After what feels like an eternity, Spider-Man: No Way Home has made its way into theaters across most of the world. The build-up to the MCU’s twenty-seventh theatrical release consisted of seemingly countless teases and leaks from the past two years, which all led to the biggest release for any film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
After its opening weekend, No Way Home somehow managed to exceed the hype both critically and financially. Not only did it earn the highest opening-weekend box office gross of any movie in 2021 (and by an impressive margin), but fans who saw the movie have also had overwhelmingly positive reviews for what Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures delivered.
Spider-Man: No Way Home's Best Moments
Even considering everything that's been leaked and rumored about No Way Home's plot, the adventure fans saw upon this film's release was truly unlike anything seen in any solo superhero movie. The threequel paid tribute to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's movies at nearly every turn, even going so far as to bring Maguire and Garfield themselves in for the adventure alongside Tom Holland.
In just two hours and twenty-eight minutes of runtime, No Way Home seemed to bring a new, exciting moment at nearly every turn with so much action, drama, and set-up for the MCU's future. This all begs the question: what exactly were the best and brightest moments from those 148 minutes of footage?
Fans saw the reintroduction of villains like Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus and Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, but where does Charlie Cox's return as Daredevil play into this mix? How about Ned Leeds using Doctor Strange's Sling Ring, or Aunt May's heart-shattering death?
After plenty of deliberation and debate, The Direct is putting forth the top 27 moments from Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: No Way Home.
27.) Chaotic Apartment Scene with Peter, MJ, Aunt May, and Happy (Filmed in One Take)
Not only did this movie start in the immediate aftermath of its predecessor 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, the threequel didn't let up for a moment after Spider-Man escaped the hoard of New Yorkers hounding him after his identity was revealed. That stress only continued once he swung MJ through the Subway system to reunite with Aunt May and Happy Hogan.
Once Peter got back home and out of his black-and-red Spidey suit, all hell broke loose as he tried to explain his dangerous situation to May and Happy. His aunt and close friend were going through their own semi-break-up at the same time. But Peter made it clear that he was in more trouble than ever before as the camera kept rolling.
Following Peter, MJ, Aunt May, and Happy all throughout the apartment, fans felt the dire nature of what was happening as the world came to grips with the fact that Spider-Man was a 17-year-old kid from Queens. Throw in the news helicopters and passerby neighbors calling for Spider-Man's head and the intensity is cranked up ten-fold.
Director Jon Watts and his team did an incredible job at making sure fans felt how serious this moment was five minutes into the movie.
26.) Alternate Universe Villain Silhouettes of Kraven, Rhino, Scorpion
"They're starting to come through, and I can't stop them!"
- Doctor Strange
Before Spider-Man: No Way Home's climactic final battle came to an end, fans got a first glimpse into the MCU's Multiverse tearing apart for the very first time. As the purple cracks in the sky showed what was about to come into the MCU through alternate dimensions, viewers saw just a small tease of other classic Spider-Man villains from other universes.
Some of these villains included the ruthless Kraven the Hunter, the Russian mobster known as Rhino, and even another version of Scorpion in his full villainous form.
Only the Scorpion had been seen in previous MCU outings with Michael Mando's Mac Gargan in Spider-Man: Homecoming, although he didn't get to evolve into his final form before going to jail with the Vulture at the end of that movie. This time, Peter and Doctor Strange got just a hint of what Scorpion could truly be alongside two other potentially dangerous villains.
While Kraven is set to have his own Sony solo movie with MCU veteran Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing the role, there are no official plans for any of these villains to enter the MCU. But now, with this scene making such an impact on No Way Home's final battle, anything is possible.
25.) Doc Ock Makes Grand Entrance on the Freeway
"Hello, Peter."
- Doc Ock
While this list's next moment is one that was teased for most of the past year, it still made quite the impact on the story after Peter screwed up Doctor Strange's spell at the Sanctum Sanctorum.
About half an hour into No Way Home, as Peter tries to convince Paula Newsome's MIT administrator to reconsider his application along with Ned and MJ's, Alfred Molina makes his long-awaited return as Doctor Otto Octavius.
The scene played out similarly to how it did in the trailer with Doc Ock using his arms to bust through the bottom of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge shortly after he jumped the border between universes. Immediately recognizing Spider-Man to be Peter Parker (just not his Peter Parker), Otto questions the MCU's wall-crawler about what happened to his invention from Spider-Man 2.
Confirming that he was taken moments before his death in the 2004 Spider-Man sequel, Molina's villain even directly quotes himself with the phrase, "the power of the sun in the palm of my hand," referencing the fusion reactor that he was forced to drown in the Hudson River. He and his arms use all their power to take Peter Parker down, although this fight has a new dynamic thanks to Peter's Iron Spider armor and the four arms it boasts to combat the doctor.
