Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s second trailer gave us a whole lot of Spidey-villains. Only one Peter Parker, though. Not that it needed more than that to provide a tantalizing glimpse at the multiverse-shattering movie to come. And this latest look gave us our best idea yet as to what we can expect when the film swings into theaters on December 17. But all that new information raised even more Spider-Man: No Way Home questions. These are the biggest ones we have as we try and unlock No Way Home‘s many remaining secrets.
1. What’s the Timeline of Doctor Strange’s Failed Spell?
Between the Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s two trailers, we’ve seen a lot from Doctor Strange’s disastrous attempt to give Peter back his anonymity. The Sanctum Sanctorum is already covered in ice when Peter first shows up to ask. And it’s still a winter wonderland when he comes back. The failed spell has nothing to do with all that snow. It’s “only” responsible for pulling in bad guys from “every universe.”
Strange (wrongly) blames Peter for the whole thing going wrong since the young Avenger wouldn’t stop talking during the spell. (Take responsibility for being reckless, Doctor!) But exactly how long does it take for all those Spider-baddies to show up? How big is the gap from the spell to Strange asking Peter, MJ, and Ned to help stop them? And how long will those villains keep arriving? The longer the amount of time the portals between worlds remain open, the more dangerous the situation. Not just for Peter and friends but for the entire MCU.
2. Where Are the Other Avengers in No Way Home? Did Doctor Strange’s Spell Impact Other Parts of the MCU?
It’s weird that Stephen Strange turns to MJ and Ned to help Peter deal with a multiversal invasion. Why not ask for help from other Avengers? Or other even other sorcerers like Wong? Why does Peter need to rely on his non-super friends to fix this catastrophic problem with worldwide ramifications? Additionally, did Doctor Strange’s failed spell not only pull in villains from other universes but change his own? Did it affect the entire MCU, and that’s why no other Avengers are around to help? Okay, so we actually have like a dozen Spider-Man: No Way Home questions in this direction.
No offense to Ned and his new crossbow, nor MJ and her super sarcasm, but they wouldn’t be our top choices to help fight Sandman, Lizard, and Electro (…Or any other members of the Sinister Six that may show up in Spider-Man: No Way Home). This situation calls for better than to “Scooby-Doo this crap.” The fact Doctor Strange employs the trio in that role is a terrible sign of just how much damage his spell may cause the entire MCU world.
3. What Is Doctor Strange’s Mystical Box and What Does It Do?
Stephen Strange doesn’t like when genius billionaire playboy philanthropists lean on artifacts in the Sanctum Sanctorum. So he’s definitely not okay with a teenager trying to steal one. Especially when it’s an item that clearly bestows incredible power on its user. In the first trailer, the fight over that mysterious ancient box was important enough to make Strange eject Peter Parker’s astral form from his body. But that box’s relevance is even more glaring in the latest No Way Home trailer.
Peter tries to steal it, seemingly in an effort to save every villain from the certain death Strange says awaits them all. While we see the Sorcerer Supreme get it back initially, Peter holds it later in the trailer. He uses it to jump into the movie Inception through a collapsing world, possibly into another universe. What exactly does this mysterious box do? How does it work? Does it rewrite time? Past, future, or both? Is it a multidimensional transportation device? The answers to those questions will tell us why it’s so important to both Doctor Strange and Spider-Man. We do wonder if Strange’s box could be some kind of artifact from Marvel’s comics?
4. Is Doc Ock a Hero in No Way Home? Why Does He Decide To Help Peter?
No Way Home‘s first trailer already brought back arguably the best live-action Spider-Man villain ever. But this second look surprised us by giving us both sides of Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock. He attacks Spider-Man at first yet stops when he realizes it’s not the Peter Parker he knew and fought with.
Later we see a much calmer Otto Octavius (whose name isn’t really that funny) being held captive in the Sanctum Sanctorum’s basement. He’s not fighting to get out, though. Instead, he’s giving Peter answers and advice. The good side of Doc Ock seems to be helping Peter deal with his broken reality. Is this because the nanobots from Peter’s suit, seen covering Doc Ock’s metal arms after attacking Peter on the bridge, fixed the broken inhibitor chip that made him evil? If so, it’s an ingenious way to let both sides of Dock Ock shine in No Way Home. As Doc Ock’s transformation from good man-to dangerous villain-back to a good man in Spider-Man 2 remains one of the webbed slinger’s best big-screen arcs.
