Much to everyone’s surprise, Sony and Marvel finally unveiled the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home after it allegedly leaked on social media. And no, this time Tom Holland played no part in it (if you remember the time he accidentally leaked the logo for Avengers: Endgame during an Instagram live).
This movie almost did not happen due to contractual issues between Disney and Sony but presently, they have an arrangement where Marvel gets to produce live action Spider-Man films for Sony while Sony lets the characters from its Spiderverse appear in the MCU. Interestingly, this turns out to be quite the plus point for Spider-man and that’s pretty evident from the revelations of the trailer.
Towards the end of Spiderman: Far From Home, Mysterio reveals the identity of Peter Parker as Spiderman during the end credits scene. Spiderman: No Way Home takes off from there.
The movie is being produced by Sony, Columbia, Marvel, and of course, Disney.
Trailer Breakdown!
The trailer begins with a shot of Peter (Tom Holland) and MJ (Zendaya) lying on the roof, reading a newspaper describing Spiderman’s womanizing powers. The revelation of Peter’s identity following a fantastic fight with drones causing Mysterio’s (Jake Gyllenhall) death has seemingly resulted in Peter being declared as the ‘Public Enemy #1’.
He gets interrogated for killing Mysterio with his drones. He is also being ostracized by some of the public who think he is a ‘Devil in Disguise’ (as seen on a placard). Ned (Jacob Batalan) and Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) come under the scrutiny of the higher-ups as well.
Peter, desperate to fix this situation, seeks out Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and asks him whether he can cast a spell where the revelation never takes place. However, Wong is against it but Strange sides with Peter anyway. While casting the spell, he says that he will make the entire world forget about Peter Parker being Spiderman. But Peter is flummoxed by it as he does not want Ned, MJ, and Aunt May to not know. Unfortunately, that’s not how the spell works. Something goes wrong as Strange casts the spell and tampering with the stability of space-time goes on to have its repercussions.
Fans of superhero movies are well-versed with how the comics deal with the concept of time where attempting to change something from the past either results in a whole different future (DC’s Flashpoint concept) or branches out into several alternate realities (Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame).
As Sony has a Spider Verse of its own with Tobey McGuire, Andrew Garfield, Gwen Stacy, Dr. Ock. Venom, Green Goblin, Electro, and SandMan under its belt, this allows Marvel to expand its Spider Verse as well. With production help from Columbia (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Spider-Man: No Way Home looks likely to take on a similar theme of several Spider-Verses coming together just like its 2019 animation counterpart.
The MCU has been thematically dealing with the Multiverse since Avengers: Infinity War with Dr. Strange as a key player in this game. As he explains that humans know frighteningly little about the multiverse, it confirms our suspicions about where the story can head.
Some of the action scenes are like a moment of déjà vu, as Dr. Strange deals with trains going overboard, which is reminiscent of Tobey McGuire’s Peter Parker stopping the train in Spiderman 2. There’s also a scene which looks like a massive electrically charged sandstorm and it might be a little bit of a stretch here but could it be a potential SandMan and Electro combined attack?
Towards the very end of the trailer, there is that menacing laugh of Green Goblin, as a grenade that looks exactly like the one from Sony’s Spiderman in 2002, detonates. This is followed by a long, mechanical tentacle pinning itself to the ground as Alfred Molina returns to the Spider Verse once again, as Dr. Octavius, creating the most hype moment for the trailer.
What does the title ‘No Way Home’ suggest?
The titles of the Spider-Man movies in the MCU are tied to the concept of ‘home’ – Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home,
As Homecoming suggests the comeback of Spider-Man into the MCU as a coming home tradition (with reference to the highschool tradition of Homecoming), Far From Home deals with Peter Parker’s journey during his Europe trip, where he goes ‘Far From Home’ in the storyline.
As the trailer for the third instalment of MCU’s Spider-Man series suggests a breach in the space-time barrier and the concept of multiverse, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to guess that Peter Parker gets stranded in a separate timeline following Dr. Strange’s spell. And with the hindrance of a host of old villains and MAYBE some new ones, there’s no way for him to get back home or to the original timeline.
How does Spider-Man: No Way Home tie into the MCU
Contrary to several predecessors of this movie in the MCU, Spider-Man: No Way Home seems to take place right after Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was set eight months after the events of Avengers: Endgame.
It mirrors Captain America: Civil War in certain ways, for example, the Sokovia Accords in Civil War were brought to the forefront following Wanda’s mishap at Laos which fuelled the fire of the destruction caused in NYC and Sokovia in Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron respectively. Following this, the Avengers were held accountable for the damage they caused.
