On December 17th, perhaps the most anticipated movie of all-time is releasing in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now that we have the second trailer, speculation for the film is at a fever pitch. So let’s break it down and make some predictions!
Circuit Artwork
This is the movie of all movies. 20 years of Spider-Man films, 15 years of MCU films and what seems like 100 years of rumors and leaked photos, the countdown is under one month until No Way Home hits theaters. Now that we have two trailers, it’s time to start piecing this film together and speculate what it will look like. Let’s dive in!
The First Act
Sky News
This one is pretty easy. In both trailers we saw shots of Peter and MJ swinging through New York trying to avoid the press. Given their clothing and J. Jonah Jameson voiceovers, we know this picks up immediately after the Spider-Man: Far From Home post-credit scene.
From there, it seems Peter has to deal with the aftermath of his identity being revealed. We see him and MJ navigating their relationship, them going to school, and Peter being interrogated. All of those scenes likely take place before Peter goes to Dr. Strage for help.
Given the footage we’ve seen, I’m expecting the first act to end with the fight on the bridge. Peter is in a suit in that scene, the same suit we see him in when Strange tells him about the botched spell. So, it’s likely Peter is coming from his trial (with Matt Murdock aka Daredevil representing him) when he meets Doc Ock on the bridge. That epic fight will end act one (I think).
The Second Act
HITC
The second act of this film appears to be a version of Pokemon Go for Peter and the rest of the Scooby gang. We see Peter in the black & gold suit when confronting Electro here, but we also see him in that suit at the food shelter chasing… someone? From leaks that have been reported, I expect that he’s chasing the Green Goblin here. I’m assuming the second act will end with Peter and Strange fighting over the magical cube (which is imprisoning the multiversal villains), but who wins that fight I’m not sure. I also think this act will contain a major death; Aunt May and Happy Hogan are the prime candidates, but it could really be anyone.
The Final Act
Tellmedoyouread
This is where things get off-the-rails bonkers. The trailer is clearly setting up the battle at the Statue of Liberty as the final set piece of the film, and I think I agree with that. But there are a lot of… interesting visual cues that might point to another battle at night. The biggest example of this is that we see Peter in his new red & gold suit at the Statue of Liberty. But we see Peter talking with Aunt May during a scene at night with his red & black suit… but the only night shots we’ve really seen are at the Statue of Liberty… So what gives? I think we’re in for some truly wild surprises in the final 45ish minutes of this movie, including some certain former Spider-Men.
With so many theories and rumors and watermarks swinging around the internet, it’s hard to know what to believe and what not to believe. So I’ll be diving into five theories I buy, and five theories I don’t.
Five Theories I Buy Into
1- Tobey & Andrew will be in the film
Duh? Leaked photos and rumors aside, it just makes sense. Why would they bring back Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman & JJJ and not Maguire? Why would they bring back the Lizard and Electro and not bring back Garfield? It just doesn’t make sense to not get them back to provide closure and wow audiences. On top of that, Doc Ock even references Tobey in the trailer! And unless the Lizard has some serious allergies, he’s definitely getting kicked by a digitally-removed Spider-Man.
2- Doc Ock is a good guy
In Spider-Man 2, Otto Octavious is a good man who is taken over by the tentacles. We see in the trailer that he seems to back off once he realizes it isn’t Tobey under the mask, and we see him talking with Peter multiple times. But the biggest reasonI buy this theory is we see Doc Ock falling out of a building from what appears to be an electric shock, telling me he turned on the other villains and Electro is taking him out. I also think Electro’s line about not taking this away from him is directed towards Doc Ock in that scene, not towards Peter as the trailer wants you to believe.
3- At least one major character will die
I mentioned earlier that I think a major character will die in act II, most likely May or Happy. But there could be more! Holland himself has stated many times this film will be brutal and dark, so I think we could be in store for multiple major characters dying. I think MJ survives, but Ned might also be on his way out. Or maybe Tobey and/or Andrew will die? Look for at least 2 major character deaths in this movie.
4- Matt Murdock aka Daredevil is in the film
This has been a rumor for a long time now, and it makes sense; Peter needs a lawyer, and Daredevil is closely tied to Spider-Man in the comics. Then we got some watermarked photos from a YouTuber who shall remain nameless, and the rumors intensified. I do think he will play a brief role in this movie as a lawyer, but we won’t see him as Daredevil in this film.
5- These multiversal villains are from the other movies
This seems obvious, but I have seen a lot of people say these are variants of the villains we know. The two major reasons people think they are variants are because 1) they look different and 2) because of Loki. Look, I watched Loki like everyone else and I understand that by introducing variants, people assume it was a set-up for this movie, but I just don’t get why they would do that. If they were going to make the villains variants, they would just get different actors to play the villains. And just because Electro looks different… So what??? We’re going to see Peter in four different suits in this movie alone. Doc Ock references Tobey, Strange tells Peter it’s their fate to die fighting Spider-Man, these are the same characters with an MCU spin. Period.
Five Theories I Don’t Buy Into
1- Peter gets stuck in the Sonyverse
This is more of a hope than a belief if I’m being honest, but I do think he is staying in the MCU. We’ve seen Venom get sucked into the MCU, and I just think this deal is going too well for both Marvel and Sony to end it now. Could Holland swing between both universes? I don’t love that idea, but I think it’s definitely possible. But I don’t think he gets stuck at Sony, I think he’s here to stay in the MCU for at least one more trilogy.
2- This is a Sinister Six movie
I thought it was a Sinister Six movie until this new trailer; but after seeing Doc Ock seemingly switch sides, that would mean we would need two other villains in an already cramped movie. The Sinister Six would be cool, but I just don’t think we’re getting it… yet.
3- We are getting evil Dr. Strange
This is like the villain variants theory. Yes I watched What If…, and yes I realize they introduced evil Strange. But again, this movie is so cramped that I don’t think there is room for all the multiversal characters, all the normal Spidey characters, Daredevil’s intro and two Stranges. It’s our normal Dr. Strange, just with high blood pressure.
4- We’re getting Miles Morales
I would love to be wrong here. Into the Spider-Verse is one of the greatest superhero movies of all-time, and Miles has already been teased in this universe. But I don’t think this will happen for two reasons. 1) Like I’ve mentioned numerous times, this movie is already so full, he would likely be nothing more than a 30 second cameo, and the character deserves better than that. 2) He’s just too young. In the comics, Morales was significantly younger than Peter, and in the movies he was referenced as a young child in Homecoming (that’s me assuming, but the way Glover talked, it really seemed like he was really young). Peter is only 17 or 18 in this universe, so there’s a lot more story there to be told with him. It’s too early to kill off Peter. Give Holland one more trilogy as Spider-Man, and then have him die either in his sixth solo movie or an Avengers movie and have Morales take up the mantle then, not now when he’s probably 13 years old.
5- Venom and/or Morbius will be in the movie
Morbius is definitely a no for me. I don’t think there’s any way they would introduce him in this movie, just one month before he’s introduced in his own movie. Venom is much more likely given that post-credit scene in Let There Be Carnage, but I don’t think he’s showing up in this movie. Some think he’ll be the final member of the Sinister Six, but he isn’t a villain in his movies, he’s a good guy. I think that stinger was more setting up a Venom 3 than connecting to this movie. I could definitely be wrong on this one, and of the five theories I don’t buy I am the least confident about this one, but I’m sticking with that prediction.
There you have it! All my predictions for Spider-Man: No Way Home! I technically made 13 predictions here, and I would guess I got 11-12 of them wrong, but that’s the fun of speculating! Make sure to check back in at Christmas time to get my reaction and thoughts about the movie!