It hasn't even been two days since the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer was released and it has already broken the viewer record previously help by Avengers: Endgame. This proves two things - that the anticipation built by not releasing the first trailer as early as they usually do makes a big difference, and also that the audience can't wait for Peter Parker's next adventure.
The events of the trailer were confusing even for the most dedicated and loyal Marvel Cinematic Universe and comic book fans, which means casual viewers are even more in the dark about what's going on - especially those young enough not to have seen the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, which has a major presence in the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Although Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse aren't connected and don't seem to be (despite rumors persisting otherwise), the latter's plot is the key to understanding what's happening in the trailer for the newest MCU film.
In the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales, a version of Spider-Man, winds up teaming up with other Spider-Heroes from alternate universes, including an older version, a female, a pig, an anime character, and a noir Peter as well.
This seems to be the exact opposite of what Spider-Man: No Way Home has in store, with the trailer previewing villains from alternate universes. These include, at the very least, Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Lizard, and Electro, with others implied.
The original Spider-Man trilogy of films from Sam Raimi began releasing in 2001 starring Tobey Maguire, and two deceased villains from that universe have found themselves crossing paths with Tom Holland's MCU Peter Parker in the form of Willem DeFoe's Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus.
Meanwhile, the second set of films, The Amazing Spider-Man, featured Andrew Garfield as the titular wall-crawler. While there is no sign of him in the trailer, the villainous character of Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon/Electro makes his presence known. At the same time, what seems to be Rhys Ifans' Curt Connors/The Lizard is also present.
That makes a minimum of four villains that inhabit other universes outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Tom Holland's Peter Parker will wind up crossing paths with in Spider-Man: No Way Home, mirroring the heroes Miles teams up with in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
With these plots seeming to be the exact opposite of one another, the key to casual viewers understanding the plot of No Way Home lies in Into the Spider-Verse, and anyone who found themselves confused by the first trailer should immediately check out the latter.
What did you think of the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer? Will you be checking out Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for context? Regardless, be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Into the Spider-Verse director Peter Ramsey below and share your thoughts in the usual spot!
It's an honor to share my chat with Peter Ramsey, the first African American to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, which he nabbed for 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
He directed Spider-Verse following his directorial debut for Rise of the Guardians, which was a major flop. We discuss his Faceplant episode, which explores situations where people get back up from failure, just like the lesson taught in Spider-Verse.
We also chat about Stan Lee's cameo and how that was recorded, things that were meant for the film that didn't end up making the final cut, involving the live-action actors in the future, and much, much more!
Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters this Christmas on December 17th.