A spell meant to make the world forget who Spider-Man is tears a hole in reality instead, and other versions of his story start arriving through it.
Peter Parker’s identity is public, his life is ruined, and his solution is to ask a wizard to undo it. The spell goes wrong in the specific way spells go wrong when the person casting them keeps changing the requirements halfway through, and what comes through the hole are people who knew a Peter Parker that was not this one.
What makes it work is that the arrivals are not a victory lap. They are people carrying decades of unfinished business, and the film is honest that meeting them costs Peter something rather than giving him something.
Show detailsWhy this one matters structurally
Three studios’ worth of Spider-Man films had run in parallel for twenty years with no connection between them. This is the film that declared them the same story told in different places, which retroactively changed what every earlier Spider-Man film was.
It is also the clearest example of the thing this guide keeps insisting on: watching in release order means the arrivals land as surprises. In story order they are footnotes.
Who is in it
- Curt Connors / LizardThe LizardRhys Ifans
- Eddie BrockVenomTom Hardy
- Flint Marko / SandmanSandmanThomas Haden Church
- Matt MurdockDaredevilCharlie Cox
- Max Dillon / ElectroElectroJamie Foxx
- Norman Osborn / Green GoblinGreen GoblinWillem Dafoe
- Otto Octavius / Doctor OctopusDoctor OctopusAlfred Molina
- Peter ParkerSpider-ManTom Holland
- Peter Parker / Spider-ManThe Webb filmsAndrew Garfield
- Peter Parker / Spider-ManThe Raimi filmsTobey Maguire
- Stephen StrangeDoctor StrangeBenedict Cumberbatch
- WongSorcerer SupremeBenedict Wong
How it connects
Watching these first makes this one land.
This one sets these up.
Sources
Facts last checked on Sep 7, 2026
Released: December 17, 2021