Peter Parker (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Peter Benjamin Parker is a superhero portrayed by Tom Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—also known by his alias, Spider-Man. Parker is initially depicted as a student at the Midtown School of Science and Technology who received spider-like and superhuman abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider. Parker initially uses his powers to fight crime as a vigilante in Queens, where he lives with his Aunt May.
Parker is approached by Tony Stark, who mentors him and eventually recruits him into the Avengers Civil War, which brought him into brief conflict with Steve Rogers. In order to join the Avengers, Parker began investigating the illicit criminal activities of Adrian Toomes/Vulture, who was attempting to sell his Chitauri-based weapons on the black market, with only the help of his best friend Ned Leeds. Parker finally joins the Avengers and together with the Guardians of the Galaxy to fight Thanos. After being a victim of the Blip and Stark's death, Parker was chosen as a successor and encounters Quentin Beck/Mysterio teaming up with Nick Fury, while on a European school trip in the face of an elementals attack. However, after being discovered for his lies, Beck frames Parker for his murder and reveals his identity to the world and even those who stood by his side like as a Leeds, MJ, Aunt May, and Happy Hogan, prompting Parker to seek Stephen Strange's help to reverse this. Strange's spell causes the multiverse to fracture, bringing in alternate versions of Spider-Man and their enemies. To repair the damage, Strange casts a spell that permanently erases not only Beck's victory over Parker, but the world's shared knowledge of Parker's civilian persona, including his relationships with loved ones, friends, and other superhero allies, although he already lost his Aunt May in the conflict.
Holland's version of the character is the successor to the Peter Parker portrayed by Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007) and the Peter Parker portrayed by Andrew Garfield in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man duology (2012–2014), both of whom reprise their roles and appear alongside Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Holland's performance in the role has received positive reviews, with his version of the character becoming a breakout hit among audiences and critics for his supporting role in Captain America: Civil War, before evolving into being one of the MCU franchise's flagship characters by the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming and its sequels. Holland won several accolades for his portrayal of the character.
Parker is a central character in the MCU, appearing in six films as of 2024. Holland is set to return as the character in Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (both 2026). Alternate versions of Parker appear in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021–2024), and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025–present), and Marvel Zombies (2025), voiced by Hudson Thames.
Peter Parker's story in the MCU takes place in the Earth-616 universe. The fictional biography below also includes events that happened to Parker from other universes.
Peter Benjamin Parker was born on August 10, 2001, in Forest Hills, Queens, and is primarily raised by his Aunt May, after the passing of his Uncle Ben. While attending high school at the Midtown School of Science and Technology in 2015, Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, giving him superhuman abilities. He becomes the superhero Spider-Man by using his powers for good, and maintains a secret identity so his enemies can not attack his friends and family. At Midtown School, Parker is smart but is frequently bullied by Flash Thompson. He also befriends Ned Leeds, who has been his best friend since they were young. He constructs a homemade Spider-Man suit, designing it as a red and blue hoodie also equipped with his web-shooters.
In 2016, Peter is living with May in Queens, New York when he meets Tony Stark at his apartment, who reveals that he knows Parker is Spider-Man; Stark recruits him to join his conflict with Steve Rogers and sends Parker to Germany. There Parker is given a new Spider-Man suit designed by him and is brought to the Leipzig/Halle airport to aid Stark and his faction, consisting of James Rhodes, Natasha Romanoff, T'Challa, and Vision, against Rogers' team, consisting of Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, and Wanda Maximoff. Parker is a fan of Rogers despite them being on opposing sides, while Rogers likewise respects Parker's bravery. They briefly exchange where in New York they are from upon fighting. After incapacitating Barnes and Wilson, and helping to defeat a giant Lang, Parker is sent back to Queens.