After saving Newsome's MIT admin and the rest of the people on the bridge, the Spider-Man-versus-Doc-Ock fight goes through exciting twists and turns, particularly after Octavius steals some of Peter's nanotech from the Iron Spider armor. However, this is where the bout ends as Peter gains control of Doc Ock's arms, leading to a hilarious interaction between the two as Peter uses his genius intellect against the MCU newcomer.
Even though this scene featured action that was seen in numerous trailers, Marvel and Sony hid enough from fans to make it a fresh and fun moment in No Way Home, particularly with it being Molina's first moment in his MCU comeback.
24.) Venom’s Symbiote Stays in the MCU
After such a thrilling adventure, diehard MCU fans wondered exactly what would be in store for No Way Home's round of post-credits scenes. The first of those scenes gave a short update on Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and Venom after that internet-breaking post-credits scene in October's Venom: Let There Be Carnage that featured Tom Holland's Spider-Man.
It's safe to say that Eddie's tenure in the MCU was short-lived as he sat at a bar with Ted Lasso's Cristo Fernandez and learned about some of the MCU's craziest moments, including Thanos' time with the full Infinity Gauntlet. After this chat and some funny quips from Venom, the pair were teleported back to their own universe thanks to Doctor Strange's spell...at least, most of them.
Somehow, a small piece of the symbiote stayed at the bar as Eddie and Venom went back to their world. The part that sent crowds into a frenzy was when the small blob of black goo on the bar top moved for just a moment, indicating the first true presence of symbiotes within the MCU.
Right now, there are no signs pointing to where this small-but-lethal being could go in future Marvel stories, although there's a chance it could lead to some truly dangerous ramifications for Tom Holland's Spidey at a later date. Particularly with the young hero now completely on his own, and considering Venom's previously explored interest in Peter Parker, this could set up a major story for both characters in the not-too-distant future.
23.) Electro Wishes for Black Spider-Man (Miles Morales Tease)
During No Way Home's climactic final battle, both Tobey Magurie and Andrew Garfield had a chance to dive into some emotional moments during their fight with their past antagonists. One of those exciting moments included Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker and Jamie Foxx's Electro teasing the MCU's next Spidey.
After Doc Ock drained Electro of his power with the Spidey-developed cure, Max Dillon was shocked to see the face of Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man as he removed his mask for a chat. Commenting on how he was just a kid from Queens that helped people as the web-slinger, Dillon sighed as he told Peter "I just thought you was gonna be Black."
This led to Max exclaiming "there's gotta be a Black Spider-Man somewhere" as he and Peter looked at the trajectory of their own lives. Looking back at the last few years, there's one big-time name that comes to mind when Max mentions a Black Spider-Man, and that name is Miles Morales.
Miles' popularity has skyrocketed over the last few years after being the lead character in 2018's animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse while also making his way into PlayStation's Spider-Man franchise. While Miles' existence within the MCU has been kept to a minimum, Electro's comments seem to set the stage for the bioelectric wall-crawler to make his debut soon.
With Peter now trying to make his own way in a world that doesn't know who he is, Miles has an open path to become his own version of Spider-Man, potentially with Peter training him in the art of being a web-slinger. When that will happen remains a mystery, but Max's comments do pose the question of when that will come.
22.) Norman Osborn References 2002's Spider-Man
"You know, I'm something of a scientist myself."
- Norman Osborn
Amongst the Multiversal villains to come into Spider-Man: No Way Home, none had a longer history in Spider-Man movies than Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin. First playing the role nearly twenty years ago in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man from 2002, the Goblin had his fair share of epic moments in his first MCU appearance.
Upon his return in No Way Home, Norman had quite a drastic turn of events as he fought the Goblin personality and ended up willingly going with Peter Parker to the Sanctum Sanctorum. But following Peter's fight with Strange, Spider-Man spoke to the group of villains about figuring out a way to cure them so they wouldn't face a guaranteed death upon returning to their worlds.
This led Dafoe's Norman Osborn to offer his own help by telling Peter "You know, I'm something of a scientist myself." Fans who are all caught up on their cinematic Spider-Man history instantly recognize this iconic line as the one Osborn also uttered in 2002's Spider-Man.
On the day that Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker gained his powers, he met Norman for the first time on a field trip to Columbia University's science labs as Norman dropped off his son Harry. Norman spoke about Peter being "quite the science whiz," which came right before he gave Maguire's Peter the same line that he told Holland about being "something of a scientist."
With plenty of opportunities for callbacks to past movies, this came as a fan-favorite moment in No Way Home that paid tribute to the web-slinger's first live-action big screen adventure.
