By Nicholas Barham
The first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home has just dropped, and it’s fair to say that fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are excited.
If you recall the end credit scene of Spider-Man: Far from Home, then you will know that Peter Parker has not only been exposed as Spider-Man to the whole world, but that he was also framed for the drone attack perpetrated by Mysterio, and Mysterio’s death. The Far from Home trailer shows that the movie will pick up right after this shocking twist, with Peter dealing with the resulting fallout and drama that ensues from his unmasking.
To resolve this dilemma Peter will confide in an ally, Doctor Strange (who for whatever reason, is dressed for an early morning midwinter jog rather than his usual saving-the-world getup).
In an interesting twist of events Doctor Strange casts a spell with the intention of having the world forget that Spider-Man is Peter Parker.
You could argue that this film gives the audience exactly what they want: in a rare twist, the superhero is unmasked to the world, and we get to see all the implications and consequences of this. It is a fascinating idea, with the potential to add a copious amount of drama, intrigue, and action, as Spider-Man not only has to fend off the criminal elements of the city, but is also on the run from the police himself. There is also the added bonus that the unmasking can be reversed and things can go back to the way they were previously. But, as is usually the case when one tampers with space and time, things go horribly wrong when Doctor Strange tries to reverse Peter Parker’s unmasking.
With a plot involving multiple universes, space-time stretching hijinks, and lots of action and drama, Spider-Man: No Way Home looks like it’s going to be a wild and colourful ride. It’s heavily implied that the Green Goblin will return to the screen, as we see a pumpkin bomb land on the screen with his signature cackle in the background.
In another exciting revelation Alfred Molina will reprise his role as Doctor Octopus (jeez they really give PhDs to anyone these days don’t they!), a role he took on back in 2004 for Spider-Man 2.
I’m excited to see how the aspect of the multiverse plays out on the screen. I have a feeling that we are going to see elements from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy somehow pop into the MCU. Perhaps we will even have multiple versions of Spider-Man allying together to fend off the villains in this film.
Clearly the people behind the MCU have taken their cue from Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse. In this animation Miles Morales (Spider-Man) manages to find himself embroiled in a scenario involving multiple universes, multiple versions of his alter ego Spider-Man, and multiple villains out to get him. With a box office of over 300 million dollars it is not hard to see why the people behind MCU might want to create their own story revolving around the multiverse idea.
Stories involving multiple universes are common in the world of comic book superheroes. The concept allows the reader to see their favourite characters in unique stories, environments, and personas. DC Comics has a whole line of one-shot comics under the imprint Elseworlds that involves alternate versions of DC heroes. Some of my favourite stories are under this imprint, for example the Batman & Dracula Trilogy which saw the caped crusader fight against Dracula in an alternative gothic Gotham City, later becoming a vampire himself.
Marvel also dips their toes into these types of stories with the likes of Marvel 1602 which shows alternative Marvel heroes residing in the Elizabethan Era.
There is clearly a lot of creative potential in Far from Home with the inclusion of the multiverse concept. Whether or not the people behind the movie will take full advantage of such an opportunity remains to be seen, but I am optimistic.
I hope that you are as excited as I am for this upcoming movie. I will be doing a review upon its release, so watch this space!
Four Eyes Writing 