Two months later, Parker continues to try to balance his life as a high school student and Spider-Man, but eagerly awaits his next mission from Stark and continuously texts Stark's driver and bodyguard Happy Hogan. After Parker returns home from operating as Spider-Man, Ned accidentally learns Parker's secret identity. Parker and Ned attend a school party hosted by his crush, senior student Liz, but leaves early to stop a drug deal by Jackson Brice and Herman Schultz, who planned to sell Chitauri weapons to Aaron Davis. Parker follows Brice and Schultz before being caught by their boss Adrian Toomes, who drops Parker to a nearby lake. Stark remotely saves Parker using one of his Iron Man armors, and warns Parker of further involvement with Toomes. On an academic decathlon trip to Washington, D.C., Parker and Ned disable the tracker on Parker's suit, and Parker intercepts Toomes on a Damage Control truck in Maryland, but gets knocked out and trapped in a Damage Control storage vault. He misses the decathlon, but rescues his class at the Washington Monument after a Chitauri core explodes. Back in New York, Parker captures Toomes' new buyer Mac Gargan aboard the Staten Island Ferry, but Toomes escapes and a malfunctioning weapon tears the ferry in half, which Parker attempts to briefly fix it before Stark arrives and saves the passengers. Stark confiscates Parker's suit as punishment for his recklessness, and Liz accepts to be Parker's homecoming date.
Later, while on the way to pick Liz for the homecoming dance, Parker discovers Toomes is Liz's father and Toomes also deduces Parker is Spider-Man. Toomes gives Parker one final chance to not interfere with his business out of gratitude for Parker previously saving Liz's life, but Parker abandons Liz to stop Toomes from stealing a Damage Control cargo plane that is shipping equipment from Avengers Tower using his homemade suit. When Toomes' Vulture suit is damaged, Parker saves his life, but leaves him in a web for the DODC and Hogan to arrest. The next day at school, Liz is angry at Parker for abandoning her before tearfully informing him that she and her mother will be moving away since Toomes is imprisoned. Hogan brings Parker to Avengers Compound, where Stark congratulates him on defeating Toomes, admits he underestimated him and offers him a place in the Avengers, showcasing the newly developed Iron Spider armor with it. Parker declines the offer, preferring to focus on local activities in Queens. When Stark returns the Spider-Man suit to him, Parker puts it on, at which point a shocked May learns he is Spider-Man.
In 2018, while headed on a field trip, Parker sees the Q-Ship above New York City and asks Ned to cover for him as he leaves the school bus. As Spider-Man, he helps Stark fight Cull Obsidian and follows Ebony Maw—who had captured Stephen Strange–to his spaceship. This prompts Stark to fly into space and rescue Parker, sending the Iron Spider armor to Parker. He and Stark rescue Strange and kill Maw, and Stark officially declares Parker an Avenger. The spaceship lands on the planet Titan, where Parker, Stark, and Strange are confronted by some members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, before they realize that they are both on the same side: stopping Thanos. Thanos eventually arrives and Parker helps subdue him along with Stark, Strange, Peter Quill, Drax, and Mantis. However, Quill attacks Thanos, making Parker lose his grip on removing the Infinity Gauntlet. Parker rescues an unconscious Quill, Drax, Nebula, and Mantis after Thanos throws Titan's moon at them. Thanos leaves and is successful in disintegrating half of all life, including Parker, in the Blip.
In 2023, Parker is restored to life and is brought via a portal to the destroyed Compound to assist the Avengers and their allies in defeating an alternate 2014 Thanos. Parker reunites with Stark, who later sacrifices his life to save the universe; Parker attends his funeral and returns to high school, having a heartfelt reunion with Ned.
Eight months later in mid-2024, Parker goes to a charity event that May is putting together as Spider-Man but leaves it abruptly due to still reeling from Stark's death and getting asked a horde of questions. He decides to take a break from vigilantism and goes on a school trip to Europe with Ned and other classmates, where he plans to reveal his romantic feelings towards his classmate Michelle "MJ" Jones. In Venice, Parker and his classmates are attacked by a water monster but are saved by Quentin Beck. Parker is approached by Nick Fury, whose calls he had been fielding and who appoints Beck as his teammate in battling further element-based monsters (the "Elementals") throughout Europe. Fury gives Parker "E.D.I.T.H.", an artificial intelligence created by Stark to give to Parker. After defeating the Fire Elemental in Prague, Parker feels he "isn't ready to be the next Iron Man" and gives E.D.I.T.H. to Beck, who unbeknownst to Parker is a former disgruntled employee of Stark's.