21.) Doc Ock is Cured and Makes Peter’s Integrated Suit
The road to curing all five Multiversal villains in No Way Home wasn't an easy one as the team gathered in Happy Hogan's apartment to continue their massive science experiment. First up on that list was Doctor Octopus, who turned out to be the easiest of the bunch to cure.
Using the spare Stark technology at his disposal, Tom Holland's Peter developed a brand new inhibitor chip to replace the one that was destroyed on Doc Ock's neck during his first fusion reaction experiment in Spider-Man 2. Then, at long last, the voices in Otto Octavius' head went away seemingly for good as he controlled his mechanical arms.
It was only then that Peter released control of the arms back to Doc Ock as the semi-redeemed villain found himself in control of all his faculties once again. In the moments shortly after, Octavius repaid Peter by not only returning the piece of his Iron Spider armor that he took, but also by forming it into a new golden Spider logo and making the widely-promoted Integrated Suit.
Although things went to hell after this moment, the connection between Holland's hero and Molina's reformed villain made a profound impact on Peter by proving he was doing the right thing. Not only did he get an exciting new suit upgrade, but he also gained the confidence to keep moving forward with his mission to save the Multiversal villains' lives.
20.) Peter’s Fresh Start as a Poor, Lonely Student in a New Apartment
More so than any other Spider-Man movie, Tom Holland's Peter Parker sacrificed everything but his life by the end of No Way Home. With his college hopes dashed and no friends or family to lean on in his current situation, the seventeen-year-old now has to find a way to make a new life for himself as he looks to get his GED and find a way to support himself, all while reinventing himself as Spider-Man.
To make this happen, Peter finds himself living in a small apartment in New York City at the very end of the movie as he gets his keys and starts getting settled in. Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man took on this kind of adventure as early as his second movie, although Andrew Garfield's spent his time post-high-school at home helping his Aunt May.
This time around, Peter is seen walking into a dark and small apartment with barely any furniture, only carrying a box of his possessions as he tries to figure out how to make the best of his situation. Setting up his bed as nighttime falls, the youngster lays in bed looking at the new police scanner on his phone to see what the current crime situation looks like in New York City.
Although fans have seen this version of Peter both in movies and in the recent Spider-Man PlayStation video games, this scene still feels like a near rock-bottom situation for Tom Holland's web-slinger. If it's at all positive, it's showing that Spider-Man is known as one of the most resilient Marvel characters out there, which should give him a good chance to find himself again as an adult.
19.) Peter Visits May’s Grave and Talks to Happy
Happy Hogan: "How'd you know her?"
Peter Parker: "Through Spider-Man."
Although the end of the movie set Peter up to find a new life for himself, he had to endure a great deal of suffering before that moment in No Way Home. Much of this came as he finally faced the prospect of living without his beloved Aunt May, who met her end at the hands of the Green Goblin earlier in the plot.
After Doctor Strange's spell made the world forget about Peter being Spider-Man, the movie's young hero took a moment to visit his Aunt May's grave in the snow for the first time. With May having been so supportive of him throughout his life, even showing him the love and care he needed during his superhero exploits, Peter was likely in more pain emotionally than he ever had been physically.
Only compounding this pain was the moment when Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan arrived to pay his respects to the fallen May Parker, although he had no recollection of the young man he had nearly helped raise over the last few years. Due to the spell, Happy knew who May was and remembered their relationship, but he was completely unaware of who Peter was and didn't know that he was May's nephew.
The two bonded over the fact that Spider-Man connected both of them to May, holding back tears as they remembered what a special woman she was for both of them. It was a heartbreaking moment for Peter having to hide his entire past with Happy, who had supported him so much through their relationship with Tony Stark. But this scene set Peter's new reality in stone as he pushed forward in a world that doesn't know him.
This was one of the first times Peter truly felt the effects of the decision he made to keep those he cared about safe. With Happy being one of those people, the weight of that choice affected Peter deeply.
18.) Doctor Strange vs. Spider-Man Mirror Dimension Fight
"That might have been the coolest thing that's ever happened to me, but don't ever do that again!"
- Peter Parker to Doctor Strange
The relationship between Spider-Man and Doctor Strange has regularly been a little rocky since they first met in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. This only grew to new levels in Spider-Man: No Way Home, particularly after Strange contained the spell that he and Peter botched to make the world forget about Spider-Man's identity.
When Peter decided he had to find a way to save the resulting Multiversal villains from dying in their own worlds, he stole the box from Strange that contained the botched spell from Strange, which led to an all-out brawl between the two Avengers. What then ensued was an epic battle of webs versus magic taking place in the Mirror Dimension as Strange tried to use that to his advantage.
Looking at both the movie's plot and visuals, this scene gave fans a thrilling bout of action and drama as the two heroes explained their points of view on the situation at hand. While Strange saw the best course of action to be simply putting the villains back into their timelines, Peter was adamant about trying to find a way to save and redeem them instead of just leaving them to die.
