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Spider-Man: No Way Home screenplay reveals tiny detail changing what the ending means

The script for Spider-Man: No Way Home is now available to read online – and it includes one detail that could have major implications for the ending.

Released in December, the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy saw Peter Parker (Tom Holland) contend with a number of figures from past Spider-Man films, including Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe).

Spoilers follow for Spider-Man: No Way Home...

The film ends with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) enacting a spell to make the entire world forget about the existence of Peter Parker, in order to send the inter-dimensional interlopers back to their own corners of the multiverse.

However, this includes Peter’s friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and his partner MJ (Zendaya).

While Peter had initially prepared to re-introduce himself to MJ and explain their shared history, he visits her at work in a coffee shop and decides to leave her in the safety and security of her new life.

The bittersweet scene is detailed in the screenplay written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, which was made available to read online via Deadline.

While the ending seemed to suggest that future Spider-Man films could see Tom Holland’s character move on to a new life without MJ or Ned, a couple of lines in the script seem to tease that a reunion could eventually be on the cards.

Tom Holland and Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (Marvel)
Tom Holland and Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (Marvel)

As fans have pointed out on Reddit, it is written that MJ shows “a flicker of déjà vu on her face” when talking to her former lover.

As Peter leaves, the script then reveals that she watches him go “with a lingering sense of recognition?”

The fact that MJ clearly recognises Peter on some subconscious level, combined with the ambiguous question mark and use of the word “lingering”, could well tease the return of Zendaya’s character into Spider-Man’s life at some point or another.

Marvel has yet to confirm the details of another Spider-Man film but it is widely expected that Holland will reprise the role in multiple forthcoming movies.