Parker goes on a walk with MJ, and reveals his attraction to her and accidentally his identity as Spider-Man. The pair discover Beck used holographic projectors to visually create the Elementals, and Parker goes to Berlin to warn Fury about Beck's deception. Beck catches wind of this and traps Parker in multiple illusions, and while impersonating Fury, tricks the latter into telling the names of the students that know his fraudulence. Parker is hit by a train and left for dead in the Netherlands, but calls Hogan and creates a new suit for himself using Stark's technology as he enters London to stop Beck, who has created an amalgamated Elemental using Stark Industries drones. Ned and MJ evacuate the students and fight with Hogan while Parker destroys those drones and approaches Beck. Beck attempts to kill Parker using the drones, but Parker manages to get a drone to shoot him, Beck beginning to bleed. Parker gets E.D.I.T.H. back, as Beck seemingly dies, and disables the drones. Parker and his classmates return to New York City, with he and MJ planning a date the following week.
After swinging through the city, Parker and MJ witness a broadcast from J. Jonah Jameson of TheDailyBugle.net showing an edited video of Beck incriminating Parker for the London attack and revealing his identity as Spider-Man, much to the latter's shock. Parker, MJ, Ned, and May are interrogated by Damage Control. While the murder charges are dropped with lawyer Matt Murdock's help, Parker and his friends still grapple with negative publicity from Jameson and Beck supporters. Parker and May then move into Happy Hogan's apartment for their safety. After his, Ned, and MJ's applications to MIT are rejected in light of the controversy, Parker goes to the New York Sanctum to ask Stephen Strange for help. Strange, despite Wong's warnings, attempts to cast a spell that would make everyone forget Parker is Spider-Man, though Parker repeatedly tampers with it. He tries to convince an MIT administrator to reconsider his and his friends' applications before being attacked by Otto Octavius, who rips Parker's nanotechnology from his Iron Spider armor, which bonds with his mechanical tentacles and allows Parker to disable them. As the Green Goblin appears and attacks, Strange teleports Parker and Octavius to the Sanctum, where he explains that before he could contain the tampered spell, it summoned people from alternate universes who know Spider-Man's identity and which allowed the multiverse to be broken open. Strange orders Parker, MJ, and Ned to find and capture multiversal visitors; they locate and retrieve Max Dillon and Flint Marko, and later, Parker retrieves Norman Osborn from a F.E.A.S.T. building and discovers that the latter, Dillon, and Octavius were pulled from their universes just before their deaths. He refuses to send the villains home to their deadly fates in their original realities and traps Strange in the Mirror Dimension, stealing the spell, takes the villains to Hogan's apartment, and cures Octavius.
The Goblin persona, having taken control of Osborn, convinces the uncured villains to betray Parker, and a fight ensues which culminates with Goblin fatally wounding May before escaping. Before she dies, May tells Parker that "with great power, there must also come great responsibility". After May's death, a bereaved Parker, whose guilt was accentuated by Jameson's gaslighting reporting, is ready to give up and send the villains to die; he is comforted by his friends and meets two alternate versions of himself that are later nicknamed "Peter-Two" and "Peter-Three". The alternate Parkers share stories of losing loved ones and encourage Parker (later nicknamed "Peter-One") to fight in May's honor. They develop cures for the villains and lure the Lizard, Dillon, and Marko to the Statue of Liberty, managing to cure them. The Goblin appears and unleashes the contained spell, and an enraged Peter-One tries to kill him before being stopped by Peter-Two. The former and Peter-Three inject the Goblin cure into him, curing Osborn of his Goblin persona.
Peter-One realizes that the only way to protect the multiverse is to erase Peter Parker from everyone's memory and requests that Strange do so, while promising MJ and Ned that he will find them again. Heartbroken about having to forget each other, Peter and MJ reclaim their love for one another and share a passionate kiss as the spell is about to be cast. The spell is cast and everyone returns to their respective universes, with him saying goodbye to his alternate versions. A few weeks later, Parker visits MJ and Ned to reintroduce himself, but decides against it, not wanting to endanger them. While mourning at May's grave, he has a conversation with Hogan and is inspired to carry on, but decided to isolate himself from his allies and fellow superheroes to keep them safe, as he came to believe that he was dangerous to be around. Parker, having dropped out of school and moved into a new apartment, starts studying to get his GED and makes a new suit to resume his super-heroics as Spider-Man, who is now re-considered as a hero.