From Peter having his astral form leave his body to tying Strange up in the Mirror Dimension with his webs and math, this fight brought nonstop-awesome moments. Even though the main fights of the film included the villains of the past, the hero-against-hero showdown holds its own in the conversation for greatest action.
17.) Andrew Garfield’s Peter Cracks Tobey Maguire’s Peter’s Back
"I got a lower back thing, too."
- Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker
This list includes a handful of moments that feature Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men of the past, and rightfully so due to how monumental their arrivals in the film were. Because of that, though, not all of those moments would immediately come to mind when imagining three web-slingers in the same movie at the same time.
One of them came when Maguire and Garfield were getting ready for the movie's final fight against their universes' antagonists as they stretched to loosen up. With both of them being much older than Holland's teenage hero, many may forget that the two Peters still age like normal people even while boasting their unique sets of superpowers.
The funniest part of this was the way they understood each other's physical pain as they discussed their mutual middle-back issue caused by so much web-swinging over the years. Being the gracious and courteous person that he is, Garfield's Peter then offered to crack Maguire's back before their upcoming battle.
Only taking a second, Garfield lifted Maguire up from behind as fans heard Spidey's back crack. The chemistry between all three Peter Parkers was evident from the moment they met, and this scene gave the two alternate versions of the MCU hero a moment to bond through the Multiversal madness.
16.) Peter Watching JJJ’s Spider-Man Criticism In the Rain after May’s Death
Multiple moments from this list tie directly back to the death of Marisa Tomei's Aunt May, which left Tom Holland's core hero with no blood-related family left to lean on in his Spidey journey. After taking a bullet and fleeing, not only did Holland's hero not have a second to mourn the loss of his aunt, but he also had to take a brutal verbal beating from J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson.
In the very next scene following May's death, Peter is sitting on an empty rooftop watching a broadcast of Jameson's Daily Bugle report covering the event, all while rain poured down on him. As he tried to push through this tragic passing, he had to listen to Jameson's scathing remarks that claimed "everywhere Spider-Man goes, chaos and calamity ensue."
Having to deal with the murder of his aunt was difficult enough, which only made Jameson's "report" come as an even harder blow to his already damaged psyche and morale. The Daily Bugle chief's harsh commentary only sent Peter into a deeper spiral, setting the stage for one of the most emotional endings to any superhero movie in memory.
15.) Peter’s Spider-Sense Warning Him About Green Goblin
“That's some neat trick, that sense of yours.”
- Green Goblin to Peter Parker
Peter Parker's Spider-Sense is something that has only recently been utilized during his MCU tenure - something that really came to fruition at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home in his fight against Mysterio. He had a couple of chances to use it early in No Way Home as well, but its big arrival came shortly before one of the film's most climactic moments.
After Peter helped fix Doc Ock's inhibitor chip, Spider-Man's mind started going bonkers. It was at this moment that Peter saw a hint of the truly fearsome side of Norman Osborn, which led to Peter webbing him to a nearby machine to keep him at bay.
While looking at Peter, Norman's Green Goblin personality took over as fans saw him embody that role even more than he did in 2002's Spider-Man. The scariest part of this moment is that, even though Peter's spider-powers were seemingly in full effect, there was nothing he could do against the Goblin's imminent attack and betrayal as Peter tried to help the other villains survive.
The buzz in his head brought back memories of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Sense that was used to great effect in all of their movies. This time, Holland's hero did his best to stop anything bad from happening to him or his loved one, but even his own sixth sense couldn't stop the brutal attack he had to face.
14.) Holland, Maguire, and Garfield's Peters Say Goodbye
"It's what we do."
- Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker
As the final fight in No Way Home came to an end, the real Multiversal madness was still on its way as Strange struggled to control the rogue spell. Peter then made the life-altering decision to have Strange cast a new spell to make everyone forget about him being Spider-Man, which meant he had to say some emotional goodbyes.
Peter then swung back to the fallen Captain America shield to reunite with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men, thanking them profusely for helping him save his universe and the greater Multiverse. Having difficulty saying what he was trying to say, Maguire's Peter reassured him that this is the Peter Parker way.
This led to a big, emotional hug between Holland, Maguire, and Garfield, quite literally bringing three generations of live-action Spider-Men together in a way never thought possible. Even after they got teary-eyed, some comedy entered the fray with Garfield confirming just how much pain Maguire was since he had just been stabbed by Green Goblin.
Putting three Spider-Men into one Marvel movie is an achievement in itself; having this emotional moment finish their time together was simply the cherry on top of the sundae in regards to their game-changing MCU screen time together.
13.) Charlie Cox’s Official MCU Debut as Daredevil
"I'm a really good lawyer."
