Spider-Man: No Way Home is arguably the best installment of the franchise yet, and is definitely the biggest. Bringing together the three actors who have played Peter Parker in live-action, the film also includes a quintet of familiar bad guys who have a sinister role to play in proceedings.
Throw in returning favorites like MJ, Happy Hogan, and May Parker, and there are lots of characters to follow. Some have happy endings, others not so much, and a few are even changed forever.
In this feature, we're looking back at how things wrap up for every hero, villain, and supporting player in Spider-Man: No Way Home. As well as exploring how their stories end, we also ponder what might be next for those who stand a good chance of showing up again down the line.
In case it isn't already obvious, massive SPOILERS for the film follow from this point on...
10. Doctor Octopus
While Doc Ock initially returns to his villainous ways and wants nothing to do with Peter Parker's plan to cure him, the new inhibitor chip finally allows Otto Octavius to fend off the influence of his four extra arms. Initially fleeing during Spider-Man's first battle with the Green Goblin, he returns during the final act to seemingly lay waste to the three Spider-Men.
Instead, he's there to help and has an emotional reunion with his world's Peter Parker where he acknowledges that the young man he knew has grown up. Later losing one of his mechanical arms in battle, Otto is eventually returned to his reality fully reformed and no longer controlled by darker impulses.
9. Green Goblin
Norman Osborn's split personality is at the forefront of his story arc in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and despite holding off the Goblin for much of the film, it's not long until his monstrous side is back. After dealing a fatal blow to the MCU's Peter Parker by targeting one of his loved ones, the Green Goblin confronts the web-slinger at the Statue of Liberty for one final showdown.
Distraught, Spidey is moments away from killing him before the Spider-Man from Norman's world intervenes. He gets stabbed in the back for his troubles, but when the Amazing Spider-Man throws the cure they've created for Osborn's condition to Peter, he manages to "kill" the Goblin that way. Norman, horrified by his actions, returns to his world, but is the Goblin ever truly gone?
8. The Lizard
By the time we meet The Lizard in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he's completely lost the plot and remains as keen as ever to transform the entire human population into lizards. That's about as complex as his plan gets, and after siding with Norman, he's eventually beaten by the Spider-Men.
With that, the web-slinger once again uses the cure he created in The Amazing Spider-Man to return The Lizard to his human form. It may or may not be a permanent solution, but we're assuming Curt Connors will swiftly be returned to his prison cell by the time he returns to his own reality.
7. Sandman
Flint Marko's story arc in the film boils down to him simply wanting to get back home to his daughter. However, the combined brainpower of the three Spider-Men means a cure is created that allows Sandman to permanently return to his human form (for most of Spider-Man: No Way Home, he's made of sand, an apparent evolution of his powers that's turned them into an affliction).
Cured, Sandman is also sent home and presumably manages to find redemption and his little girl. It's far from the biggest part of the film, but a nice way to wrap up the arc that began in Spider-Man 3.
6. Electro
Arriving in the MCU, Max Dillon senses a new type of power that allows him to reform a body that's superior to the last one he had. Electro's thirst for electricity drives him, and Peter's suggestion of a device that will permanently drain that does not go down well. Later, Norman creates an arc reactor device that makes the villain even stronger, and he's not willing to give that up.
Ultimately beaten by the Spider-Man of his world, Max is devastated to no longer be "special." His Peter, however, explains that he always was and controlling electricity wasn't the reason why. It's another touching moment, and one that hopefully sets poor Max on a permanent path to redemption.
5. MJ, Ned, And Flash Thompson
While he can no longer lay claim to being Peter Parker's best friend, we're assuming not much changed for Flash Thompson and he ended up heading to MIT. As for Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones-Watson, they also got into their school of choice, and seem quite content no longer remembering Peter.
Neither wanted to forget him, of course, but that was a result of Doctor Strange casting a spell that would repair the Multiverse but make everyone forget the teenager exists (and that he's beneath Spider-Man's mask). We don't learn what becomes of Betty Brant, but hope she considers a career in journalism.
4. Aunt May
The most tragic scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home comes when Aunt May, struck down by the Green Goblin's glider assures her nephew that she's fine...until she isn't. May is more injured than she realises, bleeding heavily from her altercation with the villain. It's particularly tragic as Peter, moments before, managed to save his aunt from taking the full force of a Pumpkin Bomb.
May dies in Peter's arms, but not before making him realize that with great power there must also come great responsibility. Essentially filling the role of Uncle Ben in the MCU, it's May who sets Peter on the path to becoming a true superhero, and that's a lesson the hero won't soon forget.
3. Happy Hogan
Happy Hogan arrives to see that May has been killed (he had feelings for her, so it's a small yet powerful scene), and pleads with Peter to run before the authorities can arrest him. It's the last time we see Tony Stark's one-time right-hand man before he bumps into Peter at Aunt May's grave.
As a result of Doctor Strange's spell, he no longer remembers the teenager he became something of a father figure to or that May even had a nephew. Happy asks Peter if he knew May through Spider-Man, their connection clearly severed in a permanent way. It's worth pointing out that Strange also forgets Peter, though the aftermath of his decision is covered in the post-credits.
2. Spider-Men
The return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as their respective versions of Spider-Man is a truly joyous affair, and both are pivotal in making the MCU's Spidey realise that he shouldn't head down the dark path he's considering. They steer the hero back in the right direction and use their knowledge of the villains from their worlds to create those aforementioned cures.
While the original big screen Spider-Man is stabbed by the Green Goblin, he points out he's been stabbed before but admits to being in tremendous pain. The three Variants share a hug before Peter rushes to say goodbye to his loved ones, and then return to their realities. Not much changes for Maguire's Spidey, though Garfield's has a renewed sense of purpose and being able to save MJ might just help pull him out of the darkness he's fallen into since being unable to rescue Gwen Stacy.
1. Spider-Man
The world remembers Spider-Man, but no one knows that Peter Parker exists. His friends, fellow heroes, and even J. Jonah Jameson have no recollection of who is beneath the mask, and the entire world has had the knowledge that Spidey and Peter are one of the same erased from their minds.
That's not going to faze the wall-crawler, though. After reaching the conclusion MJ and Ned will be happier and safer without him (the bandage on MJ's forehead reminds him of the danger he puts his loved ones in), Peter rents an apartment in New York with just a few mementoes of his old life. Donning a new, homemade - comic-accurate - costume, he swings off into the night to fight crime.
With that, the MCU finally has a classic Spider-Man, but where will his story go next? Time will tell.