Other versions of Peter Parker are depicted in the alternate realities of the MCU multiverse.
In an alternate 2018, Parker (marketed as Zombie Hunter Spider-Man) is among the survivors of a quantum virus outbreak which transforms the infected into zombies, and joins the survivors, consisting of Bucky Barnes, Kurt Goreshter, Sharon Carter, Hope van Dyne, Okoye, Happy Hogan, and Bruce Banner to the Grand Central Station to catch a train to Camp Lehigh, New Jersey. After meeting Vision and following a fight with a zombified Wanda Maximoff, he escapes with Scott Lang and T'Challa, taking the Mind Stone to Wakanda to put an end to the virus.
Years following the events of Spider-Man 3 (2007), Peter Parker's (portrayed by Tobey Maguire) relationship with Mary Jane "MJ" Watson had worked out despite past complications. Due to Strange's malfunctioned spell, Parker is brought into Earth-616 and subsequently begins searching for that universe's Parker. After meeting an alternate version of himself and comforting "Peter-One" over the loss of his aunt, the Spider-Men work together to cure the supervillains and Parker subsequently reunites with Octavius. Parker stops "Peter-One" from killing Green Goblin out of rage, having previously reminded him that revenge would not suffice May's death, but this leads to him being stabbed in the back and injured by Goblin, who is in turn cured by "Peter-One". Parker says goodbye to his alternate versions and returns to his universe.
Years following the events of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), Peter Parker's (portrayed by Andrew Garfield) failure to save Gwen Stacy caused him to become bitter and overly aggressive and vengeful towards criminals, devoting most of his time to being Spider-Man. After Strange's malfunctioned spell, Parker is brought into Earth-616 and subsequently begins searching for that universe's Parker. After meeting an alternate version of himself and comforting "Peter-One" over the loss of his aunt, the Spider-Men work to cure the villains, with "Peter-One" curing Connors and Parker reconciling with Dillon, who was cured by Octavius. After Green Goblin destroys the contained spell, MJ falls from the scaffolding, but Parker saves her, bringing closure to his failure. Parker and "Peter-One" inject Osborn with a cure "Peter-Two" developed, curing him of his Green Goblin persona. Parker says goodbye to his alternate versions and returns to his universe with a renewed sense of heroism.
In an alternate timeline, Peter Parker sports four additional arms while fighting crime as Spider-Man.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and its second and third seasons, will explore an alternate universe version of Peter Parker's origin story and early days using the Spider-Man persona as he is mentored by Norman Osborn.
The Marvel Comics character Peter Parker / Spider-Man first appeared in the fifteenth and final issue of Marvel's anthology comic book series Amazing Fantasy, which was published in August 1962. The issue was written by Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee and drawn and penciled by artist Steve Ditko; Lee wanted to create a character whom teens could identify with, and was influenced by pulp magazine crime fighter the Spider. He also took inspiration from seeing a spider climb up a wall. The character became popular during the 1960s, and was adapted into various forms of media–including five films by Sony Pictures from 2002 to 2014, starring Tobey Maguire in three films directed by Sam Raimi as Spider-Man and Andrew Garfield in two films directed by Marc Webb as the character.
Following the November 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures' computers, emails between Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal and president Doug Belgrad were released stating that Marvel Studios wanted to include Spider-Man (whose film rights are licensed to Sony) in their Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Captain America: Civil War (2016), but talks between the studios concerning this were believed to have broken down. However, in February 2015, the studios reached a licensing deal for the use of Spider-Man in an MCU film, and reports indicated that the character would indeed appear in Civil War. According to the deal, Sony Pictures would continue to own, finance, distribute, and exercise final creative control over the Spider-Man films. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige stated in April 2015 that they decided to not retell the character's origins in Civil War since there had been two previous retellings with the Raimi and Webb films, so Marvel Studios was "going to take it for granted that people know that, and the specifics". Feige also stated that Marvel had been working to add Spider-Man to the MCU since at least October 2014. The following June, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal does not allow the character to appear in any of the MCU television series, as it was "very specific... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed."