- Matt Murdock
Moving back to the movie's earliest moments, fans immediately had one of the biggest rumors from the last two years confirmed in dramatic fashion. This came when Peter and his team entered the early stages of clearing his name by calling one of the most recognizable lawyers in Marvel history in Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock aka Daredevil.
After starring as the lead character in the Netflix-housed Daredevil series and the subsequent Defenders team-up spin-off, Charlie Cox was at the center of rumors for inclusion in No Way Home as early as March 2020. No reports teased how big his role would be, but the indications pointed to him potentially serving as Peter Parker's lawyer.
As it turns out, the rumors were true as Cox's Matt Murdock met with Peter, Aunt May, and Happy Hogan to try to help Peter clear his name. Fans even got a tease of his superpowers being in place as he caught a brick that flew through the window behind him, bringing screams and cheers across movie theaters as he shrugged it off by saying he's just "a really good lawyer."
It wasn't a long moment, but it did its job by confirming Charlie Cox's Man Without Fear to be officially in the MCU. Now, only time will tell where his character goes after his long-awaited canon debut.
12.) Ned Marvels at Tobey Maguire's Web-Shooting
"That came out of you!"
- Ned Leeds to Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker
As teased in rumors a few weeks before the film was released, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men lent a hand to Tom Holland's hero in the science department as they worked through their villain problem. As the trio developed the necessary cures alongside Ned and MJ, the conversation turned to the heroes' web-shooting abilities, leading to an awkward confession from Tobey Maguire's Peter.
The eldest Spider-Man wondered why his two counterparts needed web-shooters since he was able to simply shoot the webbing straight out of his wrists. Of course, Garfield and Holland's Spideys proceeded to freak out at the genetic wonder while Jacob Batalon's Ned gave his own iconic reaction by simply exclaiming, "That came out of you!" once Maguire demonstrated his abilities.
Not only did this bring laughs from the entire fandom, but it also came as a fun callback to Holland's first MCU movie, Captain America: Civil War, specifically his fight with Anthony Mackie's Falcon. Sam Wilson asked Peter, "Is this stuff coming out of you?!" when Peter webbed him up against a railing, which No Way Home perfectly referenced with a man who actually did shoot webbing out of his body.
While other hilarious moments came from this revelation before the final fight, this scene came as a great bonding moment as the variations of Spider-Man learned about their differences. Ned asked what the entire viewing audience and everyone in the room were thinking as Maguire showed off just how cool his Spider-Man still is after all these years.
11.) Tobey Maguire’s Peter tells Andrew Garfield “You are amazing."
"What is it with the self-talk? You’re amazing, just to take it in for a minute. You are amazing. You are amazing!”
- Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man to Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker
As has already been detailed in this list, the third act in No Way Home held countless incredible moments that fans will remember for a long time. While some of them were more emotional and impactful, this next one comes as simply a fun reference to Spider-Man's cinematic history prior to joining the MCU.
Holland, Garfield, and Maguire's Spider-Men reminisced on the villains that they'd fought before the final battle with Maguire in shock that Holland's has fought aliens in space before. Garfield was feeling down on himself for a second as he mentioned that he's only fought "a Russian guy in a rhinoceros machine” after calling himself lame, which Maguire simply refused to believe.
With Garfield wanting to fight an alien and feeling like he doesn't live up to Maguire and Holland's hero battles, Maguire held nothing back in telling Garfield that he is "amazing" multiple times. While this played well in the moment with the hero's momentary self-doubt, it also pays homage perfectly to Garfield's title as "The Amazing Spider-Man."
Since Garfield is the only one of the three Spideys to boast this title in his movie series, this was simply a fun tribute to his two movies as he made an exciting return to the role after seven years out of the suit. Particularly with it coming from Maguire's elder Spidey statesman, it helped Garfield's web-slinger feel right at home in his latest fight.
10.) Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker Reunites with Doc Ock
Doc Ock: "How are you?"
Peter Parker: "Trying to do better."
Curing No Way Home's Multiversal villains while fighting them at the same time proved to be a tall order, even for three wall-crawlers. But one by one, the Spider-Man trio gave each villain their cure, even getting some help from Alfred Molina's Doc Ock in a difficult fight with Jamie Foxx's Electro.
As Otto Octavius held Maguire and Garfield's Spideys with his tentacles, he jammed Electro's cure onto his body and showed his true change of heart after getting the inhibitor chip and regaining control of his mind. As the reformed villain held Tony Stark's arc reactor, he couldn't help but see it as "the power of the sun" before Tobey Maguire completed the quote with "...in the palm of your hand."
This led to Maguire's Spidey and Doc Ock meeting for the first time since that fateful moment in 2004's Spider-Man 2 when Peter convinced his science idol to do the right thing and drown his fusion reactor. The two iconic characters exchanged huge smiles as Ock asked how Peter was now that he was all grown up, to which Peter responded with a simple "trying to do better," just as he said on the day he met Otto in 2004.
