The highly anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home is fast approaching. Fans are clamoring for any information on the secretive third installment of the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man franchise. Sony and Marvel Studios have been keeping mum on the project, but luckily Holland gave an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he teased what is heading our way. He shared his excitement working alongside actor Alfred Molina, who is set to reprise his role as Dr. Otto Octavius or Doc Ock. He’ll reprise the role for the first time since his beloved performance alongside Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man in 2004’s Spider-Man 2. He went on to say that:
[He’s] one of my favorite people I’ve ever worked with…It was really fun to watch him see how technology has advanced. When he was making these films, the arms were puppets, and when we did it, they’re all imaginary and CG. It was quite cool to see him relive it, but also relearn it.Tom Holland
Holland also teased that No Way Home will feature fight scenes that are “a lot more visceral,” and with “a lot more hand-to-hand combat.” Based on the actor’s comments, it looks like fans can expect to see more creativity in the film’s action sequences than we’ve previously seen with Holland’s Spider-Man. As the trailer teased several adversaries and even Doctor Strange, he’ll have to change up his tactic. A toy leak did tease his new magical webbing which will also add some new flair to his move set once the film releases this December.
It looks like a Russian promotion for Skittles may have once again added fuel to the fire that is the mystery surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home. Twitter user @SpiderMan3news noticed a promotion that ties into the upcoming Marvel Studios-Sony production. Yet, the bigger surprise is that the image involved in it isn’t of Tom Holland‘s titular webhead but rather Andrew Garfield‘s. He is only seen on the billboard on the promotional website, but it mainly plays the trailer we saw release in August. It’s quite a curious slip-up, or potentially just a promotion that accidentally leaked online earlier than expected.
If you go on to the Russian skittles website and follow all the instructions you will see a billboard with Garfield's Spider-Man that plays a trailer saying "there is no way home"
The upcoming film Eternals takes place across 7,000 years of Marvel Cinematic Universe history. There are many unique corners of that timeline to explore, but we’ve been wondering where the main portion of the story will take place. We could be spending a lot of time with this alien race throughout history, or could the main storyline focus on the post-Avengers: Endgame timeline teased in the trailers. Luckily, the set visit by ComicBook.com offered some insight.
Producer Nate Moore discussed where the film takes place and it seems to be around the same time as Spider-Man: Far From Home. He does keep it a little vague, which might be a lesson they learned when giving Homecoming a definite time window between its opening storyline and the first Avengers film, but it helps solidify the story’s place within the franchise. Moore confirms that 60% takes place in the modern-day with the rest exploring different times in history. He goes on to say that:
It could be concurrent [to Spider-Man: Far From Home]. Again, they sort of operate on a different system. Although, Far From Home does take place in London, ironically. So it’s sort of an undefined time. I don’t think it’s, years have not passed, I will say that.
Nate Moore
We’ve still been hoping for Marvel Studios to reveal an actual timeline for the MCU. As it continues to expand with more films and Disney+ series, it’s going to be difficult to keep an overview. There’s also the challenge surrounding the multiversal expansion that kickstarted in Loki, which might add quite a bit more complexity. Plus, Sony might always be actively trying to connect their franchises as much as possible.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage has already surpassed $100M at the domestic box off all but assuring that that film will continue to spawn as many potential sequels and spinoffs as there have been symbiotes in the franchise. While the film has done well at the box office, it’s the post-credit scene that has had everyone buzzing and, according to director AndySerkis, Sony plans to make good on the promise of the tease of the two separate movie universes colliding by bringing Spider-Man and Venom face-to-face. Serkis explained in an interview with ComicBook.com.
We wanted to leave the audience knowing that these universes are going to somehow collide and we wanted to do it in such a way that it still leaves so much open and we’re not timing anything. The portal is not being crossed fully. It’s opening up more questions, I suppose, rather than sort of firmly saying [anything]….It is a tease. It’s a tease, in the fullest sense of the word.
