Warning: This article contains  SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man: No Way Home co-writer Chris McKenna explains how the blockbuster’s story was inspired by the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful LifeNo Way Home—which was released in theaters on December 17th—picks up where Far From Home’s credits scene left off, seeing Peter Parker (Tom Holland) deal with the aftermath of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) revealing Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world and implicating him as a murderer. This struggle leads Peter to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), whom he asks to help undo what Mysterio did.

Instead of making the world forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Strange’s spell brings everyone in the multiverse who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man into the MCU. These characters from past Spider-Man movies include Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and, of course, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man(s). That being said, while exploring Peter’s identity reveal was always the plan for No Way Home, bringing back old villains and past webslingers was not.

Related: Why [SPOILER] Sabotaged No Way Home's Villains

In a recent interview with The Hollywood ReporterNo Way Home co-writer McKenna revealed how It’s a Wonderful Life inspired the return of so many iconic Spider-Man characters/actors. Following the contract negotiations breakdown between Disney/Marvel Studios and Sony back in 2019, and then their reconciliation, the studios discussed how to pick up where Far From Home left off. Read what McKenna had to say below:

"Once Sony and Marvel hammered everything out, we were like, 'OK, we’ve got the team back together. What are we doing now with this giant reveal [in Far From Home, in which Peter Parker’s identity is made public]? We started playing around with what different ways that fallout could affect our character. The idea of It’s a Wonderful Life, 'What if he somehow made a wish? I guess it would have to be Doctor Strange. Is there a way to put the genie back in the bottle?' That opened up a few different story avenues we started exploring."

Spider-Man No Way Home's Multiversal Villains

Set in 1945, It’s a Wonderful Life follows George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), a man who has given up all his dreams to help others. On Christmas Eve, feeling dejected and unfulfilled, George prepares to take his own life by jumping off a bridge when his guardian angel, Clarence, appears and jumps into the canal first. After George saves him, Clarence shows him what everyone’s life would have been like had George never been born. By the end of the film, George realizes the impact of his life and begs Clarence to restore the original reality in which his friends and family were better off.

At the end of No Way Home, Peter realizes that the only way to stop Strange’s spell from unleashing multiversal madness is to make everyone in the MCU forget Peter Parker. Before the spell takes root, Peter says goodbye to his friends, MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), promising them he will find them afterward and explain everything. Ultimately, Peter decides not to refresh their memories, believing them to be better off without them. This ending essentially serves as the inverse of It’s a Wonderful Life as everyone forgets Peter was ever born. Still, similar to how George impacted his small town, Spider-Man and his good deeds remain.

More: How No Way Home's Ending Spell Changes The MCU's Past & Timeline

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Key Release Dates