Spider-Man: No Way Home might be one of the most anticipated releases from Marvel in their upcoming schedule. We learned more about the release schedule from Marvel in their video “Celebrating The Movies” from yesterday. There’s been plenty of news swirling about Spider-Man however. First off, Spider-Man: No Way Home has the backbone of the MCU on it’s shoulders. It seems like this might be a jumping off point for a multiverse in the MCU.

There have been TONS of rumors about this film from the past couple months. While it’s already finished filming, we still don’t have anything from Marvel about it. Here’s what we do know, however.

The Release Date

Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters December 17th, 2021. The film is the last of the year from Marvel and goes into a busy 2022 for the company. It’s a big tentpole film for the MCU overall.

Who’s Showing Up And Who Isn’t In No Way Home?

Doctor Strange 2

Okay, here we go. It’s gonna be a long list, but let’s split it into two lists, one with confirmed returns, and one with rumored returns. The confirmed list goes like this: Tom Holland as Peter, Zendaya as MJ, Jacob Batalan as Ned, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus.

Now, for the unconfirmed and rumored appearances: Andrew Garfield as Peter, Tobey Maguire as Peter, Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, and Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin/Norman Osborn. And yes, we know that all parties have denied being in the film, including Andrew Garfield. This is Marvel after all, and where there’s smoke, there’s fire. If this is truly bringing back two of the villains from the Garfield/Maguire films in Doc Oc and Electro, it would make sense those Peter Parkers would show up in some form or fashion.

As for the rumors, they haven’t been confirmed nor denied by Marvel. Having Doctor Strange in the film screams “we’re going to use magic of some sort”. It also fortells the Multiverse of Madness in Doctor Strange’s next film.

Wait, Willem Dafoe As Norman Osborn?

THS had an exclusive story last week about Norman Osborn’s arrival in the MCU. Willem Dafoe‘s Osborn is likely the villain of Far From Home, but there’s also another version already in our MCU. One that’s less outwardly evil. So that means we’ll have two Norman Osborns. One that’s the evil Green Goblin from Sam Raimi’s film and another that’s more like the version from the Insomniac Spider-Man games.

Who’s Directing And Writing It?

Jon Watts, who directed the first two MCU Spider-Man films, is back for the third. In addition, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers who co-wrote the first two films are back for the third film. The MCU doesn’t normally have cohesion between director and writers like this in their films, but Spider-Man is a different beast entirely for the company.

What’s The Future Of Spider-Man?

Well another exclusive that THS put out answers this question as well. Sony and Marvel both see the profit potential in Spider-Man. The partnership that they have with the character works out well for both companies. Marvel puts out great films, Sony makes money off the movies, Marvel makes money off the licensing and merchandising. It’s a win-win. Well they’re looking to branch out that Spider-Man path even more.

Sony and Marvel want to have two different Spider-Man franchises going at once. No, that doesn’t mean multiple Peter Parkers, that means Miles Morales joins the fray. The same Miles Morales from Spider-Verse and the one that was slightly teased with Donald Glover’s character from Homecoming.

No Way Home might end up being the most important MCU film going forward (a title still held by Guardians of the Galaxy). Just like Guardians led us into the cosmic side of Marvel, this film could just give us the Multiverse side of things. X-Men anyone?

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