Fans of Maguire's Spider-Man trilogy know that this is the same line Peter said to Octavius upon their first meeting in Spider-Man 2 when Octavius had heard Peter was lazy. Having this be something of a full-circle moment for the adversaries-turned-friends years later truly came as an emotional scene, even while the battle at Liberty Island raged on.
9.) Peter and MJ’s final Goodbye at the Statue of Liberty
After all was said and done in No Way Home's final battle, Tom Holland's Peter Parker had to say the most difficult goodbye of his life as Doctor Strange completed his original spell. With the world about to forget about Peter's entire existence, the young hero swung over to his best friend Ned and his girlfriend MJ to have one final moment before sending them on their way.
Peter's relationships with both MJ and Ned go back even before their first on-screen appearance in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming and fans have seen their friendship grow stronger with each new Spider-Man movie. The three of them worked together brilliantly in No Way Home to fix the Multiverse-breaking spell from Doctor Strange, only adding to the fact that having to say goodbye would be nothing short of heartbreaking.
As Strange cast the spell, Peter took a moment to do one final handshake and hug with Ned before turning to MJ and telling her that he would come fine her when it was all over. Expressing their love for each other, they embraced and went in for a romantic kiss in the sunrise, bringing tears to the eyes of moviegoers everywhere.
While Peter swung away into the city, he looked back one more time at MJ knowing that their relationship may never be the same again. MJ's future in the MCU is now quite a mystery, but as was proven in this movie, never say never to the Peter/MJ love story continuing in some way.
8.) Spider-Man’s Final Swing in His New Costume
A Spider-Man movie isn't exactly a Spider-Man movie without a classic scene of Peter Parker swinging through the streets of New York City. The most iconic one, though, comes in the final moments of the story.
As Peter settles into his new apartment in the city, the footage gives a look at his classic Spidey mask on his pillow before moving to some cut-up fabric for a new suit on his desk. The youngster then slowly steps out of his window into the snow as fans get their first tease of his newest Spider-Man suit, which sees more clarity in the following moments as he swings through the snow.
Although the movie only very briefly gives a full look at this suit, what fans have seen so far is a glorious representation of the classic Spider-Man look. There is still the mystery of what materials Peter used to make this new getup without the benefit of Stark technology, but he did find a way to use multiple forms of inspiration in its new design that seems to be stitched together.
After his encounter with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, he had the look of both of their suits in mind when making the first outfit of his new Spidey life. Using the bright blue-and-red color scheme from Garfield's threads while giving himself a bigger spider logo on the front and back like the one Maguire boasts, this could end up being a new iconic costume in Marvel Studios' expansive legacy.
It will likely be some time until it's seen in the clear daylight of New York City, but even with what's been shown already, Spider-Man has a new signature look in his MCU rebirth.
7.) Tom Holland’s Peter Parker Fights with Green Goblin, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Stops Murder
While the final battle from No Way Home is ripe for the picking in terms of great moments, the emotion and drama turned up to eleven when Peter Parker took on the Green Goblin in hand-to-hand combat. After falling from the top of the Statue of Liberty, the young Spider-Man once again came face-to-face with the man who murdered his Aunt May.
It's been a long time since fans have seen a Peter Parker completely taken over by rage in the way Tom Holland fought against Willem Dafoe's relentless Norman Osborn. The two engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat with one another as Peter Parker was blinded by the thought of vengeance against his aunt's killer.
After beating the Goblin into complete submission, Holland's Peter lifted the villain's glider over his head to deliver the final blow. But moments before he struck the final blow, Tobey Maguire's elder Spidey stopped him by catching the glider as he stepped in front of it. Just as Andrew Garfield's hero tried to stop Holland from going down a dark path when they first met, Maguire's Spidey did everything in his power to stop Peter from committing full-blown murder.
Although Maguire's intentions were good, the Goblin expectedly betrayed him by stabbing Maguire in the back, which was eerily reminiscent of Goblin's own death in 2002's Spider-Man. Immediately after, Holland used all his might to jam Osborn's cure into his neck so he could send him home cured of his Goblin problem for good.
Reports had teased some of the most brutal fight scenes in any Spider-Man movie to date coming in No Way Home, and this scene delivered in droves on that promise.
6.) Ned Sling-Rings Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker
"I generally don't go around advertising (that I'm Spider-Man). Kind of defeats the whole 'anonymous superhero' thing."
- Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker
It's abundantly clear that Spider-Man: No Way Home is filled with game-changing moments and thrilling introductions for new characters, which continues in a big way looking back at the final moment before our Top 5.
