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6 Spider-Man: No Way Home Plot Holes

If You're Confused By These 6 Spider-Man: No Way Home Plot Holes, Raise Your Hand

Dec 19 2021

Watch out! This post contains spoilers.

After months and months of waiting and speculating, Spider-Man: No Way Home is finally here! The third movie to feature Tom Holland as the web-slinging superhero Peter Parker has plenty of twists and turns, as well as a cast filled with familiar faces and references to past movies. As Marvel moves deeper into the multiverse, No Way Home takes the opportunity to throw it back to some beloved villains of Spider-Man past, with the iconic villains faced by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's iterations of Spidey making their way into the MCU, courtesy of Dr. Strange's botched spell. It's up to this version of Peter (plus a few friends and unexpected allies) to put things right before the multiverse shatters.

As you might guess from that description, No Way Home has the most complicated plot of the three MCU Spider-Man franchise so far. In a movie with so many twists, there are bound to be a few minor plot holes or lingering questions. These are the plot holes we're still pondering after No Way Home — but beware, major spoilers ahead!

Image Source: Everett Collection

1. Why Was Electro Included in Doctor Strange's Spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home?

We're told Doctor Strange's botched spell accidentally summons into this universe the villains from elsewhere in the multiverse who know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. But, of course, that qualification begs the question: how does Electro get caught up in the spell? Electro, one of the villains of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, never actually sees Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man unmasked.

No Way Home even doubles down on this by having Electro joke about how he always hoped Spider-Man was Black. While it's a fun reference to the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man most recently seen in the animated Into the Spider-Verse universe, it highlights that Electro didn't know Spider-Man's identity, so he never should have been affected up by Strange's spell in the first place.

Image Source: Everett Collection

2. How Did Doc Ock Know So Much About the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home?

Doc Ock, the iconic villain of Spider-Man 2, is the first villain from the multiverse to show up, as well as the first to be "cured." Reverting to his kindly original persona as Dr. Otto Octavius, he soon becomes an ally for Peter and the crew as they try to "cure" all the villains instead of letting them die. This makes total sense, but one comment he makes doesn't line up. Doc Ock is fully aware that Norman Osborn was the first Green Goblin — something that definitely wasn't public knowledge in his film trilogy. How he could have learned this remains unclear.

Image Source: Everett Collection

3. How Can Everyone Remember Spider-Man, But Not Peter Parker After Spider-Man: No Way Home?

We all thought the shock ending of Far From Home was stunning, but it has nothing on how No Way Home ends! The final twist sees Peter asking Strange to perform a different spell to restore safety to the multiverse: not one to make people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, but one to erase all memories of Peter, period.

The spell allows the world to retain the knowledge of Spider-Man, which avoids massive plot holes like who would have filled Spider-Man's plot-relevant roles in the Avengers team-ups. However, it's maddeningly murky trying to understand how Peter being erased from the universe's collective memory actually works. Does the spell "replace" missing memories, even minor ones? Because the list of plot holes concerning the implications of this spell are endless. For instance, if memories of Spider-Man still exist, just not Peter Parker:

  • Do MJ and Ned still remember working with Spider-Man? If yes, how did they get involved with him in the first place without having known Peter? If not, how does MJ think she got the scratch on her forehead at the end of the movie?
  • If MJ and Ned were never Peter's friends, why do MJ and Ned think they didn't get into MIT at first?
  • How did Aunt May and Happy meet through Spider-Man if they only ever met through Spider-Man because of May's relation to Peter?
  • Wouldn't any of the surviving Avengers wonder why none of them know Spider-Man's identity?
  • If all records of Peter's existence are gone, how can he do basic things like have a bank account, rent an apartment, have a credit card, drive, and so on?

While the world forgetting Peter Parker packs a powerful emotional punch, especially seeing MJ and Ned not know him, the logic behind it doesn't seem to add up.

Image Source: Everett Collection

4. How Did MJ Still Have the Black Dahlia Necklace at the End of Spider-Man: No Way Home?

We see MJ wearing the broken black dahlia necklace Peter previously gave to her throughout the movie. In the final scene, where Peter goes to see MJ after he's been erased from everyone's memories, including hers, she's still wearing the necklace. It's unclear how she could have the necklace (or how she thinks she got the necklace) if Peter never gave it to her, which opens up another massive plot hole about how Strange's spell actually works.

Image Source: Everett Collection

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5. Why Didn't the Time Variance Authority Get Involved in Spider-Man: No Way Home?

Granted, the timeline here is kind of murky, so it's not clear if No Way Home is supposed to take place "after" the events of Loki's first season or before. Plus, the Time Variance Authority exists in a sort of in-between space and time. Still, with all this multiverse hopping and characters crossing between three different universes, shouldn't some version of the TVA have been interested in what was happening here?

Image Source: Everett Collection

6. Why Did Did All 3 Peters' Spidey Sense Fail Them in Spider-Man: No Way Home?

"Spidey Sense" or "Peter Tingle" or whatever you want to call it — Spider-Man's instinct for sensing danger — is one of his signature superpowers in every universe. It was even strong enough to detect the oncoming effects of Thanos's snap in Avengers: Infinity War! So why, with three Peters present, did none of them sense the impending danger from Green Goblin preparing to stab the version of Peter that he knew? Spider-Man has obviously been injured before, but rarely, if ever, have any of them fallen victim to a straight-up sneak attack like this one, and it's unclear why none of them felt it coming.

Image Source: Everett Collection

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