Spider-Man: No Way Home—recap, theories and a look at what’s ahead

According to Box Office Mojo, Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed over one billion dollars worldwide and 700 million dollars domestically, making it the 4th highest grossing movie of all time behind “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Avengers: Endgame” and “Avatar.”

But what made this movie do such a killer job? Stick around if you want a walk through what actually went down in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and what multiversal madness is expected to come out of 2022. We’re here to do the research so you don’t have to, so put on your seatbelts and get ready for some Marvel news. 

*This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk. 

What happened before “No Way Home?”

The short answer to this question is: a lot. Many non-Marvel fanatics who were planning on seeing the movie took to TikTok and asked, “So, do I have to watch Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3, then Spider-Man 1 and 2, then the other Spider-Man 1 and 2 to understand what is going on in Spider-Man 3?” 

Yes, in fact, you should probably watch every single Marvel show and movie if you want to experience the effect of your whole childhood finally getting some closure. But, if you still haven’t seen “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” The Direct gives you a list of 16 movies and shows that you should see beforehand to understand all of the little Easter eggs and cameos within the movie. 

The main thing that viewers need to know before watching “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” is what happened in its preceding movie, “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”

In “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” Peter Parker and his friends go on a journey to Europe following the snap from the Avengers saga and Tony Stark’s death. While there, Peter runs into Nick Fury (who is actually a skrull at the time), who recruits him for a mission. In an end credit scene in “Captain Marvel,” Fury and Maria Hill get caught in an unnatural storm in Mexico where they think they have encountered an Elemental, and they want Peter to help fight this monster. Fury and Hill also recruit Quentin Beck, who seems to be able to defeat these creatures. 

It turns out that it is really Beck, also referred to as Mysterio, who is using orbital weaponry to create these creatures and to then “defeat” them so that he looks like a hero, when, in reality, he is trying to take control of Stark’s assets. 

Before the final battle of the movie approaches, Peter’s love interest, Michelle Jones-Watson (MJ), finds out that he is in fact Spider-Man. This is important to remember for later.

When the final battle approaches, Mysterio makes appear as though Spider-Man was the villain the whole time and frames him for all of the events that occurred during the movie. He then goes on to tell the world that Spider-Man is high-schooler Peter Parker.

Leading us right into “No Way Home”…

Mysterio ruined the lives of Peter and all of the people that he knows. Now that everyone is aware that Peter is Spider-Man, he and all of his friends are knee-deep in paparazzi and crazed journalists. On top of this, Peter, Ned and MJ don’t get into their dream college, MIT, due to their association with this scandal. 

Peter decides to take matters into his own hands and visits Doctor Strange, who attempts to cast a spell that will wipe everyone’s knowledge that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Unfortunately, things go south when Peter tampers with the spell multiple times, and Strange is forced to contain the spell before causing a multiversal catastrophe. 

In true Marvel fashion, the spell ignites a catastrophe that Peter realizes the next day. While in the middle of a traffic jam, as Peter catches up with an MIT admissions rep, Dr. Octavious and Green Goblin show up in search of Spider-Man. Luckily, Strange zapps Doc Oc into his mystical dungeon before he can cause an immense amount of damage. They go on to also capture newly-emerged Sandman, Electro, and Dr. Curt Connors (The Lizard). 

If you haven’t caught on yet…these characters are all from different universes!

The plot from this point on is based on the realization that Peter makes. The spell opened up Peter’s current universe to the multiverse, allowing villains from other Spider-Man sagas to enter into the current one. In their respective universes, these villains have all been conquered, which means when they return home, they will inevitably die. Peter Parker’s moral mission will not allow this to happen, so he attempts to “cure” each villain of the thing that motivates their evil actions.

Now, let’s connect some dots. If all of these characters have shown up, who else do you think has?

You guessed it! Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire)! The whole story from this point follows that the three Spider-Men team up to put these villains back where they came from. This comes with a price—as the Spider-Men try to conquer each of these characters, soon more villains will show up if a new, overriding spell isn’t unleashed. Sadly, this means everyone will forget who Peter Parker is, including the people he loves.

*Some big plot points were left out for the sake of still being able to enjoy the movie if you haven’t seen it yet. This is a general summary. 

Theories and Questions!

Spider-Man: No Way Home has raised the expectations for future Marvel movies and many theories and questions have arisen due to the movie. Here are some of my favorites: 

1. Will Ned become Hobgoblin? People think that there is no way that Ned could ever be a villain. Have you seen how sweet and innocent he is? Well, in the comics, he is brainwashed into doing horrible things and he thinks that he is the Hobgoblin even though he actually isn’t. Maybe we will see this in a future Spider-Man movie?
2. Are Ned and MJ dating? They were looking a little too close in that one scene… 
3. What was Matt Murdock doing there? Just a typical cameo?
4. Was that actually Doctor Strange? There is a theory floating around right now that the Doctor Strange that we saw was none other than the evil Doctor Strange in the upcoming “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” movie. Why didn’t he think through the repercussions of casting that spell? Not very “Doctor Strange” of him… Also, consider an episode of “What If,” “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” There are many parallels to be drawn between the upcoming movie and this episode. 
5. Venom and Spider-Man soon to battle it out? Eddie Brock, better known as Venom, made an appearance in the first end credit scene and he left something behind… 
6. Miles Morales shows up soon? Why not, if Andrew and Tobey showed up? There’s also a reference that Electro makes in the movie about a black Spider-Man. On top of this, Sony is also talking about bringing back Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.

Movies Coming in 2022!

1. “Morbius” (technically Sony) is set to release in April! This follows antihero, Micheal Morbius, who becomes a living vampire. This was originally supposed to release in January, but Marvel pushed back the release date due to COVID-19. 
2. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is scheduled to release in May and it will follow Doctor Strange as he navigates the Multiverse. The movie was originally supposed to be very dark, due to Wanda’s backstory, but after running it by test audiences, Marvel has decided to make it a tad lighter. There are expected to be some major players and cameos in this one, with characters such as Scarlet Witch, some X-Men, and a variant of Iron Man (?). 
3. “Thor: Love and Thunder” opens in July! This will feature the reunion of Jane Foster and Thor, and we’ll even see some of our favorite Guardians of the Galaxy. Taika Waititi, the director of Thor: Ragnarok, is also reprising his directing position. 
4. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is scheduled to arrive in theaters in November. Marvel has announced that they will not be recasting the iconic Chadwick Boseman in this sequel, but will be playing around with what Wakanda looks like without its ruler.

After “Spider-Man: No Way Home” raised the bar to an infinite level, let’s get excited for more fun movies coming in 2022!