Zendaya), best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). Each of them are detained and interrogated by the Department of Damage Control. Peter’s friend Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) helps Peter retain attorney Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) who gets any criminal charges dropped against Peter but warns Peter and his friends that the “court of public opinion” still stands in judgement against them. Peter and his associates find that many people don’t believe Peter’s claims of innocence.

Not long after, Peter, MJ, and Ned’s applications to MIT are all rejected. Peter suspects that they are being denied admission due to his dual identity as Spider-Man. Inspired by a Halloween decoration of a witch, Peter visits Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) at his New York Sanctum. Dr. Strange is no longer the Sorcerer Supreme as Wong (Benedict Wong) was anointed to replace him during the “Snap”. Peter asks Strange to use his magic to remove the memory of Spider-Man’s secret identity from everyone’s minds. Wong warns Strange against casting the spell, but after he leaves Strange agrees to cast the spell. However, Peter continues to ask for exceptions for his friends and family to retrain their memories while Strange is in the process of casting the spell. Eventually, the constant alterations cause something to go wrong with the spell and Strange is forced to contain the spell to prevent it from going out of control.

Strange suggests that Peter attempt to convince the MIT administrator (Paula Newsome) to reconsider. Peter contacts the administrator while she is stuck in traffic on the freeway and requests that she at least allow MJ and Ned to attend. However, the conversation is interrupted by Dr. Otto Octavius aka Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina) who suddenly appears. Octavius and Peter fight, and Peter is eventually captured by Octavius as Peter was distracted saving the administrator. Octavius rips some of the nanotechnology from Peter’s Iron Spider suit, which bonds with Octavius’ arms and allows Peter to control the mechanical tentacles. Octavius expresses confusion as Peter is not the Peter he knows to be Spider-Man. Just at the moment, Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) appears and throws a pumpkin bomb seconds before Peter and Octavius are teleported to the basement of Strange’s Sanctum.

Strange explains that the spell has pulled anyone who knows the identity of Spider-Man into their universe from various other points in the multiverse. Strange places Octavius into a cell next to Dr. Curt Connors aka the Lizard (Rhys Ifans) who was also pulled into their reality and captured by Strange. Strange orders Peter, MJ, and Ned to find and capture any other individuals that have been pulled into their universe while Strange works on a spell to send them back. That night, Peter and Ned track another multiverse variant near a military research facility. Peter goes out to the woods and encounters Max Dillon aka Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Flint Marko aka the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). Electro tries to kill Peter, but the Sandman helps Spider-Man. Peter has them both placed into cells back at the basement at the Sanctum.

You have a gift. You have power. And with great power, there must also come great responsibility. May Parker (Marisa Tomei)

Meanwhile, Norman reclaims his sanity from the Goblin persona. He destroys the Goblin mask and goes to a F.E.A.S.T. (Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter & Training) facility that May happens to work at. May calls Peter who comes down to take Norman away. May lectures Peter about his responsibility to help Norman, who may be an innocent victim to his split personality. Peter takes Norman back to the Sanctum. Once there, the various villains discuss their prior battles with Spider-Man in their universes and Norman, Octavius, and Maxx realize that they were pulled from their universes sometime before their deaths during fights with Spider-Man. Peter is disturbed by the idea that if they send them back, each of the men may die.

Strange returns with something to reverse the spell and send the group of villains back to their respective universes. Peter argues that they should first cure the villains of their individual insanities to prevent their deaths upon their return. Strange refuses and tells Peter that it is their fate to die at the hands of Spider-Man. Peter refuses to accept the answer and steals the contained spell. Peter flees the Sanctum and Strange pursues. Strange traps Peter in the Mirror Dimension. However, Peter turns the tables on Strange using science and traps Strange in the dimension and steals Strange’s sling ring. Peter returns to the Sanctum and frees all the villains and takes them to Happy Hogan’s apartment. Peter sends MJ and Ned off with the contained spell and tells them to activate the spell if any of the villains gets out of control.

