'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Trailer Teases Doctor Strange Plot Hole
After what has felt like an eternity of waiting, the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer finally arrived online to a flurry of excitement. There was plenty to parse in the short footage, from confirmed rumors to a distinct lack of other Spider-Men.
While Twitter is in a tizzy, there is one potential plothole that the trailer created, which is unresolved as of yet—though we obviously know there's plenty of time in the actual movie. This one hasn't gotten quite as much attention as Doctor Strange's err, strange behavior.
The premise of the film, as far as we can tell from the trailer anyway, is that Peter asks Doctor Strange to cast a spell that wipes everyone's memory of him being Spider-Man. Unfortunately, as Doctor Strange reiterates, everyone means EVERYONE.
Peter has second thoughts, worried that his friends and family will no longer remember everything they've been through together—and, of course, it means he'll have to go back to lying to them (something he doesn't want to do). But it's too late, and Strange casts the spell despite Peter's muddying of it.
If the spell is successful, it would mean that everyone would forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, including all the Marvel superheroes like Doctor Strange. So surely once the spell had been cast, the appropriate response would have been: "Who are you and what are you doing in my basement?"
Given that his immediate reaction to the spell finishing is not one of befuddlement unless the trailer is cut specifically to avoid that—which we acquiesce it could be—the spell likely didn't work. Whether or not Peter's second-guessing messes up the spell, which then results in the multiverse opening up, or rather the spell itself causing chaos remains to be seen.
Fans are still speculating that Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire will appear at some point in the film. The Doc Ock "Hello Peter" line is particularly juicy when you think that the trailer could be cut in a purposefully misleading way, and perhaps he's addressing Maguire.
Maguire has yet to confirm or deny a potential role or cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but Garfield has categorically denied he's in the movie. Of course, this could be an elaborate bluff, or it could be like that disappointing Superman cameo in Shazam! all over again.
If this isn't the case, though, it implies the spell was unsuccessful—how else would Doc Ock recognize a random kid by name unless his name was important somehow? The rest of the trailer shows no confusion over his identity but instead is preoccupied with the multiverse.
Short of the spell failing in its entirety, it's a pretty big loose end that's going to need tying up alongside the multiverse shenanigans. While we've got a while to wait until we find out for sure what's going on, star Tom Holland has teased fans can expect an ambitious film.
"I can say that it's the most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever made. You sit down, read the script, and see what they’re trying to do, and they're succeeding. It's really impressive. I've never seen a standalone superhero movie quite like it," he said.
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