No Way Home Director On How The Movie Wraps Up Peter Parker’s Origin Story

Spider-Man: No Way Home wraps up Tom Holland's origin story trilogy in the MCU, says director Jon Watts. The filmmaker first joined the MCU through 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. Since then, he has directed Spider-Man: Far From Home which was released in 2019, and finally Spider-Man: No Way Home, which both became a critical and commercial hit immediately on its release in December. Watts has therefore been at the helm of Holland's entire solo journey in the franchise, building him up since his first appearance alongside his fellow Avengers.

Instead of introducing Movie News of Spider-Man through his own solo film, Marvel Studios decided to incorporate Holland into the MCU through Joe and Anthony Russo's 2016 Captain America: Civil War. The young hero was recruited by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) for Team Iron Man. After that, Peter went on his first mission fighting Vulture (Michael Keaton) in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He was roped in the battle against Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame before dealing with Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Spider-Man: Far From Home himself. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Holland's Peter Parker was faced with his biggest mission thus far, battling it out with several interdimensional villains.

The fact that Spider-Man 4 is already in active development solidifies the idea that Holland's first three solo films in the MCU collectively function as his origin story. Watts, his team, and Marvel Studios famously decided to skip tackling the character's actual spider bite origin from the comics, feeling it had been overdone in previous movies. While many fans appreciated the intention to offer a fresh take on the character, some didn't like the fact that it seem to have fully disregarded Peter's classic origins, with barely any references to an MCU Uncle Ben. There were also criticisms about tying Spider-Man's arc too closely with Iron Man's. These critics argued the films built the character up to be Stark's replacement in the MCU, when he should have his own identity.

With another Spider-Man trilogy within the MCU in the works, Marvel has the chance to address people's issues with the depiction of the character. The question is whether or not either Watts or Holland himself will be involved in any of the upcoming Spider-Man films after Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the young actor recently being very open about potentially leaving the role for good. Regardless, however, the director is at least sticking around in the MCU, as he tackles its upcoming Fantastic Four reboot.