In the aftermath of the Battle of New York, large sections of the city remain damaged and littered with wreckage from the Chitauri invasion. Salvage contractor Adrian Toomes and his crew are hired to clean up the destruction, hoping the lucrative contract will secure their futures. Before they can begin, however, federal officials arrive and announce that all cleanup operations are now under the authority of the newly formed Department of Damage Control, a government agency supported by Tony Stark. Toomes loses his contract, his equipment, and nearly his business overnight. Bitter and humiliated, he refuses to surrender the alien technology his crew has already recovered. Instead, he and his associates begin secretly reverse-engineering Chitauri components into devastating black-market weapons. Over time, Toomes builds a powerful winged flight harness and becomes the criminal figure known as the Vulture.
Eight years later, sixteen-year-old Peter Parker lives in Queens with his Aunt May and is still exhilarated after being recruited by Tony Stark to assist during the Avengers’ conflict in Germany. Peter dreams of joining the Avengers full-time, but Stark insists he return home, continue school, and focus on smaller responsibilities until he is truly ready. Peter struggles with this limitation. By day, he attends Midtown School of Science and Technology, where he excels academically but feels distracted from ordinary teenage life. By night, he patrols neighborhoods as Spider-Man, stopping bike thieves, helping lost citizens, and waiting for a call from Happy Hogan or Tony Stark that never comes. To explain his absences, Peter tells everyone he is working a “Stark Internship.”
Peter’s best friend Ned Leeds accidentally discovers his secret identity when he sees the Spider-Man suit hidden in Peter’s bedroom. Thrilled, Ned immediately wants to help, peppering Peter with endless questions about powers, web-shooters, and whether the Avengers know him personally. Meanwhile, Peter develops a crush on classmate Liz Allan, but his attempts to spend time with her are repeatedly interrupted by crimefighting obligations.
One evening, Peter attends a party at Liz’s house but sneaks away after noticing suspicious activity nearby. He discovers Adrian Toomes’ men—Jackson Brice and Herman Schultz—attempting to sell illegal alien-based weapons to local criminal Aaron Davis. Peter intervenes, but the encounter goes badly. He is nearly drowned during the fight before Tony Stark remotely arrives in the Iron Man armor to rescue him. Stark sternly warns Peter that these criminals are far more dangerous than neighborhood thieves and orders him to stay away. Back with his crew, Toomes angrily blames Brice for drawing attention and accidentally kills him with one of the unstable weapons. He then hands Brice’s electrified gauntlet to Schultz, who becomes the new Shocker.
Peter later retrieves a damaged Chitauri weapon left behind during the encounter. With Ned’s help, he disables the training wheels protocol built into the Stark suit, unlocking dozens of advanced features. The suit’s onboard A.I., which Peter names Karen, assists him with surveillance, tactical options, and suit functions. A tracker on one of Toomes’ weapons leads Peter to Maryland while he is traveling with his school decathlon team to Washington, D.C. for Nationals. There, Peter learns that the alien power core inside the weapon is dangerously unstable. Before he can dispose of it safely, it explodes inside the Washington Monument elevator carrying Ned, Liz, and their classmates. Peter races into action, scaling the monument and using his webs to rescue everyone before the elevator falls, narrowly preventing a tragedy.
Returning to New York more convinced than ever that he must stop Toomes, Peter follows additional leads provided by Aaron Davis and discovers a major arms deal is taking place aboard the Staten Island Ferry. Peter attempts to stop the transaction, but the confrontation spirals out of control when a powerful alien weapon slices the ferry in half. As passengers panic and the vessel begins to sink, Iron Man arrives and uses an array of repulsors and cables to temporarily hold the ferry together until emergency crews arrive. Furious, Stark reprimands Peter for nearly causing mass casualties and for ignoring repeated warnings. He confiscates the Spider-Man suit, telling Peter that if he is nothing without the suit, then he should not have it.
Devastated, Peter returns to ordinary life without his advanced gear. He decides to focus on school and personal relationships, finally asking Liz to the upcoming homecoming dance. At the same time, Toomes’ operation begins to collapse under federal pressure. Many of his workers quit, but Toomes decides to attempt one final theft: hijacking a cargo plane transporting valuable Avengers technology from Stark Tower to the team’s new headquarters.
On the night of the dance, Peter arrives at Liz’s house and receives the shock of his life when he discovers that her father is Adrian Toomes. During the drive to the dance, Toomes quietly pieces together Peter’s identity after noticing the pattern of Spider-Man appearing whenever Peter disappears. Once Liz leaves the car, Toomes warns Peter to stay away from his business in gratitude for saving Liz’s life in Washington, but threatens to kill Peter and his loved ones if he interferes again.
Realizing the cargo plane theft is imminent, Peter abandons the dance and dons his homemade suit. With Ned’s assistance, he defeats Shocker and tracks Toomes to an abandoned warehouse. Toomes attempts to persuade Peter to join him, claiming that wealthy elites like Stark exploit ordinary workers and leave men like them behind. When Peter refuses, Toomes destroys the building’s support structure and leaves Peter trapped beneath tons of rubble.
Alone and terrified, Peter stares at his own reflection in a puddle, seeing both the frightened teenager and the mask of Spider-Man. Remembering who he is, he pushes through fear and lifts the debris off himself through sheer determination. It becomes a defining moment in Peter’s growth, proving he does not need Stark’s technology to be a hero.
Peter intercepts Toomes during the airborne robbery. Their battle damages the cargo plane, forcing it to crash near Coney Island. Toomes’ flight harness malfunctions and begins to overload. Despite everything Toomes has done, Peter saves him from the resulting explosion and leaves him for the police to arrest. In prison, criminal Mac Gargan approaches Toomes and asks for Spider-Man’s identity, but Toomes refuses to reveal it, honoring the life Peter spared.
Afterward, Liz moves away with her mother, leaving Peter heartbroken. Michelle Jones hints at becoming more prominent in student life, while Peter begins settling back into his normal routine. Tony Stark later invites Peter to Avengers headquarters and publicly prepares to introduce him as the newest Avenger, even presenting him with an upgraded suit. Peter humbly declines, deciding that he can do the most good helping everyday people as a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Impressed by Peter’s maturity, Stark respects the decision and returns the upgraded suit anyway. Back home, Peter tries it on in his bedroom, only for Aunt May to walk in and discover his secret, reacting in total shock.
