Sony took command of the internet last night by releasing the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer to the masses. Expectations were high and the trailer delivered in a big way. Little drops here and there in the trailer also hinted that there was more to come. Sony has yet to comment on the incredibly outstanding number of rumors tied to this film. There are rumors of the Sinister Six, Matt Murdock appearing, and the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as Spider-Mans from a different world. There’s a lot that could possibly happen.
So, what can we expect from the newest Spider-Man flick? If the rumors are true, a lot. But The Marvel Report thought it would be worth your time and ours to look at the trailer closely and see what we could see. Also, let’s face it, any reason to watch that trailer again is a good reason. Let’s take a look at some things we can glean from the trailer and what may be on the horizon for the MCU and Spider-Verse.
Sinister Six In Spider-Man: No Way Home
The biggest thing any fan is going to notice about this trailer is the alarming number of hints at the Sinister Six appearing. If you put the rumors together with small items from the trailer, we see a large mass of sand gathering, have an electrical storm, see a Goblin bomb and hear the Green Goblin’s cackle, and very briefly see a scene with the Lizard in it. That’s a pretty big hint that we’re going to see the Sinister Six appearing within the film. The trailer already has five of the six featured, seems a good bet the sixth isn’t far behind.
Another thing hinting at the appearance of the Sinister Six is the fact that they’ve been appearing in Spider-Man films since the beginning. We’ve seen Shocker, Vulture, Mysterio, and have Mac Gargan AKA Scorpion in prison with Michael Keaton’s Vulture character. That’s four characters they could use and I’m including Mysterio because he is a master illusionist and no comic death is ever permanent. Even the MCU has found ways to bring back characters we previously thought dead, in one way, shape, or form.
Matt Murdock Returns In Spider-Man: No Way Home?
There is a blink-and-you-miss-it-moment where someone in a white shirt and a tie slams down a folder in what looks like an interrogation room. We know it’s in a police station as we see Peter Parker handcuffed to a desk and talking to a cop about the Mysterio death. We know he’s going to need a quality attorney to beat these charges and we know an attorney that happens to specialize in superhero litigation. In fact, we know two of them: Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk, and Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil.
Again, this is another item that is strongly supported by the rumor mill. It’s been reported by multiple outlets that Murdock is going to appear in the film and we knew it would pick up immediately following the previous film. Should Murdock return, it would bolster an already impressive lineup of characters Marvel has to play with. The rights of Daredevil are also back with Marvel and Charlie Cox’s portrayal has been praised by critics and fans alike, some calling him the greatest character the Marvel Netflix shows gave us.
Spider-Man: No Way Home – Comic Tie-Ins
The movie appears to draw from two different comic runs. The most notable run it appears to draw from is One Moment In Time, which was done by Joe Quesada in 2010 as a way to undo what happened in Civil War. Before Parker switched sides, Tony Stark convinced Peter to unmask himself to convince people that the Superhero Registration Act was a good thing. It was a way for people to help the “right” way. Peter did this in the comics and it upset a good number of fans. O.M.I.T., intentionally spelled that way by Joe Quesada, was a way to undo the events of Civil War and make people forget. That version had Tony Stark and Reed Richards helping Dr. Strange with his spell.
The other comic this very clearly draws from is One More Day, which is the most controversial Spider-Man story ever written. Ask any Spider-Man fan what they think of One More Day and you’re going to get a strong opinion on the subject, I promise. One More Day saw Aunt May getting terribly sick and Peter Parker went to Dr. Strange to see if he could help. While Strange couldn’t help Aunt May on a personal level, he agreed to help Peter travel through time and space to different universes and planets to see if anyone could help. Nobody could help and Peter was forced to go to Mephisto who demanded his marriage to Mary Jane Watson in return. This was Marvel’s way of resetting Peter to being single and youthful, but it pissed off a healthy number of people for obvious reasons.
Is Strange Chasing Peter?
If you watch the trailer closely, it looks like we might see Dr. Strange chasing Peter Parker throughout New York. Why would Dr. Strange be chasing Peter? Perhaps it has something to do with the Sinister Six. Either way, a bunch of the footage in the trailer features Peter clearly trying to get away from something and you’ll notice Strange is always behind him. He’s not next to Peter. He also appears to be using the mirror dimension to try and catch Peter as well as him using objects in the train to try and hem Peter in. He’s also directly facing Peter when he uses the train against him and this is something you typically see when guys are battling, not traveling together.
We also get a major scene of Dr. Strange punching Peter’s astral self right out of his body. That’s a tactic that the Ancient One used against Doctor Strange and he seems to be using it against Peter. Combine the mirror dimension chase scenes with the train scene and the astral punch and it definitely looks more like Strange is chasing Peter than he is helping him right here. It will be interesting to see if we get more information on this in the second trailer. it certainly looks adversarial.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Is Going All-In
It’s pretty clear from the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer and the rumors that this film is going to be Avengers-level big. If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, this movie could realistically chase down Avengers: Endgame for the highest-grossing Marvel film of all time, especially after it does come out and word of mouth spreads like rapid wildfire. This movie still might do impressive numbers and it’s clear that Spider-Man: No Way Home is going to be the film by which all others are judged when it comes to pandemic box-office takes. If people aren’t going out to the theater to see this film, studios are simply going to have to wait until we truly are post-pandemic before they can expect big returns. This film feels like it could convince enough people to go. I know I’m going.
Spider-Man: No Way truly looks like a blockbuster event. It’s going to be the biggest MCU film since Endgame and it makes sense that Spider-Man is getting this treatment. He’s long been Marvel’s most recognizable hero. Before Iron Man dropped, the only Marvel character most casual fans could name was Spider-Man. Obviously, that’s now changed, but we can thank Spidey for laying the groundwork for the MCU with his films proving superhero films could be good and could look good. That’s reason enough for Marvel to give him a film of this magnitude while casually hiring the man who made those films, Sam Raimi, to direct the Doctor Strange sequel coming out right after this film.
Concluding Thoughts
Those are just a few things we learned from the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer. It’s clear that both Marvel and Sony have given Spider-Man: No Way Home a lot of time, money, and spared no expense to wrap up the trilogy for one of the most iconic comic book characters of all time. Spider-Man has always had a special place in the pantheon of comic characters. He’s been many folks’ first foray into comics. He was for me. It will be exciting to see this story director Jon Watts has been building come to a close.
All fans have wanted for a long time is a quality Spider-Man franchise. Watts and Kevin Feige got together and made sure they accomplished that. A lot of folks were nervous if Marvel could pack all of this stuff into a film and still make it work. The Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer suggests they’ve actually done it. Just how well they pull it off remains to be seen, but with the investments, they appear to have made in this film, it’s sure to be one of the more memorable comic book movie films we will ever see.
Spider-Man: No Way Home releases in theaters on December 17.