Peter Parker spends his time in "No Way Home" trying to send the multiverse's
villains back home – but what happens in their worlds once they get there? And wait,
when exactly are they coming from? These confusing moments, and more, explained next.
"No Way Home" opens at exactly the point where "Far From Home" ended. A breaking news report
from the Daily Bugle's incorrigible J. Jonah Jameson reveals two key pieces of
information to the world: Spider-Man is Peter Parker, and he killed Mysterio.
It's no surprise, that Mysterio was able to capture footage of Peter to
be released after his death, but how exactly did the villain manage
to convince the world that Spider-Man had murdered him and unleashed a drone army?
Right from the start, there were some major flaws in Mysterio's posthumous plan. For one thing,
anyone in London during Mysterio's attack would've been able to see that Spider-Man
was battling all the drones that attacked the city. Even though Mysterio managed to
fake Peter's voice ordering the drones to strike, it's hard to believe that not
a single camera in London captured some footage of the webslinger's good deeds.
Because all Mysterio's framing plot could rely on was some faked audio and footage of himself merely
saying that Spider-Man was about to attack him, it all fell apart pretty quickly.
Peter crawled his way out of any legal troubles with ease, but there's always someone who will
fall for a conspiracy theory. Most of the world might be convinced of Spider-Man's innocence,
but Jameson and the Bugle's fans are still holding out for solid proof of Spider-Man's misdeeds.
Peter being outed as Spider-Man causes problems for just about everyone in his life. To him,
it suddenly looks like the future he envisioned for himself — happily
studying at college alongside his best friend and girlfriend — will never become a reality.
On top of that, he and Aunt May have to shelter in Happy's apartment to hide from
any Spider-Man conspiracy theorists still out there. Reeling from all the chaos,
Peter thinks of the one person who might be able to magically make his troubles go away.
When Peter shows up at the Sanctum Santorum, however, Doctor Strange
informs him that he's no longer the Sorcerer Supreme. Because the role is so important,
it needed to be filled immediately after Thanos' Snap turned Strange to dust in the wind.
The only person who could properly fill Doctor Strange's shoes was, of course, Wong, who in
reality has been working with the magical arts for longer than Strange himself. While we might've
expected Strange to take his position back when he un-Blipped, that would hardly be fair to Wong.
Besides, Strange seems perfectly content to focus on his own pursuits, and Wong must be at least a
little relieved to have some say in what hijinks Strange gets up to — not that Wong's influence was
able to prevent Strange from breaking open the multiverse while trying to help Peter.
The first villain to burst onto the scene is none other than Doc Ock. When he arrives,
he's clearly going for mass destruction, and he starts off poised to give the MCU's Spider-Man
just as much of a run for his money as he did in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" back in 2004.
"Hi. Do we – do I know you?"
Luckily, today's Peter has access to some tech that Doc Ock's previous foe did not.
When a giant metal tentacle tears into Peter's Stark suit,
the severed nanobots fuse into Ock's arms and hand over their control to Peter.
It's great that Peter finally has the upper hand in his fight, but how were those nanobots able to
interface with Doc Ock's technology? We have to hand this one to Tony Stark, who's always able
to think one or 10 steps ahead of any problem he might encounter. This isn't the first time
Stark's tech has been shown to be adaptable and capable of more or less thinking for itself, and
clearly, Peter's nanobot-powered suit was designed to change depending on the problems he encounters.
"No Way Home" gives another look at the nanobots' pseudo-intelligence later in the film when they
slither off a pacified Doc Ock's arms and reform into a cool looking spider logo on Peter's suit.
Without a doubt, Peter owes this lucky break to Tony, and now that EDITH is gone,
this might've been the last time his mentor's technology is able to get him out of a jam.
Anyone who didn't spend the months leading up to "No Way Home" on an internet sabbatical
knew that Jamie Foxx was returning to play Electro. After trailers and stills
showed a very different-looking villain than the one featured in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2,"
everyone began wondering what universe this Electro really belonged to.
However, when Electro first arrives in the film, he looks like his old blue self for
just a flash before yellow electricity floods his body,
and he changes back into a more Jamie Foxx-looking version of the character.
"I'm happy we got a new, new, a brand new start. A brand new look."
There are a few different things going on with Electro's transformation. Outside the world of
the movies, Electro's design in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" wasn't particularly popular, so a
reskin was never going to be out of the question. "No Way Home" could've left the change up to the
magic of the multiverse, but the film actually takes a bigger step towards a genuine explanation.
Since he first gained his powers, Electro's body has been entirely composed of the
electrical energy in his world. He says that the electricity in the MCU feels different — and
more powerful — than that of his home universe. It doesn't take a scientist to imagine that
drawing on a different form of energy to create his body could give Electro a different look.
So ... how are all these bad guys alive? This was one of the biggest questions leading up
to the release of "No Way Home," and the film doesn't come right out with a solid answer for it.
