The 27th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the final film in its Spider-Man trilogy, Spider-Man: No Way Home releases in theatres on December 16. Written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, the film has been directed by Jon Watts, which makes him the first filmmaker to have helmed a full trilogy for Marvel Studios. (Ant-Man's Peyton Reed and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn will both join that club by 2023.) Tom Holland will reprise his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, joined by recurring cast members Zendaya (as Peter's love interest MJ), Jacob Batalon (as Peter's best friend Ned) and Marissa Tomei (as Peter's aunt May). Tony Revolori, who plays Peter's frenemy, Flash Thompson, will also appear in the film, as will JK Simmons, who earlier made a cameo appearance as media honcho J Jonah Jameson at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
At the end of Far From Home, the villain Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) revealed Spider-Man's identity to the world before framing him for his death. No Way Home picks up from here, and sees Peter struggling with the increased public scrutiny. The newspapers are full of speculation about his powers, including that he can "hypnotise females" the way male spiders can, the police are interrogating him for his role in Mysterio's death, and he's worried about what his cover being blown means for his friends and family. When he asks Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to perform a spell that could erase everyone's knowledge of his alias, it goes horribly wrong and tears apart the fabric of space and time, splitting open the multiverse.
We get to see a whole host of familiar faces. Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) from Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy reprise their roles in this film, as do Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) from Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films. The splitting of the multiverse has pulled these classic Spider-Man villains from their universes into this one, and while Peter initially prepares to send them back, he reconsiders upon learning that this will result in their sure death — each of these villains is destined to die fighting their own version of Spider-Man back home.
Tobey Maguire, the original live-action Spider-Man, and Andrew Garfield, who played the superhero in The Amazing Spider-Man films, are rumoured to appear in No Way Home, though there has been no confirmation yet. Fans spotted Lizard in the trailer appearing to be punched by an invisible force, which led many to speculate that either Maguire or Garfield had been digitally erased from the shot to preserve the surprise. Charlie Cox, who played Daredevil in the Netflix series of the same name, is also expected to appear as Peter's attorney in the film. While Collider reported that Kirsten Dunst was in talks to reprise her role as Mary Jane Watson from the original Spider-Man series, there is no word on whether Emma Stone will also make an appearance as Gwen Stacy from the The Amazing Spider-Man films.
The post-credits of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which released earlier this year, points to a previous relationship between Holland's Spider-Man and Venom, though it's unclear whether the symbiote will appear in No Way Home as the final member of the supervillain group Sinister Six.
Doctor Strange will next appear in Doctor Strange And The Multiverse of Madness (2022), which, as the title suggests, is another multiversal adventure, much like No Way Home. The film will see Elizabeth Olsen reprise her role as the Scarlet Witch, on the lookout for her young sons who, according to the events of WandaVision, appear to be trapped in another universe.
Sony film Morbius, set to release in January, also references the events of No Way Home with background graffiti that depicts Spider-Man as a murderer. The film, which follows the vampiric adventures of biochemist Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), also stars Micheal Keaton, supposedly reprising his role as the villain Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), making this shared universe more cohesive, but simultaneously more confusing.