By August 2019, Marvel Studios and its parent company The Walt Disney Studios had spent several months discussing expanding their deal with Sony. The existing deal had Marvel and Feige produce the Spider-Man films for Sony and receive 5% of their revenue. Sony wanted to expand the deal to include more films while keeping the same terms of the original agreement. Disney expressed concern with Feige's workload producing the MCU already and asked for a 25–50% stake in any future films Feige produced for Sony. Unable to come to an agreement, Sony announced that it would be moving forward on the next Spider-Man film without Feige or Marvel's involvement. The next month, Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra confirmed the character would be integrated with Sony's own shared universe–Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU)–moving forward. MCU Spider-Man actor Tom Holland personally spoke to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman, partly making the companies return to negotiations. In late September, Sony and Disney announced a new agreement that would allow Marvel Studios and Feige to produce another MCU Spider-Man film–Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)–with Amy Pascal. Disney was reportedly co-financing 25% of No Way Home in exchange for 25% of the film's profit, while retaining the character's merchandising rights. The agreement also allowed Holland's Spider-Man to appear in a future Marvel Studios film as well as crossing over to the SSU, with the latter interaction described as "a 'call and answer' between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe."
Sony was reportedly looking for an actor younger than Andrew Garfield to play Spider-Man, with Logan Lerman and Dylan O'Brien considered front-runners. Later in April 2015, Nat Wolff, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Timothée Chalamet, and Liam James were under consideration by Sony and Marvel to play Spider-Man, with Holland and Butterfield as the front-runners. Butterfield, Holland, Judah Lewis, Matt Lintz (who would later be cast as Bruno Carreli in Ms. Marvel), Charlie Plummer, and Charlie Rowe screen tested for the lead role against Robert Downey Jr., who portrays Tony Stark / Iron Man in the MCU, for "chemistry". The six were chosen out of a search of over 1,500 actors to test in front of Feige, Pascal, and the Russo brothers—the directors of Captain America: Civil War. Feige and Pascal narrowed the actors considered to Holland and Rowe, with both screen testing with Downey again. Holland also tested with Chris Evans, who portrays Steve Rogers / Captain America in the MCU, and emerged as the favorite. On June 23, Marvel and Sony officially announced that Holland would star as Spider-Man in the MCU in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). The Russos "were pretty vocal" about whom they wanted for the role, pushing to cast an actor close to the age of Peter Parker to differentiate from the previous portrayals. They also praised Holland for having a dancing and gymnastics background.
A scene in Iron Man 2 (2010) depicts a young boy in a child's Iron Man mask targeted by Justin Hammer's drones before being rescued by Stark; Max Favreau, the son of director Jon Favreau, plays the boy. In 2017, Watts said that he had suggested to Feige that they retroactively establish this child to be the introduction of a young Parker to the MCU, an idea that Holland supported; however, this notion has yet to be confirmed in any MCU film or television series. The first reference to Spider-Man within the MCU, following the deal with Sony, is at the end of Ant-Man (2015) according to its director Peyton Reed. The reference is made by a reporter to Sam Wilson / Falcon, who is looking for Ant-Man. The reporter states, "Well, we got everything nowadays. We got a guy who jumps, we got a guy who swings, we got a guy who crawls up the walls, you gotta be more specific."
In February 2021, Holland said No Way Home was the final film under his contract but he hoped to continue playing Spider-Man in the future if asked. That October, Holland said No Way Home was being treated as "the end of a franchise" that began with Homecoming, with any additional solo films featuring the MCU Spider-Man characters to be different from the first trilogy of films and feature a tonal change. By November, Holland was unsure if he should continue making Spider-Man films and felt he would have "done something wrong" if he was still portraying the character in his thirties. He expressed interest in a film focusing on the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man instead. Despite this, Pascal hoped to continue working with Holland on future Spider-Man films. Later in November, Pascal said there were plans for another trilogy of Spider-Man films starring Holland, with work on the first of those about to begin, though Sony did not yet have official plans for further MCU Spider-Man films.
Tom Holland portrays Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Holland will reprise the role in both the ensemble film Avengers: Doomsday in addition to Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Hudson Thames voices alternate versions of the character in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021–2024), and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025–present). Thames will reprise his role in the Disney+ animated series Marvel Zombies (2025).