At the film's lowest point, Ned realized he was able to use Doctor Strange's Sling Ring to open portals all over the world, which first led to bringing in Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker before Ned tried again to find his best friend.
Closing his eyes and uttering "Find Peter Parker" three times, another portal opened up behind him revealing a civilian-clothed Tobey Maguire looking delightfully confused. Although Ned commented that it was "just some random guy," the dynamic slowly changed when Maguire's Peter recognized Ned and MJ before locking eyes with Garfield's Parker.
With both of their Spider-senses going wild, the two Spideys fired their webs at each other with Maguire's Peter shooting one directly onto Garfield's web-shooters. Almost immediately gaining each other's trust while Ned's grandmother asked them to clean up the webs, this moment felt like the first true moment where the movie's team of superheroes formed.
After Tobey revealed himself as Spider-Man, Ned asked him him what took so long to reveal himself as such, which led him to admit that doing so "defeats the whole 'anonymous superhero' thing," reminiscent of what Garfield said only a few minutes prior.
With the Spider-Man trio having all made their arrivals at that point in the movie, it set the stage for the biggest crossover event in a solo superhero movie ever.
5.) Green Goblin Kills Aunt May
"You have a gift. You have power. And with great power, there must also come great responsibility."
- Aunt May to Peter Parker
Spider-Man: No Way Home is filled with some of the highest and lowest points in any solo Spider-Man movie to date - moments that bring the loudest of cheers and fully open fans' tear ducts. Arguably the saddest of those moments is when Peter Parker loses the woman who raised him as Marisa Tomei's Aunt May Parker meets her unfortunate end.
While trying to take the villains' cures out of Happy's apartment building during the Green Goblin's rampage, Peter and the Goblin smash through the roof down to the first floor in front of May. Although she gets the cure jammed into Norman Osborn's neck, it doesn't phase him. He then hits May with his glider and hurls a pumpkin bomb that blows up the entire first floor.
May took the brunt of the explosion as Peter tried to save her life, although he was also more than ready to simply send the Multiversal villains back home without curing them at all. This set up a moment that MCU Spidey fans have waited to see for more than five years as Aunt May uttered those famous words: "with great power, there must also come great responsibility."
Peter was already struggling with this moral decision before May fell to the ground and slowly died in front of her nephew, sending the young hero into tears as he lost the last blood relative he had. As Happy showed up to find out about her passing, the Department of Damage Control opened fire on Peter, forcing him to flee the scene while dealing with the guilt and pain of this tragic loss.
Every version of Peter Parker has dealt with this kind of loss in the past, whether it be Uncle Ben, Aunt May, or even Gwen Stacy. With rumors teasing that Holland's Peter would suffer more than he ever has before in this film, May's death delivered on that promise on a scale hitherto undreamt of.
4.) The Three Peter Parkers First Meet on the School Roof
Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker: “My Uncle Ben was killed. It was my fault.”
Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man: “I lost Gwen. She was my MJ. I couldn’t save her.”
Even while dealing with possibly the most crushing moment of his life, it was only a few minutes later that fans saw a moment that was years in the making. While Peter sat defeated on the roof, MJ and Ned sandwiched him in a hug before he turned around to find Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men, leading to the first meeting between all three web-slingers.
With Holland's Peter in unimaginable pain, the two Multiversal visitors tried to help their fellow Spider-Man in need; however, all the young webhead wanted was to send the villains home to whatever fate waited for them. It's at this moment that the MCU's wall-crawler truly finds out what it means to be Spider-Man as Maguire and Garfield shared their tales of heartbreak.
Maguire's Peter explained the guilt he still feels for his Uncle Ben's death in 2002's Spider-Man while Garfield teared up over losing Gwen Stacy in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man, connecting to Holland by calling Gwen his own MJ. When Holland opened up about the pain and anger he felt toward the Goblin for killing Aunt May, his new partners both help set him on the right path and reassured him that he was doing the right thing.
For a moment that fans had waited years for, one that featured all three live-action Spider-Men together for the first time, No Way Home delivered something unforgettable as they met one another and prepared for the ultimate mission.
3.) Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker Saves Zendaya’s MJ
While our list's next moment comes as another addition from the No Way Home final battle, it also pays tribute to one of the most emotional Spider-Man movies outside the MCU. It's a moment that was teased in the movie's promotional tour and had fans and cast members alike theorizing over what was happening and who was involved.
As the battle at Lady Liberty raged on, Zendaya's MJ was knocked off the scaffolding built around the statue and fell before Tom Holland's Peter leaped forward to save her. And although the Green Goblin stopped Peter from saving his girlfriend, Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man sprang into action to save Michelle Jones and get her safely to the ground.
