Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes of all time and appeals to a younger crowd with each iteration. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will be returning in a fourth solo movie, a first for any live-action iteration of the character. While Holland’s version may not be definitive, he had plenty of pure aura moments in the trilogy preceding Brand New Day.
Across Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, this trilogy built an incredible highlight reel of goosebump-inducing heroism. As Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters, here are 10 moments from the previous films that set the bar impossibly high. We’re hoping the new movie can somehow top it.
| Movie Name | Spider-Man: Brand New Day |
| Directed By | Destin Daniel Cretton |
| Main Cast | Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Mando |
| Release Date | July 31, 2026 |
1. Peter Holds the Ferry Together in Homecoming
Spider-Man: Homecoming was not Tom Holland’s first appearance as Peter Parker. He made his debut in Captain America: Civil War. But Homecoming truly gave him many moments to shine as a solo hero. Sure, he had the help of Tony Stark in the first film, but the point was he grew into his own by the end.
The first test of whether he is ready for the great responsibility that comes with his great power is the ferry sequence. The Vulture splits open the Staten Island Ferry, and Peter uses just his webs, strength, and grit to hold them together. Tony later comes to finish the job, but this is his first moment of worthiness.
2. Spider-Man Climbs the Washington Monument’s Elevator Shaft
Trapped inside a plummeting elevator with his classmates after the monument catches fire, Peter rescues everyone using nothing but web-shooters and sheer nerve. Climbing the shaft, catching falling students, and web-slinging a group of terrified teenagers to safety without any backup is a masterclass in improvisational heroics.
It’s tense, claustrophobic, and entirely earned through ingenuity instead of raw power. This sequence works because it strips away the spectacle of later MCU set pieces and reminds you Spider-Man’s greatest weapon has always been his brain.
3. Peter Lifts the Collapsed Warehouse Off Of Him
Every hero’s journey has a moment where he loses one battle and is at his lowest. It is called the dark night of the soul in screenwriting. In Homecoming, Spider-Man loses his Stark tech, his fancy new suit, and is only left with what he began with. He is left under rubble by Adrian Toomes. He is just a high-schooler now.
But this incredible moment comes just at the right time. There is no incredible cheering from anyone else and no tech to make it easier, though Michael Giacchino’s swelling musical score powerfully amplifies the moment. Peter lifts the collapsed rubble and escapes certain death through sheer grit alone. Now that one is a hard one to top.
4. Spider-Man Saves the Vulture and Becomes a True Hero
The Homecoming finale sees Peter, in his homemade suit, chasing down Vulture’s cargo plane as it screams toward the ground loaded with stolen Avengers tech. Peter helps Toomes, even after all the conflict. He pulls him from the wreckage caused by his malfunctioning tech instead of leaving him to die, which is the ultimate representation of ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ Toomes honors Peter by refusing to reveal Spider-Man’s secret identity to other criminals in prison.
5. Attack on Prague Carnival in Far From Home
Peter travels with his team to Italy, but then he is pulled into superhero work by Nick Fury. He is introduced to Quentin Beck, who claims to be from an alternate reality and is fighting the Elementals. Fury diverts Peter’s class trip to Prague, where the Fire Elemental is predicted to attack. And it does at the carnival.
Using his stealth suit, Spider-Man and Mysterio (Beck) team up to fight the Elemental while saving Ned and Betty. It is an incredible fight, and Holland’s black suit looks incredible (despite Ned naming him Night Monkey). The scene ultimately hands it to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Beck, who almost sacrifices himself, but the twist makes it all null and void.
6. Spider-Man Breaks Free from Mysterio’s Illusions
The sequence from Far From Home where Mysterio puts Spider-Man through a series of illusions is one of the best scenes in the entire MCU. Peter is stuck in multiple nightmarish scenes, bringing out his deepest, darkest fears, and he struggles to get out of the reality-warping moment.
Clawing through illusion after illusion, refusing to give up even as the ground and sky twist against him, is a genuinely unsettling and cathartic sequence.
7. Peter Crafts His Own Suit Using Stark Tech in Far From Home
Betrayed, exposed, and grieving, Peter storms into Mysterio’s drone-filled London ambush with nothing but resolve. He unveils the black-and-red suit he designed himself using the Stark tech fabricator Tony left him.
He systematically dismantles the drones and yet again grieves losing another mentor figure, giving the sequence real emotional weight beneath the spectacle.
The suit reveal alone sent theaters into a frenzy, cementing this as the moment Peter stepped fully out of Iron Man’s shadow and into his own legacy.
8. The Three Spider-Men Team Up
It was a childhood dream come true for every comic-book and Spider-Man fan when No Way Home brought together all three live-action iterations of the web crawler on the screen. When Tom Holland’s Peter messes with a spell by Dr. Strange, the multiverse cracks and guests from other realities come into the MCU universe.
Both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield team up with Tom Holland to send back classic villains like the Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Electro, Sandman, and the Lizard to their respective worlds. Their classic aura-farming moment comes when they all swing through the Statue of Liberty and land together. Chills! Literal chills!
9. Peter Rages Against the Green Goblin
No Way Home tests Tom Holland’s Spider-Man the most among the trilogy. He loses his Aunt May, grapples with the fact that his exposed identity has hurt his loved ones’ lives more than he imagined, and by the end, he has to make a difficult choice. Green Goblin’s bombs kill May, and Peter is not about to let him go that easily.
When he catches hold of him, Peter rages against him, beating him so hard and with fury that is so unlike him or any other Spider-Man before him. It leads to Tobey Maguire’s Peter silently stepping in to physically block him from delivering a killing blow. But it is an incredibly real reaction from a teenager who has just faced intense tragedy.
10. Final Swing Across New York in Spider-Man’s Handmade Suit
Stripped of his identity, his friends’ memories of him, and everything familiar, Peter builds himself a new homemade suit and swings through New York City alone as the film closes. There’s no team, no Stark tech, no fanfare. He is just a young man who has lost everything, choosing to keep being Spider-Man anyway.
He sews his own suit, finds a place for himself, and then quietly begins his heroism yet again, swinging across New York City. There is no speech, no final line to say how far he has grown. Just music and his grunts. It’s the moment the trilogy fully hands Peter Parker his own legacy, setting an enormous bar for what comes next.
| Tom Holland Spider-Man Aura Moments | Movie Name |
| Staten Island Ferry sequence | Spider-Man: Homecoming |
| Washington Monument elevator shaft scene | Spider-Man: Homecoming |
| Peter lifts the collapsed warehouse | Spider-Man: Homecoming |
| Spider-Man saves the Vulture | Spider-Man: Homecoming |
| Prague Carnival with the Fire Elemental | Spider-Man: Far From Home |
| Spider-Man breaks Mysterio’s illusion | Spider-Man: Far From Home |
| Peter’s classic new suit from Tony Stark | Spider-Man: Far From Home |
| Three Spider-Men | Spider-Man: No Way Home |
| Peter rages against Green Goblin | Spider-Man: No Way Home |
| Final swing across New York | Spider-Man: No Way Home |
Which aura moment from the trilogy do you think Spider-Man: Brand New Day has to top to be the next big hit? Comment below.
All of the MCU Spider-Man movies are available to stream on Disney+.
