Spider-Man: No Way Home extended cut’s post-credits scene explained

Note: The following article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home’s extended edition.

Spider-Man: No Way Home – The More Fun Stuff Version is finally in theaters. An extended version of Spider-Man’s third solo outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film features 11 minutes of extra footage not present in the original theatrical release.

Said footage includes a new scene featuring Matt Murdock, and a new interaction between the multiversal Spider-Men. Surprisingly enough, it also includes a brand-new post-credits scene that finally explains the extent of Doctor Strange’s spell.

Here, we break down what the scene is, and its possible ramifications for Peter Parker’s MCU future.

Spider-Man: No Way Home’s new post-credits scene explained

No Way Home ‘s first theatrical release featured two post-credits scenes. The first focused on Eddie Brock leaving a piece of the Venom symbiote behind in the MCU. The second was a teaser trailer for at-the-time upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

No Way Home’s More Fun Stuff Version removed the Multiverse of Madness trailer and replaced it with a new sequence—one that better explains how Doctor Strange’s spell for the world to forget Peter worked.

The scene features Betty Brant playing a retrospective video about her and her classmates’ high school journey. The tribute includes pictures and footage taken from the events in Spider-Man: Homecoming and from their trip to London in 2019’s Far From Home. Peter Parker is actually seen in two bits throughout the video. The first is in a picture with the Spider-Man cast in Venice. The hero is right in the middle of the group, but his face is covered by a pigeon flying past him. Then, a video of Ned talking to Peter about their upcoming dance from 2017’s Homecoming plays, but the latter is shown only from the back.

Following No Way Home’s original release, fans wondered how Doctor Strange’s spell would affect the MCU with physical evidence of Peter’s life, pictures, passport, official documents and videos. This was especially puzzling given all the coverage Spider-Man had received following his identity being outed.

Now, the extended cut’s post-credits scene has confirmed the mind-wipe also took care of all of that evidence by not-so-subtly hiding Spider-Man’s existence. However, the manner in which Peter’s erasure from society was achieved seemingly teases the possibility of Strange’s spell being undone in future storylines.

A ray of hope for Peter Parker

The biggest takeaway from the picture and footage shown in the post-credits scene is the fact that, as mentioned, Peter wasn’t fully erased from them. His face was either covered or his back turned to the camera. This could mean that Strange’s spell didn’t fully erase people’s memories of him.

Instead, the photographs seem to indicate his existence is actually veiled inside their minds. Peter’s role in their lives is still there somewhere, but just like the pictures, it’s obscured. This is supported by No Way Home’s script.

In the movie’s final scene, where Peter goes to visit MJ at her work, the screenplay hinted at Michelle feeling some familiarity toward the web-slinger with the following lines:

“A flicker of déjà vu on her face, then, recovering,” and, “HOLD ON MJ, watching Peter go with a lingering sense of… recognition?”

Thus, the implication seems to be that the mind-wipe can somehow be bypassed. That is especially likely given the Marvel Comics inspiration for the spell. In the comics, after revealing his identity to the public during the “Civil War” event, Peter and Mary Jane made a deal with Mephisto, giving up their marriage to save Aunt May’s life after she was mortally wounded.

Mephisto changed different things in Peter’s life. One of those tweaks led to Mary Jane getting hurt as a direct result of Peter’s identity being outed. Desperate to stop his loved ones from being hurt any longer, Spider-Man approached Doctor Strange, asking him to make the world forget his alter ego. Strange then consulted the situation with Reed Richards and Iron Man (in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #641, from 2010), and the three decided to combine magic and science to erase Spider-Man’s civilian identity from people’s minds.

There was a catch, however: Unmasking in front of anyone would make them remember Peter’s secret identity. This was shown in Amazing Spider-Man #591 (2009), where Spider-Man unmasked himself in front of the Fantastic Four, leading to them immediately regaining their memories of him.

Taking No Way Home‘s latest post-credits scene into account, it’s possible that future MCU Spider-Man stories will use a similar method to the comics’ to undo the spell. During a conversation with Deadline earlier in 2022, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group Tom Rothman expressed his desire to have Zendaya back for Spider-Man 4, which could be a further indication of the spell being broken in the future.

Spider-Man: No Way Home: The More Fun Stuff Version is currently playing in theaters. The original cut of the film is available to purchase on Digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD.

What do you think about the post-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s extended edition? Did it clear up your questions about Doctor Strange’s spell? Do you think Peter’s loved ones will remember him once again?  Let us know in the comments!