It’s been a decade since Tom Holland’s Spider-Man first swung into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Since then, the web-slinger has battled multiversal villains, fought alongside the Avengers and lost almost everything that mattered to him.
The superhero returns to theaters on July 31 in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, his first solo blockbuster since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Holland reunites onscreen with his wife, Zendaya, while Stranger Things breakout star Sadie Sink and The Bear‘s Liza Colón-Zayas join the franchise.
If it’s been a while since you last caught up with Peter Parker, don’t worry — you’re not alone. His story stretches across six MCU movies, including a trilogy of solo films, and rewatching them all before Brand New Day would take nearly 15 hours. That’s a lot of homework.
Luckily for you, I’ve been watching Spider-Man movies since Tobey Maguire, the OG Spidey, first hit the big screen in 2002. This is the essential catch-up I’d give anyone who wants to skip the rewatch marathon and head straight to Brand New Day.
Iron Man taught Spider-Man how to be a hero
When Peter Parker (Holland) first appeared in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Tony Stark, better known as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), tracked down the teenage superhero after learning about a masked vigilante fighting crime.
Stark became Parker’s mentor, reminding him that being Spider-Man was about helping ordinary people, not chasing the biggest battle. Parker spent years trying to earn Iron Man’s approval, but the lesson never really clicked.
That changed in Avengers: Endgame (2019), when Stark sacrificed himself to save the universe. Parker realizes Stark never wanted him to become the next Iron Man. Instead, he wanted him to become the best version of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man made an enemy who never forgot him
Spider-Man faced career criminal Mac Gargan (Michael Mando) in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), foiling one of his illegal weapons deals. Gargan ended up behind bars and vowed to take revenge.
The storyline was quietly left behind as Parker faced much bigger problems. Nearly a decade later, Brand New Day finally picks it back up, with Gargan returning as the supervillain Scorpion.
Spider-Man’s identity was exposed
By Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Parker had finally settled into life as Spider-Man, balancing school, friends and his secret life as a superhero.
That all fell apart when Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), betrayed him. After convincing the world he was a hero, Mysterio framed Spider-Man for a deadly drone attack before exposing Parker as the person behind the mask.
Overnight, Parker’s life unraveled. His girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) were swept into the chaos, leaving him desperate to find a way to give them their normal lives back.
Doctor Strange’s spell broke the multiverse
With the entire world knowing his identity, Parker turned to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Parker asked Strange to cast a spell to make everyone forget he was Spider-Man. But he kept changing the rules mid-spell, causing the magic to spiral out of control.
The mistake tore open the multiverse, pulling villains from previous Spider-Man movies into the MCU.
Aunt May gave Peter Spider-Man’s defining lesson
Parker tried to cure the villains in No Way Home, rather than send them back to universes where many were destined to die — but it backfired.
Norman Osborn’s (Willem Dafoe) Green Goblin persona resurfaced, killing Aunt May. In her final moments, she passed on the words that have defined every version of Spider-Man: “With great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
For Holland’s Parker, this was the tragedy that truly made him Spider-Man. Grief nearly drove him to kill the Green Goblin, but he honored May’s final lesson instead.
Three Spider-Men reminded Peter who he is
As the multiverse continued falling apart, Parker got help from alternate Spider-Men played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield (you probably remember the memes).
Working together, the three Spider-Men cured the villains rather than defeating them, proving that compassion could succeed where revenge could not.
They reminded Parker that every Spider-Man experiences heartbreaking loss — and that choosing hope over vengeance is what makes them heroes.
Peter sacrificed everything to save the world
Even after the villains were stopped, the multiverse kept collapsing as more people who knew Parker’s identity began breaking into his universe.
Doctor Strange found one final solution: make everyone forget Parker ever existed.
The spell saved reality, but it came at an enormous cost. Parker lost everyone who knew and loved him, including MJ. Instead, he started over alone in a small apartment, sewing a new Spider-Man suit by hand — setting up a new era for the grief-stricken character in Brand New Day.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
