Spider-Man: No Way Home finally swung onto Disney+ in the United States on Wednesday, April 15, ending a years-long streaming gap that had kept Tom Holland's third solo outing off the platform since its December 2021 theatrical run. The movie's arrival completes the full MCU film catalog on the service for the first time, with Homecoming, Far From Home, and every Avengers entry now sitting in one place ahead of Spider-Man: Brand New Day's July 31 release.
However, with this development comes a fresh wave of confusion. Following its Disney+ arrival, conversations about the film's MCU timeline placement have flared up all over again, with many fans puzzled that the threequel sits between Eternals and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, rather than immediately after Far From Home, where its opening scene picks up.
The placement has been official on Disney+ internationally since earlier this year, when No Way Home slotted into the streamer's chronological lineup in several territories ahead of its US bow.
The US listing now follows that order, with Holland's webhead adventure tucked between Chloé Zhao's Eternals and Sam Raimi's Multiverse of Madness. This sequence lines up with what Marvel Studios laid out in The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline, the 2023 sourcebook produced in collaboration with the studio to codify the franchise's chronology.
Most of the confusion centers on the fact that No Way Home's opening scene takes place literally in line with Far From Home. The film begins at the exact freeze-frame where the previous movie ended, with J. Jonah Jameson's Daily Bugle broadcast outing Peter Parker as Spider-Man seconds after MJ and Peter's Times Square swing.
Tom Holland confirmed the continuity himself ahead of the 2021 release, describing how the sequel picks up right after the second one finishes.
After that opening, however, the bulk of the movie takes place a few months later. Peter, MJ, and Ned are preparing for college, and Halloween decorations line the coffee shop where MJ works, dating the main events to roughly November in-universe.
In Disney+'s defense, that does place the majority of the film's action after Eternals, which producer Nate Moore previously said takes place roughly around the same time as Far From Home in the MCU's fall of 2024.
This isn't a new debate, either, as it started when No Way Home was placed in this spot on Disney+'s international timeline, and the conversation about its placement has been bubbling since the chronology first surfaced. The US arrival has simply pulled it back into the spotlight, with some fans even outrightly refusing to accept the timeline order.
What No Way Home’s Arrival on Disney+ Means for Brand New Day
The timing of No Way Home's Disney+ arrival is clearly aimed at Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which hits theaters on July 31 as the fourth entry in Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man run.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the sequel finds Peter living alone in a New York that no longer remembers him, leaning fully into the street-level corner of the Marvel world. No Way Home being available on Disney+ allows fans to refresh their memory on the events that led to Brand New Day.
Brand New Day will see Jon Bernthal return as Frank Castle, Mark Ruffalo reprise Bruce Banner, and Michael Mando finally pay off his Homecoming tease as Mac Gargan, with Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, and Tramell Tillman filling out the cast. With the full Holland trilogy now streamable on Disney+, Marvel fans get to enjoy Spider-Man's MCU arc in its entirety.
Timeline-wise, Brand New Day is set roughly four years after No Way Home, with Peter now an adult working the streets of New York as a full-time Spider-Man. Where the new movie lands on Disney+'s chronology is a question for another day, but its predecessor's placement has at least given fans plenty to argue about in the meantime.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
