Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer: 10 Things We Expect In the First Teaser
To call Spider-Man: No Way Home the most anticipated Marvel project of the year would be a lukewarm take at best. It could even be argued that the first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home has more buzz than some movies or shows. That is how much Spider-Man moves the needle.
Any Peter Parker project big or small can build hype some IPs can’t even imagine. When factoring in the threequel effect, the momentum of the MCU, and cameo potential hitherto undreamt of, the buzz for Spider-Man: No Way Home is unprecedented.
The unique aspect of this buzz is the movement on the internet for Sony to release the trailer of this movie. Not the project itself, not some extended and fleshed-out director’s cut, the trailer. Everything about this project is shrouded in mystery from the plot to the characters involved, and fans know that this first trailer is going to give them a peek into the answers to questions being asked over the last 2 years.
That list of questions is what is going to be addressed in this article. With at least four major storylines up in the air and an EXTENSIVE list of rumored cameos, there are plenty of plot points webheads everywhere are hoping to get addressed in the first trailer. Is the first look into the movie event of the year going to address all of them? Probably not. Are fans going to know exactly what to expect heading in? Absolutely not. But they will know more than they know now, which is all people are asking for.
Here is a list of 10 different plot points & elements that audiences can expect in the first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home. From storylines to character reveals, there is so much to be discovered. Some are more likely than others, but as we have seen from Marvel trailers in recent months, anything is possible.
SECRET IDENTITY EXPECTATIONS
There are four different storylines for No Way Home that have been teased, rumored, confirmed, or widely theorized. The first of which is the cliffhanger moment in Peter Parker’s journey in the MCU. At the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the return of J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson came with the antagonistic journalist revealing Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world. A bold move that leaves the Spider-Man faithful anxiously awaiting to see how it gets handled.
It is the only major storyline that is a lock to play a part in December’s Spidey-flick.
1.) Spider-Man on the Run
Peter Parker’s identity being revealed on national television creates a variety of personal problems for everyone's favorite web-slinger. The least of which is that Jameson falsely painted Parker as the bad guy who took down the perceived hero Mysterio. It is unclear how the public will react to this misinformation but a divide in public opinion towards Spider-Man is about as classic of a Spidey storyline as it gets. Keep in mind, the world of the MCU also provides a litigation aspect to being a superhero with a public identity. The Sokovia Accords have been incredibly relevant so far in Phase 4, and it will be interesting to see how Parker responds.
With all of that being said, it is more than likely that No Way Home will include some level of Peter Parker being “on the run” after his identity reveal. Or at least feeling an urgency to remedy this life-altering turn of events. How he goes about addressing this conundrum ranges from multiverse to courtroom.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Sure Thing
2.) Spidey-Suits
Another reason this trailer is in such high demand is that the toy leaks over the past two months have given audiences some amazing looks at new Spider-Man suits and costume additions that are seemingly a part of the No Way Home promotional campaign. Through two solo films and five MCU appearances, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has proven to be the new king of costume changes. That looks to continue in his sixth appearance.
The frustrating side of this Spider-Man trailer campaign is that die-hard fans feel that if there are going to be an array of new suits, that they want to see them revealed in at least a trailer, and not on the back of a toy box. Because of that, it seems like a pretty safe bet that if various suits are a focal point of this movie, they will be featured in the trailer.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Good Chance
3.) Matt Murdock
If Peter finds himself in some legal trouble from the identity reveal, and the multiple suits thing doesn’t help, he may need some representation. After the Disney/Fox merger and the acquiring of Marvel's Netflix characters, anytime any hero may require some legal help, two characters come to mind. And while Jennifer Walters is the representative of heroes, when people think Spider-Man and lawyer, they think Matt Murdock.
Daredevil is in play in the MCU, Peter Parker is about to go toe-to-toe with the Daily Bugle, and Charlie Cox is rumored to be in this movie. Fans have every right to believe that Cox will be dawning his red shades once more in Spider-Man: No Way Home. If and when Cox introduces himself as half of Nelson & Murdock, will it be the same variant from the Netflix series? Is this a Loki/Sylvie situation? After the Pietro events of WandaVision, no one knows what to expect.
But a reveal like this can and will provide a huge pop in theaters. Big enough to where it is unlikely they use this surprise in a trailer. However…. It is Sony.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Dark Horse
MULTIVERSE EXPECTATIONS
Now to get into the good stuff. The fan-favorite theme of Phase 4 and the future of the MCU is the Multiverse. Everyone thought it was going to be WandaVision that cracked open the multiverse. When that didn’t happen, all eyes turned to Spider-Man: No Way Home. And then BAM! Loki hit audiences over the head with Multiversal rules, concepts and stakes.
What the events of Loki does for No Way Home are huge. The third Spider-Man movie in the MCU has little to no heavy lifting to be done when it comes to multiverse lore, and even more importantly, the idea of Variants.
4.) Doctor Strange/Sanctum Sanctorum
Loki will forever be known as the project that broke the multiverse wide open in the MCU, but many expect that it will be Doctor Stephen Strange who will be the character tasked with dealing with these repercussions. At least in the short term.
In another efficient use of foresight and storytelling, The Master of the Mystic Arts is set to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home. This could potentially mean the Doc will be learning about the events of Loki in this project, or recant those events to Peter (and the audience) to re-establish what is going on heading into Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness in 2022. Either way, this allows Sam Raimi and co. to minimize exploration and focus on the madness at hand.
