Warning: contains major spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home
The Marvel Cinematic Universe delivered its biggest fan service yet with Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the multiversal storyline making the greatest hopes in fans’ wish lists come true. Tom Holland’s third main protagonist role as the superhero featured the most characters yet, so it’s interesting to see how they all stack up against one another.
With villains such as Doctor Octopus, Electro, Green Goblin, Lizard, and Sandman to go with multiple Spider-Men and more, there are heroes and villains with great power in the movie. It only makes sense to gauge who comes out on top when aspects such as strength, speed, fighting prowess, powers, and inherent abilities are taken into account.
Ned Leeds & Michelle Jones
It makes sense to consider Ned and MJ together since they were primarily paired together to assist the heroes. There’s also the fact that neither had superpowers, so they can’t really be considered as having fighting abilities against those with enhanced skills.
Ned did have something going for him through Doctor Strange’s sling ring though, which allowed him to distract the villains momentarily during the climactic encounter. MJ’s quick thinking can also come in handy should the need to improvise arise.
Sandman
Sandman’s powers are such that he should be considered top-tier, yet he was quite subdued in this particular movie. He was defeated without as much effort as was required by Peter in Spider-Man 3, but that was also because he didn’t really want to hurt anyone.
Still, Sandman was the least of the heroes’ concerns during the final fight, with the Spider-Man of his universe curing him rather quickly. He had a credible entry when he assisted the MCU Spider-Man, but it was clear he was having difficulties containing Electro.
Lizard
Lizard is generally among Spider-Man’s more underrated villains, with his role lacking depth compared to the others in this movie. He was a threat in the final battle, where he was able to pin down his universe’s Spider-Man until he was cured.
However, Lizard was the villain that took the least amount of effort to be initially contained, as Doctor Strange captured his off-screen. He lacked the savage level of intensity he had in his debut appearance, although he was still one not to be taken lightly.
Electro
Electro didn’t go all-out when he could have attempted to blitz through his enemies because of a combination of his inherent conscience and limitations of the device on his chest. He seemed to have the drop on MCU Spider-Man, though, who needed Sandman’s help to fight Electro.
He was also the main combatant for his universe’s Spider-Man in the climactic fight, where he was defeated only when all the other heroes were able to band together. Electro possessed an edge that could have done greater damage had not held back.
Green Goblin
The movie finally answered questions from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy regarding the parameters of Norman Osborn and Green Goblin’s split personality. The Goblin had enhanced durability that enabled him to take an enraged Spider-Man’s punches but still shrug them off.
As far as fighting prowess goes, the Goblin wasn’t as efficient as he could have been. He relied mainly on psychological trickery rather than going one-on-one with his enemies. His bombs and glider were his most effective weapons as before, but it was clear he would have been defeated in a straight-up fight.
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange usually lands right at the top of the most powerful character lists, but this movie proved he wasn’t the best when it comes to fast-paced fighting. Strange was the strongest on paper, seeing as he could conceal the most powerful villains in cells with minimal effort.
However, he ended up losing to Spider-Man, in the mirror dimension no less. Strange’s ace move of dismissing people out of their bodies into their astral forms failed miserably when Peter took back control and left him trapped until MJ and Ned saved him. Of course, this was mainly plot armor for Spider-Man, so Strange's powers still can't be ruled out.
Peter Parker 3
The status of Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker from The Amazing Spider-Man was finally answered when he showed up in the MCU. Peter Parker 3, as he was dubbed in the film, was easily the most agile of the bunch, with his role in the climax being to largely to distract the villains.
He was notably beaten by Peter Parker 2 in their first encounter due to the latter’s organic webbing. Peter Parker 3 was also prone to letting his emotions get to him, although his durability was still superior to the villains. Peter Parker 3 wasn’t definitively beaten either, meaning he just wasn’t in a position to take charge as MCU’s Spider-Man.
Peter Parker 2
Recognized as Peter Parker 2 in the film, the Tobey Maguire version lived up to the belief that he was physically the strongest of the live-action Spider-Men. It was proven when he overpowered MCU’s Spider-Man when the latter tried to kill the Green Goblin, while his organic webbing also gave him an edge.
However, he was notably older than his variants, which meant he was prone to feeling the effects of his battles. Peter Parker 2 arguably had the tougher villains to face, so he has that in his favor in terms of fighting feats, but his reflexes were slower since he got stabbed by the Goblin.
Peter Parker 1
Many fans wanted Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to be like Tobey Maguire’s prior to the release of the movie, because he was considered relatively soft. No Way Home should put those notions to bed, seeing as Peter Parker 1, as he was recognized, was an absolute beast when he truly gave it his all.
He completed the incredible feat of defeating Doctor Strange by himself in the mirror dimension, along with beating down Green Goblin with authority until he was stopped by Peter Parker 2. His only failure was his tendency to hold back earlier in the movie, which led to his defeat at the hands of Doctor Octopus.
Doctor Octopus
Had Doctor Octopus not been rehabilitated earlier on, he would easily have been the biggest threat. He was able to beat MCU’s Spider-Man with relative ease, to the point where he damaged his nanotechnology and assimilated it with his tentacles.
Doctor Octopus also overpowered Electro in the climactic battle, which was when he was holding back completely due to his hopes of redeeming himself. He seemed to have incredible durability of his own when he took clean hits by MCU’s Spider-Man, so it’s a good thing for the heroes that Doc Ock was on their side in the end.