For fans who watched Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man movies, this moment was an almost-exact replication of the scene when Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy fell to her death at the end of Garfield's 2014 sequel. While Garfield's Peter caught Gwen, he couldn't catch her quick enough as she was killed from the whiplash of her fall, which led to the No Way Home moment being a huge redemption arc for Garfield's hero.
As MJ looked at the Multiversal Spider-Man, Garfield's Peter Parker couldn't stop himself from bursting into tears as he couldn't help but remember losing Gwen so many years before. Although the moment in his own universe hit him in a way that nothing else could, he pushed forward just as he said he did earlier in the film and made sure to not let Holland's Peter go through the same thing that he experienced.
While Garfield saving MJ was certainly a key scene in No Way Home as its own moment, the ramifications and redemption that Garfield felt is something that almost nothing can match on an emotional level.
2.) Ned Sling Rings Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker
"You're a deeply mistrusting person... And I respect that."
- Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker
As No Way Home's lowest moment showed Ned and MJ desperately trying to find Peter after Aunt May's death, all hope appeared to be lost for the high-schoolers in their quest to help Spider-Man. In a truly shocking moment, though, when Ned waved his hands around wishing for the chance to see Peter, a spark flared up in the air in front of him as he wore Doctor Strange's Sling Ring.
Confirming to him for the first time that he may be blessed with the ability to perform magic, Ned tried his hardest to find his best friend but instead opened a portal to an undisclosed alley where a tall, slender figure looked around. Appearing to be dressed in a Spider-Man costume, Ned and MJ called Peter's name, but what came through the portal was something fans only hoped would become a reality.
Spider-Man did come through the portal that Ned created, but he wasn't wearing his new Integrated Suit. Instead, a web-slinger in a red-and-blue suit entered Ned's kitchen before taking his mask off and revealing himself to be none other than Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man.
After more than a year of rumors and countless denials from Garfield on the matter, his time in the MCU had finally arrived.
Garfield's Peter Parker proceeded to explain how he was a different version of Ned and MJ's friend that somehow wound up in their world before freaking out about the Multiverse being real. Unconvinced, MJ pestered him to prove he was really Peter Parker by throwing bread at him to test his Spidey sense and asking if he had an ID, leading to this Peter expressing his respect to MJ for being "a deeply mistrusting person," yet he amused her anyway to respect her life experiences that made her the way she is.
After a round of ceiling-crawling to get some cobwebs down, MJ and Ned accepted that this was really happening as Garfield's Peter wrapped his head around being in a new universe. Garfield had finally suited up as Spider-Man within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was only the start of an epic final act in No Way Home.
1.) The Three Spider-Men Assemble
"I love you guys!"
- Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker
Even with so many game-changing moments in No Way Home, none of them compare to what came in as our favorite moment from the MCU's twenty-seventh movie. In a film that featured Charlie Cox's Daredevil, the death of Aunt May, Doctor Strange's magic, and five Multiversal villains, it somehow still seems only right that the Spider-Man trio's team-up takes the cake.
When the final battle against Electro, Sandman, and the Lizard first started, the three heroes were completely out of sync, largely due to the fact that Maguire and Garfield's Spider-Men had never been part of a team before. As they hashed it out with Holland's wall-crawler in the scaffolding, they finally came up with a plan of attack before Garfield shared his love for his Spidey teammates, all of them reveling in this historic moment.
Then, as they all pulled their masks back on, deafening cheers erupted all over the world as the MCU's Spider-Man, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man lept into the air and swung in unison toward the villains. They all landed on the head of the Statue of Liberty in various poses, making for arguably one of the most epic single shots in comic book movie history.
Even with the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse laying the foundation several years ago, it's still hard to believe that a moment like three generations of Spider-Man colliding truly exists in a live-action superhero film. Bringing in multiple veteran actors into the MCU that played the web-slinger over the years to celebrate the history of Spider-Man movies is one of Marvel and Sony's biggest accomplishments.
It will be remembered as one of the most iconic cinematic moments ever.
No Way Home: A Marvel Cinematic Wonder
Considering Spider-Man: No Way Home is only the fourth-longest MCU movie behind 2021's Eternals, 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, it's no surprise that the film has so many memorable moments. Finding a way to combine characters from the MCU, Marvel Netflix shows, and past Spider-Man movies while still focusing the narrative on Tom Holland's Peter Parker was a tall order that fans are largely seeing as a successful effort.
Looking back at the past two years' worth of teases regarding the cast and plot, it seemed near-impossible to deliver something that would bring Spider-Man and MCU fans together the way that this movie is doing right now. More moments from the plot outside of the ones on this list will surely come to light as more fans take in the magic, but these alone are enough to keep fans satisfied for years to come.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters in most parts of the world. What was your favorite moment from this list? Who was your favorite hero or villain? Let us know on Twitter at @MCU_Direct, @TheDirect, and @RichardNebens.
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