Each of Spidey's multiversal villains seem to have been pulled into the MCU from a point very
near their death in their own universes. Doc Ock and Sandman remember the death of Norman Osborn,
and Electro can recall the Lizard's story, but none of the villains are aware of their own fate.
Electro gives the clearest answer, as he states that the last thing he can remember
is Spider-Man using an overloaded power grid against him in battle. From that, it seems
safe to assume that all the villains were pulled from the third acts of their respective stories.
The presence of some other important figures from previous universes raises even more
questions. Both multiversal Spider-Men explicitly arrive from some point in time
after they were last seen on the big screen. Obviously, that's great for the audience,
and it gives us a deeper sense of closure with the characters,
but "No Way Home" doesn't explain why there's such a discrepancy between the heroes
and the villains. This one will have to be chalked up to the magic of the multiverse.
One of the best parts about "No Way Home" is getting to see Peter's friends truly join
in on all the action. Ned and MJ play key roles in the film, and without their help,
there's no way that Peter would've survived to see a brand new day. Ned has been Peter's
"man in the chair" since "Homecoming," but he takes a big step up in this adventure.
When Ned and MJ first arrive at the Sanctum Santorum, he mentions a rumor in his family that
some of their ancestors had magical abilities. Later, Ned ends up with Doctor Strange's sling
ring, and sure enough, he's able to use it to open multiple portals throughout the film.
Ned is astounded by his new abilities, but his grandmother — who presumably could have
some deeper insight into the family's magical past — hardly blinks an eye.
We already know that magical abilities aren't necessarily linked to lineage. Unless it's later
revealed that Doctor Strange has some magic in his family's past, he became a sorcerer
through nothing more mysterious than rigorous study and hard work. It's possible that some
latent ability in Ned's genetics allowed him to focus some energy through a sling ring with ease,
but without further instruction, it's unlikely that he'll become a true sorcerer.
Of course, we have to wonder, does Ned even remember using magic now?
When Spider-Man villains from alternate universes start arriving in the MCU,
Peter is determined to help Doctor Strange capture them and return them to their own worlds.
That all changes when Peter discovers that almost all the villains he's captured died
in their universes. Knowing that returning them home means sending them to their imminent deaths,
Peter resolves to find a way to save them all.
The simple solution for saving the villains is to "cure" them of their various abilities. After all,
if Spider-Man's foes aren't superpowered, they won't need to fight the hero to the death.
It takes some multiversal assistance — and some serious sacrifice — for
Peter to find a cure for each of the five baddies he's up against.
Ultimately, he's able to de-power everyone before repairing the cracks in the universe
and sending them all home. How does that impact the original universe of each villain?
"No Way Home" doesn't show what happens in the Raimi-verse and Webb-verse when everyone returns,
but the changes are undoubtedly huge. No one would remember their time in the MCU,
but all the villains would be returned to good guy status — or at least neutral guy status — well
before they died. Because Harry Osborn didn't need to seek revenge for his father's death,
is he still alive in the Raimi-verse? Without the final battle against Electro taking place,
is Gwen Stacy alive in the Webb-verse? All that could be on the table now,
but we'll have to wait for future announcements to know for sure.
At the climax of "No Way Home," the multiverse is collapsing, and Doctor Strange is doing
everything in his power to prevent all of reality from being pulled into the confines of the MCU.
Clearly, whatever is coming through from alternate universes would be immensely destructive,
but Strange plays coy about the specifics of the danger.
"They are coming," he tells Peter, but he doesn't bother to explain who "they" are.
"They're starting to come through, and I can't stop them."
Two possibilities seem most likely here. First, Marvel's "What If?" on Disney+ has
already shown that there's no shortage of dangerous characters out in the multiverse.
On the other hand, "Eternals" recently introduced a whole slew of new dangers into the MCU.
In Strange's struggle against the multiverse, mysterious glowing figures are only briefly
shown peeking through the cracks of reality, but the visuals had a striking resemblance to some of
the Celestials we've already seen. Considering how dangerous a single Celestial can be,
an army of them would be more than enough to make Strange sweat bullets. Either way,
it seems very likely that "The Multiverse of Madness" will give us further hints.
"Venom: Let There Be Carnage" sent shockwaves through the nerd world
with its end-credits scene. Eddie Brock and Venom were transported into the MCU just in
time to see Peter Parker's secret identity revealed on the news by Mysterio and J.
Jonah Jameson. We all wondered if this meant Venom was officially part of the MCU and whether
or not he would team up with the other baddies in "No Way Home" to create the Sinister Six.
However, Eddie Brock and his favorite parasite made only a brief appearance
in the film's mid-credits scene. Eddie is seen at a bar getting up to speed
on the incredible events of the MCU, but then he's transported away when Doctor
Strange closes the multiverse ... though a small piece of symbiote is left behind.
The scene raises more questions than it answers.
All we know for now is that a small piece of Venom has officially made its way into the MCU.
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