'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Will Be Remembered for What Came Before It

Gather round, ye web-heads, let's celebrate this Spider-Man Eve with a tour of Peter Parkers of Years Past. Director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy—yes, even the third one, which gave us Bully Maguire—will always be remembered for giving us some of the best superhero stories ever put to film, plus the countless other installments it inspired after Tobey Maguire hung up the Spidey suit in 2007. It surprised us. And now, nearly 20 years after its debut, Raimi's first Spider-Man movie feels like a museum exhibition for what it was like to enjoy a superhero film before the dawn of Reddit. Even the successor to that franchise, Marc Webb's two-film The Amazing Spider-Man series, which starred Andrew Garfield, still felt unspoiled by the doldrums of comment sections everywhere, lukewarm reception be damned.

Now, this Monday night, reviews will flood the Internet for the latest Spider-Man outing, starring Tom Holland and called No Way Home, in advance of its December 17 release date. For many of you, the film's arrival feels like a birthday that you've somehow waited decades for, only having survived the build-up by vehemently speculating about each and every gift coming your way. If you've used the Internet in the past two years, you know what I'm talking about. Ever since 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home delivered on a genuinely holy-shit cameo in its post-credits scene, a wide swathe of people, from fans to writers on the comic-book beat to your kid brother and sister, have tirelessly and publicly logged and debated their guesses regarding the upcoming plot. The main point of contention, of course, has been whether or not Maguire and Garfield will return to fight alongside Holland. 24 months of truly countless fan theories, Reddit trolling, YouTube commenting, fake leaks, and real leaks later, it already feels certain that the anticipation that preceded No Way Home will end up being the legacy of No Way Home.

Like it or not, more shit has happened on No Way Home hype train than you could ever humanly stuff into a movie. There was the delivery driver who alleged that he dropped off food to Andrew Garfield in Atlanta, where No Way Home was filming. Alfred Molina himself, who plays Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2, dutifully blew the lid off the secret of his return in No Way Home. Also, Jamie Foxx, who plays Electro in Garfield's films, possibly spoiling the appearance of the Spider-Men. Freaking Barkbox, a subscription service for dogs, included what looked like a picture of Maguire's Spidey suit on one of its boxes. And don't forget the fan who saw Maguire at a public park and immediately asked if he was in the new film. Of course, we all debated whether or not the picture of Garfield, in front of a blue screen in his Spidey suit, was photoshopped. But take a scroll through r/MCUTheories and see if you can make it past "Ye gonna show up in No Way Home."

I'm very much excited for No Way Home, by the way. I've contributed to the No Way Home discourse myself, sticking mostly to the trailers. I've even enjoyed a fan theory or two along the way, mostly from the GOAT, TheMediocreCritic. A bit of speculating is healthy! Fun! I just can't help but wonder one thing. Say we lived in our own corner of the world where Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe didn't rely so heavily on post-credits scenes to hype up us for the next story. Say that, real or not, we actually had some moral code for leaking plot points and set photos, one that doesn't lead to Jimmy Fallon blowing up Andrew Garfield on The Tonight Show. In this hypothetical paradise, would we end up enjoying No Way Home a little bit more? My money's on yes.

But we're stuck in regular ol' Earth, where even the very best of superhero flicks struggle to match the fully-out-of-control expectations that are slapped on top of them. In the year 2041, when you ask fans what they remember from this No Way Home-sized period in our lives, I bet they'll mention more things that weren't in the film than anything that was actually in it. It's a bit like how when people talk about Twilight today—they tell war stories from waiting hours in line just to see a midnight screening, instead of their shock when Edward killed that one werewolf. (I haven't seen any of the Twilights.)

Maybe No Way Home will deliver a surprise that none of the hundreds of fan theories managed to guess, or give us an experience that will truly stand out in the MCU's swelling catalog. Maybe. But I'd bet that, years from now, poor Andrew Garfield will be getting roasted for his "I'm not in No Way Home, I promise!" press tour, rather than anyone recalling a strike or blow or punch he lands on his old friend Electro.

Or, if we're being honest about who we are right now, he'll probably just dodging questions about his rumored involvement in another Spider-Man film. After all, Tom Holland is likely boarding the Spider-Man train for three more chapters.

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