There were a lot of shocks in Spider-Man: No Way Home, including a costume with a meaningful significance towards the finale. The MCU film was a great success at the movie office, breaking many records, including being the highest-grossing picture of 2021. Its nostalgic value played a part in its attraction. In addition to Tom Holland as Peter Parker, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprised their roles as Spider-Man in the film.
There were several allusions to past Spider-Man movies, comics, and MCU events in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Throughout the film, Spider-Man wore a variety of suites, each with its own design and set of abilities, ranging from Tony Stark’s high-tech Iron Spider suit, which appeared in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, to Dr. Stephen Strange’s magically enhanced black and gold suit, which debuted in Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, although Tom Holland’s Peter Parker wore the simplest suit towards the conclusion of the film, it was also the most important
At the end of No Way Home, all memory of Spider-Man was eradicated from the world, rendering his high-tech suits unusable. Peter Parker made the final Spider-Man suit himself, representing his newfound self-reliance and character growth both as a hero and an individual. However, there were two reasons Spider-Man’s final suit in Spider-Man: No Way Home was significant. First, the act of sitting down at the sewing machine and creating his own suit referenced the comic where this took place. Second, the color scheme of the suit Peter Parker created in this scene recalled the original comic design.
While Tom Holland wore homemade suits in MCU movies previously, the films did not focus on Peter creating his suits. In contrast, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies saw Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker designing, sewing, and repairing the suits himself, as Peter did in the comics. The MCU’s Peter Parker started out with a homemade design and quickly upgraded to Tony Stark’s high-tech versions that relied more on Stark’s innovations and less on Peter’s natural talents. Therefore, it was significant in Spider-Man: No Way Home when Peter decided to craft his suit from his own resources. In the movie, the moment mirrored the famous “with great power must come great responsibility” line and symbolized a return for Peter, and potentially the films, to a more faithful interpretation of Spider-Man, a character who traditionally struggled with the balance between independence and community. The visual of Peter Parker sewing his own suit at the end of the movie signaled a hat tip to Spider-Man’s roots. Paired with the fact that his social ties were severed and that he was preparing to go it alone, it may also have hinted at what was to come for the character.
The second reason Peter Parker’s suit had a deeper meaning was that the bright red and blue color scheme recalled the original design by Steve Ditko, the artist who co-created and designed the character in the original Spider-Man comic. Since nostalgia played an undeniable role in the popularity of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the choice to have Peter Parker’s original Spider-Man suit design mirror Ditko’s original design was in line with the overall tone and aesthetic of the film. However, it was also a touching tribute that gave the movie greater depth, especially for sharp-eyed readers of the comic.
Spider-Man: No Way Home had Easter eggs, symbolism, and in-jokes in abundance, which can sometimes be a distraction. However, like many of the finer touches, Spider-Man’s ending suit enhanced the movie because the acknowledgments of both the original comic and legendary artist were genuine, subtle, and heartfelt. They were references that paid tribute to Spider-Man’s true origin story.