On the Spider-Man suit seen in Civil War, Joe Russo described it as "a slightly more traditional, Steve Ditko influenced suit," and that Civil War would explore the way the suit operates, particularly the mechanical eyes. This suit is primarily used during Homecoming, and has more technical improvements than the previous suits, including a remote drone attached to the chest logo, an AI system similar to Tony Stark's J.A.R.V.I.S., a holographic interface, a parachute, a tracking device for Stark to monitor Peter's location, a heater, underarm webbing that provided wingsuiting capabilities, the ability to light up, and a head-up display incorporating augmented reality. Stark incorporates a "training wheels" protocol into the suit's software to initially limit Parker's access to all of its features. Homecoming co-producer Eric Hauserman Carroll noted Marvel Studios went through the comics and "pull[ed] out all the sort of fun and wacky things the suit did" to include in the Homecoming suit. Spider-Man's web-shooters have various settings, first teased at the end of Civil War, which Carroll explained allowed him to "adjust the spray" to different settings like the spinning web, web ball, or ricochet web. He compared this to a DSLR camera. In The Moviemaking Magic of Marvel Studios: Spider-Man (2021), Holland says that "what [he] loves about the original web-shooters is they're as real as they could be", and compares them to Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, saying that his web-shooters; "[never made] much sense to [him]." Spider-Man's Iron Spider armor, used by the character during the Civil War comic storyline, was also considered to appear in the Civil War film.
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) reuses two of Spider-Man's costumes from the previous films: his main costume from Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the Iron Spider armor from Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame. It also introduces two new costumes: a black "stealth" costume given to Parker by Nick Fury, and a new, upgraded Spider-Man suit that Parker designs for himself at the end of the film. Marvel Studios' head of visual development Ryan Meinerding explained that Watts had wanted to include a suit inspired by the Spider-Man Noir version of the character, which led to the design of the more tactical stealth suit. He added that the suit represents Parker experimenting with being a new kind of superhero. Other tactical costumes from the comic books were looked at when developing this one, but Meinerding felt they looked less practical than the more straightforward Noir inspiration. The costume includes tactical goggles that can be flipped up. For Parker's new self-designed costume, Meinerding originally designed it with the idea that it would be made from Parker's webbing since that is the strongest material he has access to. Practical versions of the costumes were created by Ironhead Studio, who previously worked on The Amazing Spider-Man films. For Far From Home, Ironhead developed a skull cap for the costumes that has built-in fans to prevent the goggles from steaming up. They also developed a magnetic bellows system for connecting the goggles to the mask, so they could be easily removed but not fall off during action sequences.
Spider-Man suits featured in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man include his homemade suit made from "gym pants, sneakers, goggles, a blue sweatshirt, red undershirt, knee pads, very clunky webshooters, and a red logo on the chest", a "beetle" costume, a yellow suit, a dark suit, a "classic 60s" red and blue suit, and a white and blue Oscorp suit.
Parker is recruited by Stark in Civil War to help him arrest Rogers and his rogue Avengers. Feige said that Parker would be torn between superhero ideologies, saying, "Does he want to be like these other characters? Does he want nothing to do with these other characters? How does that impact his experience, being this grounded but super powerful hero? Those are all the things that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko played with in the first 10 years of his comics, and that now we can play with for the first time in a movie." On aligning with Stark, Anthony Russo said that, despite entering the conflict after the two factions have formed and not having much political investment, Parker's choice comes from "a very personal relationship" he develops with Stark. The Russos hoped "to take a very logical and realistic and naturalistic approach to the character" compared to the previous film portrayals. Anthony Russo added that the character's introduction had to fit "that specific tonal stylistic world" of the MCU, as well as the tone established by the directors in Winter Soldier, saying, "It's a little more grounded and a little more hard-core contemporary." That was "coloring our choices a lot" with Parker.
Though the MCU films do not depict Parker's origin story, Parker's Uncle Ben, whose death was a significant event in both the comic books and previous film series, is indirectly referenced; there was some discussion to include a direct reference to Ben in Spider-Man: Homecoming when Peter is getting ready for his homecoming by the revelation that his wardrobe consisted of Ben's clothes, but the writers desisted because they felt that the moment veered away from Parker's character arc and made Ben's death feel like a "throwaway line". The one exception is the animated What If...? episode "What If... Zombies?!", where an alternate version of Parker mentions everyone who has died in his life in the episode's timeline.
