Spider-Man: Homecoming ending explained: A friendly neighborhood hero is born

Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield debuted as two different versions of the wall-crawler on the big screen in 2002 and 2012 respectively. However, across those franchises, audiences never witnessed Spider-Man share the screen with other big Marvel heroes such as Iron Man, Captain America, or Daredevil even once. It was a bit of a letdown, but Sony realized the missed potential and decided to do something about it.

In 2016, a new live-action version of the friendly neighborhood hero interpreted by Tom Holland swung his way into Captain America: Civil War. Getting to witness Peter fight against The Winter Soldier and the Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe felt like a dream come true. Better yet; that was only the beginning. A year later, Spider-Man: Homecoming was released and took the world by storm. The movie told a street-level story that set up its titular hero for many more adventures to come.

So with that in mind, it's time to go over its ending and explain how much of an impact it had on future installments in the franchise.

Peter learns what's needed to be a friendly neighborhood hero

During the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker finally joined a bigger superhero universe. Fighting side-by-side with Iron Man against big, iconic characters such as Captain America made the teenager eager to join the bigger leagues. Peter himself said it best when talking to Happy Hogan: "I'm just, um, I feel like I could be doing more, you know? Just curious when the next real mission is going to be."

While eagerly awaiting his chance to join the Avengers, Spider-Man relegates himself to stopping common day-to-day crimes in Queens. He stops bike robbers, helps people find directions, and stops an ATM heist. But all the way throughout, he can't help but feel that maybe he was made for bigger things - undermining his heroic acts along the way. So tired of waiting for Tony Stark's call, Peter decides to prove himself by taking on the newest supervillain in town by himself.

Everyone warned Spider-Man that fighting The Vulture was too big of a task for him. Iron Man even had to step in and save a whole Ferry filled with people after a battle between the wall-crawler and Vulture's men almost sank it. But learning from his mistakes - and going back to his original, tech-less suit - Peter finally was able to stop the dreadful supervillain while saving his life along the way. Impressed by his actions, Tony Stark finally gave the Queens teenager what he always wanted; a chance to join Earth's Mightiest Heroes. But much to the audience's surprise; that offer was declined.

Peter learned that "low-profile" enemies such as The Vulture can go under the radar of heroes like Iron Man and Captain America. Worse of all; authorities failed to intervene as well, proven by the fact that Adrian Toomes sold illegal weapons to dangerous people for eight years without any trouble. With that in mind, Spider-Man decides to do what he's better at and be a friendly neighborhood hero who "looks out for the little guy."

Adrian Toomes is behind bars, but his story is not over

Michael Keaton took on the role of Adrian Toomes in Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, as the post-credits scene would tease; it wouldn't be the last we'd ever see of him.

After learning Spider-Man's identity and failing to attempt a big heist, The Vulture is finally put behind bars. In prison, he's approached by a familiar face in the form of Mac Gargan - the man who takes on The Scorpion persona in comic book pages. Unsurprisingly enough, Gargan wants to take revenge on Spider-Man, so he asks Adrian Toomes to reveal the hero's identity. Many suspected this sequence teased the creation of the Sinister Six, but seven years have gone by and that has yet to happen.

Curiously enough, we did witness The Vulture's comeback in Morbius during a very confusing post-credits scene. After all, Adrian Toomes - a man who lives in the MCU along with Peter Parker and Iron Man - suddenly appeared in Sony's Spider-Man Universe without any explanation. And what happened after that? You guessed it, the creation of the Sinister Six was also teased. Fans have taken it upon themselves to explain how The Vulture's interdimensional travel was achieved, and the most prevailing theory has to do with Kingpin's Alchemax Collider from the Spider-Verse franchise.

At the beginning of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, audiences witness how a Vulture from an alternate reality winds up (seemingly out of nowhere) in Spider-Gwen's universe. Later, it's revealed that the use of the Kingpin's collider in Into the Spider-Verse opened a portal wide enough to transport random people into random universes. That's why the Spider-Society led by Mighel O'Hara took it upon themselves to travel across the multiverse and fix these anomalies.

While it's not a bullet-proof theory, it does explain why Michael Keaton's Vulture was able to cross paths with Morbius. And what does the future hold for both characters? Well, it remains to be seen, but perhaps Venom: The Last Dance or Spider-Man 4 can shine some light on this lingering mystery.

The MCU's M.J. was hidden in plain sight

Throughout the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming, audiences see Peter Parker fall in love with the Vulture's daughter, Liz Allan. But much to everyone's surprise, the story concludes with the two of them parting ways, which is a bit unusual for superhero movies. However, there was a big reason for that, and it was hidden in plain sight.

From the beginning of the movie, audiences are able to spot Zendaya's character, Michelle, interacting a bit awkwardly with Ned Leeds and Peter Parker on a few occasions. However, it isn't until moments before the credits roll that she finally confesses that her friends call her "M.J.", which has always been short for Mary Jane in comic book pages. It was a twist few could've seen coming, but regardless of the naming change, Michelle Jones filled the role of M.J. in future entries of the franchise perfectly.

Peter Parker and M.J. became a couple in Spider-Man: Far From Home and faced adversity together up until the ending of No Way Home, where Doctor Strange's spell makes the whole world forget Peter ever existed. The super-powered teenager later visits his former girlfriend at work, determined to tell her about their previous history. However, realizing M.J.'s life can be better without him, Peter decides to walk away in what might be one of the most heartbreaking endings in any Spider-Man movie (aside from Gwen's death, of course).

Will Spidey and Michelle Jones ever get back together? We'll have to wait for Spider-Man 4 to finally figure it out, but fingers crossed that's the case!