It’s been a long wait and fans have been losing their minds but we finally have the second trailer for the eagerly anticipated Spidey sequel, Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The trailer for Sony/Marvel’s multiversal movie is packed with cameos, references, and blink and you miss moments that are well worth delving into. As such, we thought we’d take a look at what all is going on in this impressive trailer. We’ll be assuming most people have seen the trailer at this point and talking about worthwhile info rather than walking you through the whole trailer step by step.
Let’s just get it out of the way now; the elephant in the room: the other Spider-Men. While Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man are heavily rumored to return, they are still yet to be shown. While many fans will be disappointed by this, I think this trailer still basically confirms their appearance in two moments.
First, this shot shows the MCU’s Peter leaping towards three villains. It’s a great shot, but if you notice, TWO of those villains aren’t actually leaping at him. Electro is flying above him, Sandman might be swinging at him, while the Lizard is seemingly leaping at nothing. I have no doubt this is a team-up shot with the other two Spider-Men have been removed from this scene for the purposes of the trailer.
If you have any doubts about this, certain international versions of the trailer show Lizard actually getting hit, by something or someone. There’s apparently nothing there, but that is definitely a Spider swinging kick in the face from one of the previous wall crawlers.
The tag at the end of the trailer also shows Dr. Strange unable to stop the clashing of universes, “They’re starting to come through and I can’t stop them.” Making this the end of the trailer very much feels like an “If you know, you know” moment, a brief hint at a multiverse crossover of Spider-Men that is all but confirmed.
But let’s talk about what we DID see in the trailer. The biggest deal of this trailer are the closer looks we get at the multitude of villains in the film. So let’s go through each of them and what sort of role they play here.
As confirmed in the last trailer, Alfred Molina is back as Doctor Otto Octavius, a laughable comic book name that Peter and his friends are quick to point out. While rumors suggest that Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin is the film’s main villain, Doc Ock seems to be taking the spotlight in marketing. Perhaps this is due to Molina spilling the beans months before any trailers had dropped.
We got a better look at the bridge fight and saw the eight-limbed villain receive what appears to be an Iron Man-esque upgrade to his tentacles. However, based on the shot of Peter shifting the nanotech around his body to defend from Octavius’ strike to his chest, I think it’s more likely that Peter is using the tech to incapacitate the tentacles.
Outside of the main fight around the bridge, we only see him in what appears to be a cell in the Sanctum Sanctorum. In a brief shot we can see his tentacles are fixed shut with the nanotech evident from the red color. Further supporting the idea that the Iron-Spider suit was used to stop the tentacles, perhaps what minimal nanotech is left leads to the creation of the integrated suit, a hybrid of his suit from the end of Far From Home and the Iron-Spider.
I’d presume that Doc Ock’s time as a villain in the film is rather minimal. At the end of Spider-Man 2, he sacrificed his life to save the day, so his villainous entry to the film is likely to be brief. Being shifted universes along with evil AI tentacles probably messes your head up a bit and realizing that this Spidey isn’t his Peter certainly shocks him, maybe into some sort of realization of his wrongdoing.
A later shot in the trailer even shows Octavius falling from what seems like a blast from Electro, potentially hinting at some sort of confrontation between the classic villains. Fans were quite confused about the inclusion of Doc Ock when the character made a heroic turn in his last appearance, but I doubt this won’t be addressed.
While we never get to see his face, Willem Dafoe is back as the Green Goblin with the classic body armor and helmet in all its goofy glory. As I mentioned before, he is likely the film’s main villain, though his presence in the trailer is somewhat lacking. His presence during the bridge fight is minimal but his bombs clearly contribute to the ensuing chaos, perhaps orchestrating various encounters with villains and providing the chaos that prompts Peter’s clash with Octavius.
“Peter, you’re struggling to have everything you want while the world tries to make you choose.” Ominous dialogue from the iconic voice of Dafoe’s Norman Osborn, but what choice is being presented here? I’d guess that he’s trying to manipulate Peter into helping him. Somehow he is aware of the situation Peter is facing and is offering a helping hand that this Peter, in his naive perception of the character, will likely fall for.
Not only do we get to see the classic costume from Spider-Man (2002), we also get an ever so brief glimpse at a new look. No helmet, damaged armor, black goggles and what might be a hood. Presumably he struggles to keep his outfit in great condition after an encounter with Spidey and has to make some adjustments to his costume.
I also fear that we may be seeing the demise of an MCU fan favorite at the hands of Green Goblin, Happy Hogan. In the last trailer got a brief look at Happy in a car while armed men approach. In this trailer we see the same armed men approach the building that seems to explode when Peter can’t stop a pumpkin bomb.
In the resulting explosion, we can see a car explode. While not explicitly shown, it does seem there’s a chance that could be Happy. Later on in the trailer Peter consoles in Aunt May, face lit by a fiery glow. “This is all my fault, I can’t save everyone”, there is no way that that line is not prompted by some sort of untimely loss.
Jamie Foxx’s Electro also returns, this time from the Amazing Spider-Man franchise and with a much more comic-accurate look than we last saw him have; big yellow bolts on his face and all. Previous speculation suggested the multiverse characters in the film would not be the exact versions from previous films but slight “variants.”
However, I think the change in Electro’s design is simply a further evolution of his abilities. One of the first shots of him in the trailer seems to show a transition from the familiar blue to the comic accurate yellow. The shot also gives a very clear look at Spidey’s new Black and Gold costume that has some magical elements built in. An enchantment lights around his wrist before what we can assume is his first battle with Electro. The suit also seems to have a phone taped to it, but why is a mystery to me.
“You’re not gonna take this away from me” is the only dialogue we get from Electro, it doesn’t say much beyond the already established motivations, they don’t want Spider-Man to kill them. Electro is definitely an exciting return, despite the negative reception of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, he was the highlight and visually fantastic.
There really isn’t much to say about Lizard and Sandman other than they’re back. They both pretty much only appear in the final two shots of the trailer, and I really don’t expect much from these characters. However, I think it is worth noting that these two didn’t die in their films. Doctor Strange implies that the villains all died at the hands of their Spider-Man, so unless this hints at some stuff beyond what we saw in the previous films, this is something that must be explained.
It also seems worth mentioning that just like Doc Ock, Sandman was a good guy by the end of Spider-Man 3. He’d done some bad stuff but Peter let him go, so why he’s back to being a villain is an interesting question to ponder.
In the chaos of villains from alternate universes coming over and teaming up, Peter even manages to battle with Doctor Strange. In an attempt to be the hero that he always tries to be, it seems he’s trying to save the villains from a fate he feels responsible for. These villains were killed by a Spider-Man, and perhaps out of guilt from his involvement in Mysterio’s death, he wants to help them.
The final battle seems to take place on the Statue of Liberty, which is about as New York as you can get. Though it looks like the people of the MCU decided that it needed a bit of an upgrade, with a giant Captain America shield being mounted upon it and causing chaos in the trailer’s final moments.
Speaking of the trailer’s final moments, in what is almost certainly a callback to the death of Gwen Stacy, MJ falls from the scaffolding in the final battle. Ned attempts to save her but is left dangling himself so it’s up to Peter to rescue her in a tense dive through the construction site.
I do think someone is going to die here, but not MJ. With Peter distracted saving MJ, a dangling Ned won’t be able to maintain his grip and just as MJ is saved he’ll fall. This film seems to have a much darker tone than the two previous installments, and a major loss in Peter’s life seems inevitable.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the most highly anticipated superhero movies ever, this trailer was packed full of info and we won’t have to wait long now for the massive multiverse mash-up.
Spider-Man: No Way Home releases December 17th, 2021.
