Spider-Man: No Way Home is finally out, and fans are flocking to theaters to see the next chapter of Spider-Man's story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man: No Way Home is also one of the boldest MCU films to date, featuring the first, cinematic instance of the multiverse in the franchise.
As with all Marvel films, No Way Home owes a lot of its story to many different comic storylines from across the many decades of Spider-Man's existence. From stories about Spider-Man's origins to his biggest, multiversal adventure, here are some of the Marvel comics that inspired Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The article focuses on the comics, however, spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home could be predicted from the contents of their stories.
9 One More Day (2007)
"One More Day" was a 2007 story arc that started in "The Amazing Spider-Man" issue #544. It took place over four issues, each written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by Joe Quesada, who was also Marvel's Editor-In-Chief at the time.
"One More Day" saw Peter desperately trying to save his Aunt May's life after she took an assassin's bullet meant for him. He seeks help from Dr. Strange, but the Sorcerer Supreme isn't able to offer any assistance. In the end, Peter makes a deal with Mephisto to save May's life at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane.
8 Civil War (2006)
"Civil War" was Marvel's super event for 2006, and saw Captain American and Iron Man on either side of a conflict over Super Human Registration. Spider-Man was a key player in the event, taking Iron Man's side despite his own reservations about the safety of such legislation.
During the event, Spider-Man revealed his own secret identity to the world on national television as a show of support for Super Human Registration. He quickly grew to regret this decision and abandoned Iron Man's faction, a decision that would get him savagely beaten by a team of government-sanctioned super-villains known as the Thunderbolts.
7 Brand New Day (2008)
Following the events of "One More Day," Peter Parker is suddenly a single man with a restored secret identity as Spider-Man. With no memory of his marriage to Mary Jane Watson, Peter attempts to start a new life that doesn't rely on being Spider-Man all the time.
"Brand New Day" began with issue #546 of the 2008 run "The Amazing Spider-Man." It featured the notable first appearance of the F.E.A.S.T. Center where Aunt May works in Spider-Man: No Way Home and was the beginning of Dan Slott's legendary, 10-year run on "The Amazing Spider-Man" comic.
6 Spider-Verse (2014)
"Spider-Verse" is one the most influential Spider-Man comics of the modern-day, and has been influential in numerous Spider-Man projects since. The event centered around various Spider-powered beings from different universes uniting to fight a vampiric family of dimension-hopping Spider hunters.
"Spider-Verse" featured the most Spider-themed characters of any comic event up to that point, and introduced several new ones such as Spider-Gwen. The main issues of the event were written by Dan Slott and penciled by Olivier Coipel and Giuseppe Camuncoli.
5 Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)
This single issue, released in 1962 and written by Stan Lee with art by Steve Ditko, would change the course of comic books forever. Featuring the first-ever appearance of Spider-Man, "Amazing Fantasy #15" was a landmark moment for pop culture.
The story features the infamous spider bite that gives Peter his powers and shows him coming to terms with those powers as they develop. Peter also learns the harsh truth in this issue that "with great power, there must also come great responsibility."
4 Back In Black (2007)
After the closing events of Marvel's Civil War, Peter finds himself spiraling into a place of anger and self-hate. His secret identity is known to the world, he's a wanted fugitive from the government, and his Aunt May is dying from a bullet that was meant to hit him.
In his rage, Peter dons his black Spider-Man suit once more and heads out into the city to find trouble. He abandons his moral code, indulging in violence and promising to kill the man who shot Aunt May. Peter finally traces the hit back to Kingpin and beats the villain down hard for his crimes.
3 Spider-Men (2012)
"Spider-Men" was a groundbreaking mini-series written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Sarah Pichelli. It featured Peter Parker's first interdimensional journey courtesy of Mysterio and brought him to Marvel's premier alternate universe at the time, the Ultimate Universe.
"Spider-Men" featured the first meeting of the Spider-Man from Earth-616 (the main Marvel universe) and the Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles Morales. The two Spider-Men would meet many more times over the years across a variety of different media.
2 The Night Gwen Stacy Died (1973)
Gwen Stacy was the love of Peter Parker's life and the woman he'd planned to spend the rest of his life with. But the Green Goblin interfered as revenge for his son's drug relapse, a condition he blamed on Spider-Man. The Goblin kidnapped Gwen and dropped her from the top of a bridge; in his haste to save her, Peter accidentally snapped Gwen's neck, killing her.
This failure drove Peter mad with rage, and he sought out the Goblin to finish their fight. The battle ends with the Goblin impaled on his own glider, a scene that might be familiar to fans of Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man.
1 One Moment In Time (2010)
Joe Quesada returned to "The Amazing Spider-Man" run in 2010 to revisit the "One More Day" story arc he'd drawn three years earlier. "One Moment In Time" digs into the altered history that Mephisto created when he saved Aunt May's life at the expense of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage.
The arc explains why Peter and MJ didn't get married but stayed together up through the events of "One More Day." It also reveals that Peter enlisted Doctor Strange's help in making the world forget his secret identity. Only MJ remembers he's Spider-Man, and the pressure of that responsibility prompts her to end their relationship.