Spider-Man: No Way Home: 24 WTF Moments
3. The Entire World Forgets Who Peter Is
Most fans likely expected that the villains would be defeated, the Spideys would go back to their respective universes, and then Strange would find a way to magic Peter's remaining problems away, but alas, that wasn't the case at all.
Instead, Peter learns that the only way to correct the multiverse rift permanently is to have the entire world forget who Peter Parker is, yet still being aware of Spider-Man's existence.
And so, Peter reluctantly does the right thing to correct the mess he created, saying a heartbreaking farewell to MJ (with Zendaya absolutely acting her heart out).
In the film's final sequence, Peter visits MJ at the diner where she works, only for neither her nor Ned to recognise him. Peter follows up by paying his respects at Aunt May's grave, where Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) also doesn't recognise him.
We finally see Peter creating a new Spider-Man suit himself and heading out into the city to continue his heroism in absolute anonymity.
This is a clever and unexpected yet impressively tidy way to basically leave the door ajar on Tom Holland's time in the MCU.
It would serve as a fitting farewell to Holland's Spidey, but if he does indeed come back for a fourth film as rumoured, it can basically act as a soft-reboot of sorts that introduces a host of new characters.
Whatever the outcome, this was a very shrewd way to tie off this trilogy of movies and clean the slate for the future.