With May and Norman’s help, Peter works on curing all the villains by using Stark Industries technology. Peter is successful in curing Octavius. However, before he can cure everyone, Peter’s spider-sense goes off. Peter ascertains that the Goblin persona has retaken control of Norman, who convinces the uncured villains to betray Peter. The villains attack Octavius and Peter. Peter tries to provide cover for May so that she can safely get away. Ultimately, Peter and the Goblin fight into the lobby of the apartment building. May is critically wounded by a Goblin bomb. The Goblin, Electro, the Lizard, and the Sandman escape. Peter cradles his aunt as she dies. Before passing, May tells Peter that “with great power, there must also come great responsibility.” Police surround the building and attempt to take Peter into custody. A distraught Peter manages to escape.

The news media broadcasts May’s death and declares Peter responsible. MJ and Ned, who are in hiding at Ned’s house, worry for their friend. Ned inadvertently discovers that he can use Strange’s sling ring, which he and MJ use to try to locate Peter. Instead, they open portals to two alternate versions of Peter, Peter 2 (Tobey Maguire) and Peter 3 (Andrew Garfield), who were pulled into Peter’s world by the spell. MJ, Ned, Peter 2, and Peter 3 find Peter 1 atop the high school. Peter 1 is ready to give up and send the villains back to their individual worlds to die. Peter 2 and Peter 3 share their stories of losing loved ones and encourage Peter to fight the darkness and despair and continue on. They all are surprised that May’s last words to Peter 1 are each of their mantras. The three Peters work together to complete the cures for the remaining villains. Peter 1 calls in to J. Jonah Jameson’s (J.K. Simmons) show and tells the world that he will be waiting at the Statue of Liberty for the villains in a ploy to lure them to a remote location.

The plan works and all the villains come to the Statue of Liberty. Ned is unable to effectively use the sling ring to escape so he and MJ get caught in the middle of the battle. MJ is knocked from the top of the Statue, and Peter 1 is unable to save her. However, Peter 3 saves her from dying, redeeming himself for failing to save his Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) in his universe. Peter 1 and Peter 2 cure the Lizard and Sandman. Octavius arrives and cures Electro. Ned frees Strange from the Mirror Universe so that he can activate the spell to send everyone back. However, the Goblin arrives and unleashes the contained spell, which begins to break apart the barriers between the universes. Strange fights to prevent the spell from breaking down the barriers.

An angered Peter 1 unleashes upon the Goblin, seeking revenge for the death of May. Peter 1 appears as if he will kill the Goblin until Peter 2 stops him from stabbing Norman with a crashed Goblin Glider. The Goblin stabs Peter 2 in the back, and Peter 3 and Peter 1 work together to inject the Goblin with a cure that reverses the Goblin formula and restores Norman to sanity. Peter 1 goes to help Strange who tells him that he can’t stop the multiversal barriers from falling. Peter 1 tells Strange to cast a new spell that erases him from the memory of everyone, including his loved ones. Strange reluctantly agrees to cast the spell. Before Strange casts the spell, Peter promises MJ and Ned that he will find them and remind them of their love and friendship for each other. Strange casts the spell and everyone is sent back to their respective universes, and the multiversal barriers remain intact. Peter 1 swings away, truly alone.

Two weeks later, Peter visits MJ at her job at a coffee shop. As he arrives, Ned enters the restaurant. Both share with each other that they were accepted into MIT. Peter goes to reintroduce himself to MJ, but notices that she has a bandage on her forehead from the battle at the Statue of Liberty. Realizing that anyone who is close to him will also be at risk of suffering the same fate as May, Peter does not remind MJ of their love for each other and lets her go on with her life. A short time later, Peter visits the grave of May and encounters Happy. Peter is inspired by his conversation with Happy to continue as Spider-Man. Peter moves into his own apartment and begins his studies to acquire his GED. He makes a new Spider-Man suit, as he no longer has the suits from Stark Industries, and continues his job to be the best friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man that he can be. The film ends with Peter swinging over a snow-covered New York at Christmas time.

In a mid-credits scene, Eddie Brock aka Venom (Tom Hardy), who was pulled into Peter’s universe at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, is interviewing a Mexican bartender about all the superheroes that exist in this universe. Suddenly, Venom is pulled back into his own universe by Strange’s spell, leaving a large unpaid bar tab. However, a small piece of the Venom symbiote is left behind.