The Tom Holland arc in the MCU has a particularity that many guides overlook: the release order and the chronological order coincide perfectly. Unlike other Marvel heroes whose solo films are interspersed between past or future events in the timeline, Peter Parker progresses linearly. Each appearance, solo or in a team, takes place after the previous one in the internal chronology of the MCU.
MCU films interspersed between Tom Holland’s Spider-Man solos
The three solo films are not enough to follow the complete arc of Peter Parker. Several ensemble MCU films contain scenes or subplots directly related to his character.
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We recommend incorporating these films between the solos to maintain the narrative thread. Here is the complete sequence:
- Captain America: Civil War marks Tom Holland’s first appearance as Spider-Man, with Peter being recruited by Tony Stark and the battle at Leipzig airport.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place a few months after Civil War. Peter tries to prove his worth to Stark while facing the Vulture.
- Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame form a continuous narrative block for Spider-Man, from the confrontation with Thanos on Titan to the final battle.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home is set just after Endgame, with a grieving Peter Stark confronting Mysterio in Europe.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home concludes the initial trilogy by opening the multiverse and erasing Peter Parker’s identity from collective memory.
Skipping Infinity War and Endgame creates a major plot hole: Peter’s disappearance during the Blip and Stark’s death become incomprehensible without this context.
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To verify this sequence, we cross-referenced several resources including the order of Spider-Man with Tom Holland on Avenue du Net, which details this same sequence with the ensemble films.
Spider-Man Brand New Day and its position in the MCU timeline
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is Tom Holland’s fourth solo film. Marvel Studios and Sony have confirmed that the plot takes place several years after the events of No Way Home, with an older Peter Parker navigating a world where no one remembers him.
This temporal positioning has a direct consequence on the viewing order: Brand New Day is placed last in the Tom Holland sequence, after No Way Home. No intermediate MCU film comes between the two to alter Peter’s arc.
The fact that Spider-Man’s identity was erased from collective memory at the end of No Way Home serves as the narrative foundation for Brand New Day. Watching this film without having seen the end of No Way Home is akin to entering the story without understanding its main driving force.
Complete chronological order of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films
Here is the definitive list, in the order in which events occur in the MCU timeline:
- Captain America: Civil War
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day
This sequence is identical to the theatrical release order. It is a rare case in the MCU. For Thor, Captain America, or the Guardians of the Galaxy, the internal chronological order sometimes diverges from the release order. Not for Spider-Man version Holland.
Should we add the post-credit scenes from Venom?
The post-credit scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage projects Eddie Brock and the symbiote into Peter Parker’s reality. This scene is chronologically situated during the events of No Way Home (the opening of the multiverse by Doctor Strange’s spell).
However, the Venom films with Tom Hardy do not strictly belong to the Tom Holland arc. They belong to the Sony universe and not the MCU. Including them in a Spider-Man Holland marathon is optional. Only the post-credit scene of Let There Be Carnage has direct narrative relevance.
Do the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield films change the viewing order?
No Way Home features the Spider-Men of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield through the multiverse. The question arises: should one have seen the previous trilogies before No Way Home to understand the film?
From a narrative perspective, No Way Home works without having seen the earlier films. The characters are reintroduced with enough context. However, the emotional impact of several scenes relies on knowledge of the Raimi and Webb trilogies. The return of Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, Jamie Foxx’s Electro, or Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin does not resonate the same way for a viewer encountering these characters for the first time.
We do not include them in the Tom Holland chronological order because they take place in alternate realities. But watching them before No Way Home significantly enriches the experience.
For a viewing strictly focused on the Tom Holland arc, the seven films listed above cover the entirety of the character’s progression in the MCU. Adding the Raimi and Webb trilogies is a cultural bonus, not a narrative prerequisite.