WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man villains from previous movies outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe enter Peter Parker's world. However, in addition to villains, heroes the fight as well. Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield return in the movie as their versions of Peter Parker, teaming up with Holland's character to save the MCU.
In Amazing Spider-Man 2, Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker deals with a tragic loss. In the film, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) puts Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) in peril during his fight with Spider-Man. Though Peter Parker tries to save Stacy from a dangerous fall, her head ultimately hits the ground, killing her. The moment puts Spider-Man down a dark path, which he references in No Way Home. However, the character eventually comes back by The Amazing Spider-Man 2's ending to square off with Paul Giamatti's Rhino.
No Way Home sets up the perfect opportunity for Garfield's Marvel future thanks to an Amazing Spider-Man 2 line. In No Way Home, the villains and heroes are taken from various points in their own universes to wind up in the MCU. While Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker doesn't provide many details about the moment where he left his own universe, the Amazing Spider-Man 2 may at least reveal where he returns. At the end of the film, Garfield's Spider-Man returns from his hiatus to fight Paul Giamatti's Rhino. But before he fights him, he says, "There's no place like home." So Marvel could easily retcon the last line in the film to for Andrew Garfield's return to his Spider-Man universe.
Marvel couldn't have asked for a better entry point for Garfield returning. Of course, Judy Garland's Dorothy famously uttered the "no place like home" line in The Wizard of Oz in her attempt to finally go home. In Amazing Spider-Man 2, Garfield's Peter Parker seemingly says the line to mark his return to web-slinging after a hiatus due to Gwen Stacy's death. However, with Garfield's return in No Way Home, the Amazing Spider-Man 2 line paves the way for him to reenter his own universe in a potential Amazing Spider-Man 3. After all, it's a perfect line to say when returning to his timeline.
Marvel will have to be flexible with its retconning to make the phrase work. For example, in No Way Home, Spider-Man 2. Though the retcon may require some plot acrobatics, that's what Spider-Man is good at.
