A lot of the rumors surrounding “Spider-Man: No Way Home” centered on the titular heroes and the villains of the previous franchises breaking the fabric of reality to cause Peter Parker (Tom Holland) of the MCU nothing but grief and trouble. Of course, there was no way of knowing if any of that was true without any visual proof. So it comes as no surprise when the first trailer for the upcoming film teases much of that by giving us a glimpse at one of the best villains of the three Spider-Man franchises. And you may know him by his villainous moniker Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina).
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” marks the end of Spidey’s MCU trilogy, and as such, they had to make the Webslinger’s send off an epic one. And now that everyone knows Peter Parker’s alter ego, he’s going to have a tough time maintaining a normal life with his new girlfriend Mary Jane (Zendaya), his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). And he has to grapple with the fact that he is being charged with the murder of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).
And when Peter turns to his fellow Avenger, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that would make people forget he is Spider-Man, their universe gets flipped upside down, and it opens the door to the multiverse, which lets in villains the MCU Spider-Man has never met before and has no way of knowing how to defeat them. Beating a blue collar worker with mechanical wings, and a vengeful technological illusion master is one thing. But trying to defeat the likes of Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, and Electro is something entirely different. But he may able to take them out if he gets a little assist from fellow Peter Parkers/Spider-Mans (Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield).
Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers return to pen the “Spider-Man: No Way Home” script which seems to be based on the “Brand New Day” storyline of the same name. In that story, Peter Parker makes a deal to save his dying Aunt May by erasing his marriage with Mary Jane, which would result in adjustments to his own history. Like previously dead characters being resurrected. Though that arc isn’t one held in high reverence, it seems to be the one that makes sense for the character and what they are attempting to do by building a bridge between the two franchises to connect it to the MCU.
The teaser trailer itself is filled with a ton of exposition and hardly features any of the bigger action sequences we can expect to see in the film. That being said, it will have a lot of the mind-bending visuals that we see in Doctor Strange films. And of course, there are the trailer moments like a familiar terrifying laugh followed by a pumpkin bomb drop, and mechanical arms stretching out and Doc Ock saying “Hello, Peter.” Of course, Pete’s only response is to suit up with the armor that he’s worn in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
Here’s the official plot synopsis for “Spider-Man: No Way Home:”
For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
The film also stars Jon Favreau, JK Simmons, and Marisa Tomei.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” opens in theaters December 17, 2021.