Similarly, in No Way Home, Peter Parker is held accountable for his drones killing Mysterio following the final battle and is declared to be, as J. Jonah Jameson from The Daily Bugle would put it, a ‘menace’.
The timeline is likely to overlap with that of WandaVision and Loki.
Will Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield return as Spider-Man?
As seen in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, several Spider-Men can coexist at once in a multiverse. With the concept of a multiverse being a focal point in MCU: Phase 4 and considering the appearance of Green Goblin and Dr. Ock, it is highly likely that McGuire and Garfield might return to the screen as Spiderman.
Following the leak of the trailer, pictures of Andrew’s Spider-Man and two new pictures of three Spider-Men together on set had surfaced online. Even though they were taken down as soon as copyright complaints were filed, the leaks were enough to set Twitter on fire and ignite the hopes of fans for a three-way Spider-Man union.
Spider-Man’s Suits: What’s Strange Here?
Everyone is familiar with Peter Parker’s Iron-Spider suit, which made its debut in Homecoming but really came into light as Peter used it in Avengers: Infinity War. Of course that suit makes an appearance but during a scene in the trailer, Peter Parker is seen in a black Spider-Man suit. With the Spider-verses coming together, it could possibly be a symbiote suit as seen in Spiderman 3.
Spider-Man versus Dr. Strange?
In one of the scenes, Dr. Strange is seen manipulating the trains in an attempt to capture Peter Parker. This raises a lot of questions in the minds of the fans because they are supposed to be allies. So what exactly is going on over here?
The Avengers could be having a disagreement over Peter’s course of actions in the new timeline created by Strange. Or, it’s a different Dr. Strange from the multiverse who has a vendetta against Spider-Man or is trying to stop Peter from messing things up. There’s also the possibility of this Dr. Strange being an antagonist.
Will Scarlett Witch appear in the movie?
As of now, only Peter Parker and Dr. Strange have been seen as the Avengers making an appearance in No Way Home. And maybe Wong, if you count him to be an Avenger. Marvel has confirmed that Wanda Maximoff a.k.a Scarlett Witch will be a part of the ensemble as well.
WandaVision portrayed Wanda Maximoff as a grey character, tipping between hero and villain. As a magic user, her character could be someone who goes head-to-head against Dr. Strange in the multiverse. As seen in WandaVision, Wanda is desperate to have her life back with the people she loves – Vision and Pietro (Quicksilver). In the multiverse, she might possibly find out about other realities where she can reunite with them.
As Disney has acquired Fox as well, the X-Men can also be a part of the MCU now, which has been seen with Evan Peters replacing Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver in WandaVision. So, Wanda might just be a primary antagonist against Peter Parker in his quest to go back home, preventing him from restoring order in the multiverse.
Is Loki coming back on screen?
The MCU introduced the concept of a multiverse first in Avengers: Infinity War as Dr. Strange probed into multiple realities to assess whether the Avengers defeated Thanos or not. The concept was also teased in Spider-Man: Far From Home. But, MCU finally brought it into the spotlight in the TV show Loki where Loki (Tom Hiddleston) attempts to escape to a parallel universe. He is stopped by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), a group of space-time cops dedicated to pruning timelines that branch off into other parallel universes.
In Avengers: Endgame, Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One is seen explaining this concept to Bruce Banner. In Loki, the concept of ‘variants’ or several versions of the same character existing simultaneously in separate timelines is shown. Because Loki is such a crucial part of this concept in Phase 4, he is likely to appear in No Way Home.
Who is Peter Parker’s lawyer?
In one of the very first scenes in the trailer, a man is seen dropping a load of papers as Peter is seen sitting. It initially looked like an interrogation where Peter is being accused of killing Mysterio via the drones but fans speculate that it can also be his lawyer (provided by Stark Industries for crucial situations).
The appearance of Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox) from the TV show Daredevil has been confirmed for No Way Home. And this character might just me him as he is seen sporting Murdoch’s trademark white shirt with a black tie. This situation still remains slightly iffy as Murdoch is known to have a cane whereas there were no signs of a cane in the scene itself.
As WandaVision and Loki are tied to the MCU, with the expansion of the universe following the partnership with Sony and Fox, MCU might just expand it further to include Netflix’s Daredevil.
Is Tony Stark alive in one of the possible alternate realities?
Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark is arguably the most loved and popular character in the MCU. His death has been one of the most emotional scenes in the entire franchise. With the possibilities that separate timelines bring, fans are eager to know whether Tony Stark is alive in any of these realities or not.
Unfortunately, Robert Downey Jr. is unlikely to return to screen for Spider-Man: No Way Home as his ten year contract with the MCU has come to an end following Avengers: Endgame. However, his presence might be mentioned in one of the realities as reference. Only time will tell.