Another change is Parker's close paternal relationship with Stark. This was partially adapted from the limited series Civil War, its three-issue prelude on The Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski, and the Ultimate Marvel comics where Stark and Parker share a trainer-trainee relationship. Some critics disliked Parker's reliance on Stark, as opposed to previous cinematic portrayals of Spider-Man showing the character as more self-reliant; several of Parker's proper Spider-Man suits in the MCU are also designed by Stark, or built by Parker with Stark Industries technology, whereas in the comics Parker designed and constructed much of his suits entirely by himself while Stark only made the Iron Spider armor.
Parker's relationship with Gwen Stacy does not exist in the MCU, instead he falls in love with Michelle "MJ" Jones-Watson (Zendaya) a fellow school student after his previous crush, high school senior Liz, moves away. Although MJ is an original character, Spider-Man: Homecoming co-screenwriter John Francis Daley stated that she was intended as a reinvention of Mary Jane Watson and that the nickname was an homage to her. The Osborns, including Parker's best friend from the comics Harry Osborn, his father Norman Osborn and their company Oscorp doesn't exist in MCU as stated in Spider-Man: No Way Home by Norman Osborn from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy to May Parker. Ned Leeds is instead shown to be Parker's best friend, who in the comics is The Hobgoblin.
For their reviews of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sara Stewart of the New York Post attributed much of the "heavy-lifting" to Holland's performance and the "perfectly cast" Michael Keaton (Vulture). She also noted Watts' focus on Parker's human side, while Mike Ryan at Uproxx felt it was the best Spider-Man film yet, with one of his specific praises being the younger and more optimistic portrayal of Parker. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times praised its focus on the character's school life and called Holland "terrific and well-cast", while Owen Gleiberman of Variety highlighted Homecoming's focus on making Peter Parker a realistically youthful and grounded character. He found Holland to be likable in the role, but did criticize the vague take on Spider-Man's origin and powers, but "the flying action has a casual flip buoyancy, and the movie does get you rooting for Peter." At IndieWire, David Ehrlich praised the elements of the film that leaned into the high school life of Parker, while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times criticized the "juvenile" depiction of Parker and Watts' "unevenly orchestrated" direction. Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore praised Holland's performance as "winning" despite the Homecoming script, and Mick LaSalle, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, said the film did not explore the human side of Spider-Man enough and instead focused on action that is "not thrilling". Robbie Collin of The Telegraph criticized Watts' direction but was positive of Holland, Keaton, Tomei, and Zendaya.
For their reviews of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Gleiberman again praised Holland's performance, along with Roeper, while Alonso Duralde of TheWrap highlighted the cast, including the chemistry between Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds). Ehrlich criticized the character development of Spider-Man in the film, feeling that he does not change throughout the film beyond becoming more confident. John Anderson of The Wall Street Journal also praised Holland and Zendaya's performances.
Spider-Man: No Way Home features several characters from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man duology, including past Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as their respective Spider-Men. The multiverse aspect was widely praised by critics and audiences, and generated much speculation before the film's release. In their reviews, Don Kaye, writing for Den of Geek, praised the performances and chemistry of the cast, stating that "No Way Home channels the entire spectrum of Spider-Man movies while setting the character on a course all his own at last", while Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood praised Watts's direction and wrote that Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon are "a priceless trio"; Jennifer Bisset of CNET praised the performances, writing: "A Russo Brothers influence can almost be felt ushering Holland's third Spider-Man movie into new, weightier territory. If the character is to become the next Tony Stark, this is the way to etch a few more scars into a more interesting hero's facade"; DeFore felt that the inclusion of "multiversal mayhem" in No Way Home addressed the "Iron Man-ification" of MCU Spider-Man that made Holland-centric films "least fun"; Roeper again praised the performances of Holland and Zendaya, writing that while there is "nothing new or particularly memorable about the serviceable CGI and practical effects," he and the audience remain invested because Holland "remains the best of the cinematic Spider-Men".
Holland has received numerous nominations and awards for his portrayal of Spider-Man.
Holland reprises his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man for the attraction Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure in Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park.