Spider-Man: No Way Home has exceeded expectations at the box office, performing like a movie released long before this pandemic we're all so sick of hearing about came along. That all but guarantees Sony Pictures will do what's needed to convince Tom Holland to return, while Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and producer Amy Pascal have already confirmed Spider-Man 4 plans.
While this threequel could have quite easily closed the door on Spidey's MCU adventures, it also sets the stage for a lot of new stories for this Peter Parker...and perhaps even a couple of others.
With that in mind, we're now taking a look at the most exciting possibilities for where this franchise goes next and the wider impact Spider-Man: No Way Home promises to have on the wider MCU. This movie is a game-changer, and the seeds for what comes next have already been planted.
To take a look through this feature, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button down below!
8. The Venom Symbiote
It appears Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock won't be sticking around the MCU after all as he's sent back home in the movie's mid-credits scene without ever meeting Spider-Man. However, the Lethal Protector leaves a little something behind in Mexico: a piece of the alien costume!
Some fans have questioned why Eddie would be brought into the MCU when he doesn't know Spider-Man is Peter Parker. In Venom: Let There Be Carnage's stinger, Venom says he has "80 billion years of hive knowledge across universes," so we'd bet he knows a thing or two about Spidey. How that symbiote will reach New York is hard to say, but it's easy to see where Marvel is going.
A recurring theme in Spider-Man's MCU adventures has been new costumes, and we'd bet on the grief-stricken Peter falling to his darker impulses quite easily thanks to a new, black suit. Hardy showing up as a different Eddie who is more in line with the comics also adds up.
7. A Fresh Start For Spidey
The world has forgotten Peter Parker exists, though Spider-Man has been remembered. No one knows who is beneath the mask (much to the chagrin of J. Jonah Jameson), making the wall-crawler a true outsider in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...just like in the comic books, of course.
With his new apartment in the heart of the Big Apple, Spidey - in a homemade, comic accurate red and blue costume - swings into action after listening to the police radio, ditching the Stark tech to become a street-level superhero. This feels like Marvel Studios fully embracing the source material, and with that, Spider-Man has been given a fresh start in the MCU.
Moving forward, that promises to give him a very different relationship to his fellow Avengers and, more importantly, sets the stage for Peter to be a new type of hero in his next trilogy of movies.
6. Friends Reunited?
As Spider-Man: No Way Home ends, neither MJ nor Ned Leeds have any memory of Peter Parker. The hero chooses not to try and remind them, likely because he still has the Green Goblin's words ringing in his head about how those around him will always suffer (not to mention his grief over losing May).
Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are way too talented to just ditch from this franchise, and as excited as we are to see some new supporting characters, we're guessing they'll both return. MJ is a hard one to predict, but Ned could quite easily become a love rival to Peter after growing jealous of his friendship with Betty Brant, while there's also the possibility he suits up as the Hobgoblin.
The web-slinger bumping into his old friends (and the woman he loves in MJ's case), only to realise that his decision negatively impacted their lives would make for interesting viewing. Alternatively, he could see how much better off they are, further sending him down a dark, lonely path.
5. Redemption For One Amazing Hero
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was by no means a good movie, but it was still a shame for Andrew Garfield's tenure as Peter Parker to end the way it did. Spider-Man: No Way Home offers the actor a shot at redemption, particularly when it comes to the fallout from the death of Gwen Stacy.
When this Peter first meets the MCU's web-slinger, he talks about losing himself and no longer pulling his punches. We later learn that he's pretty much given up his life as Peter Parker, though saving MJ might just be what puts the hero back on the right track. Needless to say, further exploring that has all the makings of a great movie and fans are already campaigning for Garfield's return.
Whether it's as a supporting character in one of Sony's many spinoff movies, Secret Wars, or The Amazing Spider-Man 3, it's time to give this actor the chance to continue playing the hero.
4. New Worlds Of Possibilities
There's still a lot we don't know about the Multiverse, including whether those reformed villains will return to the right place in their respective timelines. If so, that would create new branching timelines where they don't die and perhaps even become allies to the Spider-Men in their respective realities.
Another possibility is that they return to the present day alongside the Peter Parker Variants we meet, thereby changing those realities massively as well (imagine a world where Doc Ock, no longer insane, becomes a father figure and ally to his Spider-Man). The possibilities are endless and could quite easily be explored over the course of any number of future MCU or Sony movies.
Whether it will happen remains to be seen, but there are lots of exciting possibilities to ponder here.
3. Multiverse Fallout
Spider-Man: No Way Home's post-credit scene is basically a teaser trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, though it's apparent the fallout from this movie could be what leads to the events of that sequel unfolding. Strange's spell to hide Peter Parker from the world caused quite a bit of damage to reality and he's now going to have to deal with the consequences.
Those look set to involve America Chavez, the Scarlet Witch, and even Strange Supreme from What If...?, but is this where Strange fixes everything or the beginning of more madness to come?
Marvel Studios has only rally started scratching the surface of what the Multiverse means the exploration of alternate timelines and realities is only just beginning. We know countless Kang the Conqueror Variants will soon go to war, with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Loki season 2 almost certainly picking up wherever the Doctor Strange sequel leaves us.
2. Daredevil Returns
Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock only appears in one scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but it sure is memorable! As Peter Parker's lawyer, he offers both the web-slinger and Happy Hogan some advice, later catching a brick thrown through the window to drive home the fact this version is also Daredevil!
While we'd have loved more scenes featuring the Man Without Fear (preferably in costume), the threequel lays the groundwork for future stories featuring the character. This was a solid reintroduction and one that hopefully means we'll see Daredevil in everything from She-Hulk to Echo and his own series/movie.
Only time will tell where he appears next, but between this and Kingpin showing up in Hawkeye, it's clear big plans are being put in place to explore Matt's corner of the MCU moving forward.
1. Scorpion
When the Multiverse is being torn apart shortly after the movie's final battle, we see a number of silhouettes of villains who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Those include Kraven the Hunter, Rhino, and Scorpion, and it's the latter we're expecting to take centre stage in the next trilogy.
Mac Gargan has unfinished business with the web-slinger after their battle in Spider-Man: Homecoming left him with some devastating injuries. With that in mind, J. Jonah Jameson hiring Mac and putting him in a suit of armour to try and unmask Spidey feels like the right direction to take the story in (Spencer Smythe and the Spider-Slayers could even factor into the story).
Remember, Mac was Venom for a time, so instead of using Eddie Brock, the MCU could have the defeated Scorpion bond with the alien costume to become this world's version of the Lethal Protector!