After New Spider-Man Reveal, I’m Convinced Marvel Needs to Undo No Way Home’s Ending (But it Can Work)

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Spider-Man: No Way Home was a massive success for Marvel, earning both rave reviews and nearly $2 billion worldwide. A big part of its appeal was the nostalgia it tapped into, but the film managed to use familiar characters well. While bringing back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, the story still centered on Tom Holland’s version and explored the true meaning of responsibility. A particularly memorable moment was Holland’s Peter Parker making a selfless choice at the end of the movie – asking Doctor Strange to erase everyone’s memories of him, which meant saying goodbye to his friends and family.

The ending of No Way Home, especially Peter’s difficult choice to protect Ned and MJ by distancing himself from them, was a surprisingly impactful moment. It was sad to watch, but it felt crucial to his development as a hero. That’s why many Marvel fans are worried about hints that the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day might reverse that ending. While that ending felt like it should stick, recent reveals about Brand New Day have led me to believe Marvel needs to undo it—but it can be done well.

Peter Parker Completely Misunderstood Aunt May’s Point in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Marvel recently released some script pages from the upcoming film, offering fans a peek behind the scenes. The movie opens with Peter revisiting the letter he wrote to MJ at the end of No Way Home, but never actually sent. Through voiceover, Peter explains his decision not to reconnect with her, stating he must “live alone with the truth.” Notably, director Destin Daniel Cretton added a note pointing out this line echoes a sentiment May expressed to Peter in No Way Home—a twist on her famous last words about responsibility, delivered just before her death.

It was clear May was reminding Peter that he had a duty to use his powers and skills to help those in need. She was so determined to try and heal the villains in No Way Home because she believed Peter had the ability and means to do so. Even after the Green Goblin’s attack, she didn’t change her mind. However, Peter misinterpreted her message. He mistakenly believed she was saying he needed to isolate himself from others because of his role as Spider-Man, and that his only job was to protect people, even at the cost of his own personal connections. He ultimately decided he shouldn’t form close relationships.

You know, thinking about it, Peter’s whole isolating thing feels like it’s rooted in the guilt he carries over messing with Doctor Strange’s spell. He was so desperate to protect Ned, MJ, and Aunt May from whatever might happen with that spell, that he accidentally kicked off a whole multiversal crisis… and ultimately, it led to Aunt May’s death. Now, he seems to think the only way to keep his friends safe is to push them away and keep his Spider-Man identity a secret, so something like that can’t happen again. But honestly, as the script for Brand New Day really shows, that’s just not a healthy way to live. It’s a really sad situation, seeing him try to ‘protect’ everyone by shutting them out.

Okay, so picking up after the events of No Way Home, Peter Parker is… well, a mess. For the first time ever, he’s completely isolated. Nine months have passed, and he’s basically become a hermit, with his only companion being a new AI assistant named E.V. The script immediately establishes this intense loneliness. We see little hints that something’s physically wrong – a quick headache, which the script flags as a sign of his changing DNA – but he brushes it off. Director Cretton’s notes make it clear Peter isn’t taking care of himself, and that’s setting up a major emotional journey for him in Brand New Day. The first few pages really hammer home this isolation, signaling that a big part of this story will be about Peter realizing he can’t keep living like this and learning to reconnect with people.

How Undoing the No Way Home Ending Can Work

As a critic, I thought it was smart to see the events of No Way Home still impacting Peter Parker in Brand New Day. That ending was huge, and it felt right to carry that weight forward. However, I worry about Tom Holland’s Spider-Man being stuck in a perpetually gloomy place. While exploring that emotional fallout works for one film, it could get old quickly. Other Spider-Men have always had people to rely on – Tobey Maguire had Aunt May, Andrew Garfield had Gwen Stacy, and even Miles Morales in Spider-Verse has a whole team of variants. A solid support system is just so central to who Spider-Man is, and it’s something Peter really needs, even if it’s just one person to lean on.

Supporting Peter Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now requires changing the ending of No Way Home. The challenge is figuring out how to do that effectively. Simply restoring Peter’s relationship with Ned and MJ would feel unearned and diminish the power of No Way Home‘s emotional ending. It would also contradict the film’s title, Brand New Day, which suggests a fresh start for Peter Parker. To truly begin a new story, Peter needs to move forward, and that means accepting that his relationship with Ned and MJ has changed.

Given his past with Ned and MJ, it’s not surprising Peter is so focused on getting back in touch with them, but it seems like it might be futile. MJ is dating someone new, showing she’s moved on, and Ned is likely making friends in college. While Peter wishes he could return to how things were, rebuilding those relationships is nearly impossible. Even being Spider-Man can’t replace years of shared history with a simple conversation. Peter would be better off focusing on making new friends and connections, which is actually the most effective way to move forward from the events of No Way Home.

If the next story introduces new characters who can support Peter Parker – even if it’s just him sharing his struggles with someone like Bruce Banner, who is intrigued by his changing DNA – Marvel could balance honoring the emotional weight of No Way Home with moving the story forward. While it would move away from the idea of Peter completely abandoning his old life, it would still acknowledge the pain of him losing contact with Ned and MJ. This could be a good compromise for fans. The story could explore a natural theme of growth, similar to high school students starting college and moving on to a new phase of life. In No Way Home, Peter made a selfless but difficult choice by prioritizing saving the world over maintaining his relationships. Hopefully, the next story will show him learning that having friends and support isn’t incompatible with being a hero, which is what Aunt May would have wanted.

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2026-05-01 22:43