For that reason and many more, Doctor Strange is set to play an important role in No Way Home, despite how much screen time he gets. This makes him the fan-favorite for the post title card scene of the first trailer. It is also worth mentioning that one of the few looks at this movie that have been released takes place in the Sanctum Sanctorum. This is a lock.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Sure Thing
5.) “Multiverse”
This leads to the first buzzword on the list with “Multiverse”. If anyone is tired of hearing that word, take a nap. Because it is going to be the focus of coverage for Spider-Man until this movie hits theaters. This first trailer has the enormous opportunity, and even responsibility to address the multidimensional elephant in the room.
That being said, it wouldn’t even be the first SPIDER-MAN trailer to include the concept. Many will remember one of the most infamous rugs pulled out from under audiences in the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer. The fake multiversal plot put on by the master illusionist Mysterio in the final film of The Infinity Saga was a charming “gotcha” and an interesting beat in Holland’s second film, but did it hamper the impact now that the multiverse is present and on the front of everyone's minds?
The Spider who cried multiverse is a real thing, and it will be interesting how Peter addresses the idea of the multiverse being a real threat. If the marketing team wants to focus on expectations in an attempt to avoid a WandaVision situation, getting the presence of the multiverse out of the way in a trailer seems to be the smart move.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Good Chance
6.) “Variant”
An extension of number 5 is the hottest word in all comic book movies today, “Variant”. With so many rumors and theories about characters from former non-MCU Spider-Man movies being in this installment, fans have been dying for an explanation as to how and why this could be a possibility. In a year when Marvel Studios is doing nothing but giving, they have done it again by giving fans that explanation in Loki.
The Variant concept in Loki has gotten the majority of the MCU audience at least somewhat comfortable with multiple versions of the same character. This gives so much more stability to rumors about a Doc Ock, Electro, or even Spider-Man return from franchises past.
With the embedded knowledge of the rules in the MCU, the word Variant would provide an incredible amount of clarity while still allowing room for interesting and exciting questions about this movie. Something that could potentially wrangle in the wide scope of expectations for this movie (More on that later).
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Decent Chance
SINISTER EXPECTATIONS
7.) Doc Ock, Electro, Green Goblin, and more!
The multiverse can and will provide a variety of opportunities for old actors and characters to return and make appearances in the future. There have seen glimpses of this in WandaVision and Loki, but nothing like what fans are rumored to experience in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
It is one thing to bring back an actor to reprise a Variant role of their character. It is another thing entirely to bring back an actor to reprise a role from a separate franchise in another universe. That is what No Way Home could be doing with multiple old-school Spidey villains.
With so many wild factors surrounding this movie, if these villains from Spider-Man franchises in the past are showing up in this movie, a look at them in the trailer would transfer speculation into excitement in a big way. There is an above-average chance that Alfred Molina, Jaimie Foxx, and maybe even Willem Defoe provide the “pop” in this trailer.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Good Chance
8.) J. Jonah Jameson
The craziest thing about these alternate universe/variant rumors, especially when considering the villains, is that fans have already gotten a look at what this could look like in the Spider-Man: Far From Home post-credit scene.
There was no explanation, no reasoning behind it, put pen to paper, J. Jonah Jameson is in the MCU being played by the same actor (JK Simmons) from the Raimi trilogy of the early 2000s. This is what got the ball rolling and started the multiverse conversation heading out of Phase 3 and into Phase 4.
Jameson being in the trailer is about as 50/50 as it gets. A sneaky favorite to narrate our first look at No Way Home, and also a great candidate to not appear at all. Either way, J. Jonah Jameson is in a position to have a huge role in this film either trying to track down Peter Parker for crimes against Mysterio, or even being the key to everything multiverse this movie has to offer.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: Decent Chance
9.) “Sinister”
So there have been countless rumors of actors and characters returning to their roles in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Many of them are villains and it is hard to pin down what holds more weight than others.
Jaime Foxx and Alfred Molina are seen as locks to return as Electro and Doc Ock respectively. Names like Green Goblin, Rhino, Lizard, and even Venom have also been tossed around. No matter what combination of villains makes their way into this movie, there is a magic number people are looking for… six.
In this movie or the next, the webhead franchise seems to be heading toward something that has yet to be successfully pulled off in live-action. The Achilles heel every time a Spider-Man movie makes a push in this direction is too many villains at once. Will No Way Home suffer the same fate? Or does the multiverse card allow for a more efficient attempt at the Sinister Six?
TRAILER EXPECTATION LEVEL: Dark Horse
SPIDER-VERSE EXPECTATIONS
10.) Toby and Andrew
This is what people clicked on this article for. This is what fans are dying to see. This is the only question audiences and journalists alike want to see answered in this teaser trailer.
This entire list is peppered with the notion that with so many questions ahead of this film, it would behoove Sony and Marvel Studios to answer some of them in the promotional material. “Will Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield be returning as their respective Peter Parkers in No Way Home?” This is the big one.
There are two camps here. Fans who would want those reveals to be in the film and provide the maximum shock value while watching. Some fans want to know if they are even in the movie during trailers, so they can focus on the other dozen moving parts going in.
There are pros and cons to each side, but the biggest case study here may be WandaVision. The internet went WILD with speculation of cameos and guest appearances for characters in that show ranging from Doctor Strange all the way to Magneto. After the finale, there was a pocket of fans who were disappointed their guess didn’t come true. This created one of the biggest comic book movie discussions to date. Speculation vs. Expectation.
Do Tobey and Andrew HAVE to be in this trailer to curb expectations? No. They also do not need to be left out of it to secure the hype. Even if they appear, there is still the huge question of canon that needs to be addressed.
There is a decent chunk of the Spider-Man fan base that will be going into this movie with the top priority of seeing their childhood Spider-Men brought back into the fold. If the trailers do some of that heavy lifting, those fans will have more capacity to enjoy the movie rather than waiting on the legends to show up.
TRAILER EXPECTATION STATUS: We Can Only Hope
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