How Spider-Man: No Way Home sets up a showdown between Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker and Venom

(Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios)

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a celebration of everything Spider-Man, bringing together characters from throughout the character's cinematic past for a multiversal adventure that's pure wonderful fan service.

Come the Spider-Man: No Way Home ending and there are a lot of questions still left to be answered, but also a potential tease for a spin-off that everyone wants to see happen, but that we had never thought possible...

Before we go any further into what could be around the corner for Spider-Man, here's a big spoiler warning – we're going to talk about specific plot points from Spider-Man: No Way Home. If you have not seen the new movie, turn back now!

Spider-Man No Way Home spoiler warning — (Image credit: Sony)

Still here? Then you have seen all three Spider-Men – played by Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield – fighting a group of villains and saving the MCU from their dastardly ways. Doctor Strange then casts a spell that sends everyone not originally from the MCU back to their respective universes. That also includes Tom Hardy's Venom, who appears in the Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene.

We knew Venom was in the MCU thanks to the Venom 2 post-credits scene, and many fans expected the symbiote to stick around a little longer. Instead, he's poofed back to the Sony-verse, leaving behind a speck of Venom goop that will inevitably attach itself to someone in the MCU.

With Hardy's version of Venom back home, that leaves him open to continue his own franchise, but also means the odds of him crossing over with Holland's Spider-Man are very slim as Holland's version remains in the MCU. However, Garfield's Spider-Man is still out there in the Sony-verse, and, thanks to the events of No Way Home, has a renewed urge to do justice and fight crime again.

Can you see where we're going with this? Maybe, just maybe, Sony could keep Garfield on as Spider-Man and have him appear in Hardy's Venom movies, giving us the Peter Parker vs. Venom showdown we've all been waiting for. Now that would be some multiverse-twisting craziness that would be a lot of fun and make the Amazing Spider-Man movies canon with the Venom films.

Whether or not it happens remains to be seen. Spider-Man: No Way Home could also set up the next Spider-Man in the MCU, too, who could face off against a different incarnation of Venom. Maybe that's too much Venom...

For more on No Way Home, be sure to check out our breakdown of all the Spider-Man: No Way Home Easter eggs and what to expect from Doctor Strange 2.

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.