No Way Home brought villains and other Spideys, played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, from throughout the Multiverse into the MCU for a holiday season box office phenomenon. Unfortunately, Peter Parker had to make a huge sacrifice in order to save the world.
To stop an even greater Multiverse-shattering event, Peter has Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell to wipe out the entire world’s memory of Peter Parker. Of course, Peter accepted this heartbreaking fate as the hero that he is, and is having to rebuild his life after Spider-Man: No Way Home’s ending. As Peter continues to protect the people of New York City as Spider-Man, his inherent relatability is likely to become the focus of the MCU’s Spider-Man 4.
When he was first created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-Man was meant to appeal to comic book readers as a teenage nerd dealing with real-world problems even as he becomes the Wall-Crawler, with Tom Holland's rising young Spider-Man showing some elements of this. While Peter’s portrayal in comics, movies, and every other medium has evolved over the decades, his relatability and struggles with normal problems in his everyday life have been a staple of who Spider-Man is. No Way Home’s ending makes a focus on that look all but certain in Spider-Man 4.
Why No Way Home's Peter Parker Setup Is Key For Spider-Man 4 (& Beyond)
No Way Home already showed Peter in a tough spot with his identity exposed to the world and his college applications getting continually declined because of it. No Way Home’s ending brings Peter’s problems crashing to Earth, leaving the young hero on his own shortly after the death of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and studying for his GED. More than ever, Peter finds himself dealing with the daily grind and the struggle of just getting by in New York City.
Peter will naturally have to find some kind of stable employment, possibly at the Daily Bugle with J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), and make another attempt at college ission while trying to build a new social circle of friends after not restoring MJ (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds's (Jacob Batalon) memories of him. Peter’s life swooping through the city by his webs might be continuing, but with greater personal challenges than ever for him.
Once a high school honors student with a loving Aunt, close friends, and hip with the Avengers, Peter Parker is having to restart his life from the ground up in No Way Home’s ending. Challenges like that are the very intrinsic character trait that made Spider-Man the enduring and iconic superhero he continues to be. Whatever story Spider-Man 4 tells to continue from Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker facing the ups and down of life seem certain to be key to it.