5. Just How Many Spider-Man Villains Will Appear in No Way Home?
Trailer two gave us the five villains we fully expected to see in Spider-Man: No Way Home. In addition to Molina’s Doc Ock, we saw Jamie Foxx’s Electro. However, this time he’s a lot less Smurf-like than before. Also, while we didn’t see Willem Dafoe’s face, we did see a masked Green Goblin and heard his distinct voice. Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman also appeared as a giant sand face throwing giant sand haymakers. And Lizard joined in on the fun. Though whether or not Rhys Ifans’ will play him again remains a Spider-Man: No Way Home question that still needs an answer.
But despite the post-credits scene at the end of Let There Be Carnage, Venom didn’t show up. And there’s enough mystery around the hooded, goggle-wearing version of Green Goblin seen soaring through this trailer that we can’t rule out two versions of the character showing up. Could that be a surprise appearance from The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Dane DeHaan? Or maybe the second Green Goblin we glimpsed was an alternate universe Ned Leeds as Hobgoblin.
There’s also so much eldritch energy and multiversal forces at play, all while Doctor Strange screams he can’t stop them from coming, that we can’t rule out the movie having a Sinister 16, 60, or even 600. Even if they’re only seen in glimpses, we might get way more villains than we originally thought might appear.
6. Can Peter Save Any of the Spider-Man Villains From Their Fates?
“You’re flying out into the darkness to fight ghosts.”
“They all die fighting Spider-Man. It’s their fate.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home won’t merely be about fighting enemies from multiple dimensions. It will also be about Peter trying to save all the villains from dying. Either in his world or their own. Somehow Otto Octavius knows this fate awaits them. Did the failed spell resurrect dead villains? Is that how Doc Ock is alive but knows that his fellow baddies are “ghosts?” Is that why Doctor Strange knows what fate awaits them back in their own dimensions? That would explain why Electro says Peter is “not gonna take this away” from him. “This” might mean another shot at life for Electro.
But can Peter Parker really change their fate? Is that why he wants Doctor Strange‘s magical box? Or is each villain’s doom necessary to save this Spider-Man’s world?
7. Did Sony and Marvel Delete Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Appearances From the No Way Home Trailer?
This trailer did not give many fans what they wanted most. Hollywood’s worst-kept secret is still technically a secret, as neither Tobey Maguire nor Andrew Garfield showed up to help save the day/multiverse in the No Way Home trailer. They weren’t even alluded to. But is that because Marvel once again gave us a manipulated trailer?
A huge fight sequence shows Tom Holland’s Spider-Man leaping at Sandman, Lizard, and Electro. It’s a great heroic shot. But it just doesn’t make any sense. Watch Lizard and Electro carefully. Who exactly are they targeting? Because it’s definitely not Spider-Man. It seems as though they are each respectively aiming their ire at invisible targets above and below him.
Did this trailer edit out Maguire and Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man? Just like the MCU once left Professor Hulk out of Avengers: Endgame trailers? For a trailer that offered zero hints other Peter Parkers will show up, it sure does seem like they should be in it. Will this duo ever show up is definitely one of our biggest Spider-Man: No Way Home questions.
8. Who Will Save MJ From Gwen Stacey’s Amazing Spider-Man Fate?
There’s an old adage that says, “history never repeats itself, but it often rhymes.” The same is apparently true across parallel dimensions. The first two big-screen live-action Spider-Man franchises each featured similar events. But with very different results. Tobey Maguire’s Peter saved MJ from falling to her death in his first movie. But Andrew Garfield’s webbed-slinger could not do the same for Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Now we know Tom Holland’s Peter will also be called on to save his world’s MJ from her own deadly fall. But will he be able to reach her in time? Or does this trailer foreshadow her sad fate? “This is all my fault,” says Peter, “I can’t save everyone.”
Or is that seemingly ominous line setting up one of the greatest moments in superhero movie history? Holland’s Peter is probably right. He can’t save everyone, just like his parallel equivalents couldn’t. But by working together, they just might. The MCU’s Peter Parker might not get to MJ in time, but Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man might. In a powerful and moving moment that would bring his own sad story full circle.
9. How Will Spider-Man: No Way Home Set Up Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?
We obviously have a whole lot of questions about Spider-Man: No Way Home. But we can’t help looking ahead to the future of the MCU. Not when we know the movie will have enormous ramifications for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. How exactly, though? Will it be his failed anonymity spell that causes even more multidimensional dangers? Or will the solution to these Spider-Man villains create entirely new problems?
From Loki and WandaVision to Doctor Strange 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the multiverse is the future of the MCU. But just how big a role will Spider-Man: No Way Home play in that future? We guess we will have to tune in when Spider-Man: No Way Home answers all our questions on December 17.