The tease saw Venom and Eddie Brock transported from their universe into the Marvel Cinematic Universe where a television broadcast by J. Jonah Jameson seemingly put Spider-Man in Venom’s sights as a potential bad guy. While Tom Holland‘s Spidey has, so far, only appeared in films that have taken place in the MCU, Sony holds the live-action rights to the character and the ability to use the character in whatever ways they see fit. And as Serkis said, while there’s no timeline that’s yet been revealed, the plans are in place to have Spidey and Venom share the screen for the first time since Sam Raimi’s 2007 Spider-Man 3.
With the big post-credit scene seemingly taking place in the MCU and Kevin Feige once pointing out that Holland’s Spider-Man was the only MCU character who could hop through universe, we’ll have to wait to see WHERE the Spidey/Venom showdown takes place. It’s also worth noting that while it wasn’t too long ago that the two studios had seemingly come to an impasse and were putting their collaborative days behind them, this level of crossover might indicate a new and deeper commitment to working together, something that if done correctly, could only serve to strengthen both franchise’s universe.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is in theaters now and Spider-Man: No Way Home is set to swing into theaters on December 17th.
If you haven’t seen the film yet and want to experience it yourself without any major spoilers, here’s a final warning before continuing.
In the post-credit sequence, we get a confirmation that Venom might eventually meet up with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Of course, it’s still just a tease for now but does open the door for a third entry to tackle a crossover, especially if it turns out successful. Director Andy Serkis did discuss the post-credit sequence and how it came into play much later, while also hinting that Spider-Man originally had a bigger role earlier on in the development of the script.
[The mid-credits scene was] 100 percent in flux, yeah. It couldn’t have been more in flux-y if you tried. Yeah, of course, it was something that they talked about from before I even came on to the movie. There were moments where he [Spider-Man] was going to be in the story, potentially, and then he wasn’t. But no, we decided that we wanted to really examine the Venom-verse first. So as we were going through principal photography, the inevitable discussions had to be had, but it wasn’t until very, very late on that we reached the precise notion of the teaser that we wanted to lay in there.Andy Serkis
With over two dozen projects comprising the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s sometimes easy to lose track of the order through which audiences should experience them. It is, of course, something pretty fluid as personal preferences might have some skipping a couple of projects in favor of their favorite ones. All in all, there are two general viewing orders that contain the entirety of the MCU. A Release Order, which respects the order in which projects were made available through the years, and a Chronological Order, which takes into account when each project’s plot takes place.
Personally speaking, the Release Order should be followed when watching all MCU projects for the first time, with the Chronological Order being something to use on rewatches. This is mostly due to the fact that major plot points would be spoiled if not watching the entirety of the franchise as it was released, similar to the way audiences watching Star Wars for the first time would be spoiled The Empire Strikes Back‘s major plot twist by having previously watched the prequel trilogy.
CHARACTER VIEWING ORDERS
When it comes to following specific characters, we got together individual viewing orders with their appearances through the years. These can be as a central character to the plot or as blink-and-you-miss type cameos, many on mid or post-credit scenes. Keep in mind this is a work in progress, as new characters will keep being added.
After a long wait, the sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man game finally got its first trailer. Not only that, we even got a good look at the long-teased antagonist, Venom. Of course, his inclusion raises a lot of questions about what we can expect from the sequel. Luckily, Vice President of Marvel Games, Bill Roseman, teased that the sequel might be a darker story from the previous entry. In the latest podcast entry of This Week in Marvel, he briefly touched upon the upcoming sequel and compared it to the original Star Wars trilogy.
If the first Spider-Man game was Star Wars, Spider-Man 2 is [our] Empire Strikes Back.
It’s certainly a tall order to compare it to The Empire Strikes Back. The sequel became the modern standard for what any franchise tries to accomplish. Not only does it continue the story, but it pushes our heroes to a brand new breaking point. There’s no true hope that it’ll end on a positive note. So, who knows what the future has in store for Miles Morales and Peter Parker as they face off against Venom.
It’s crazy to think that the sequel would be even darker than the first. Peter had to make the most depressing decision he ever had at the end of that game, which might be the toughest sacrifice we’ve ever seen a version of this hero make. The game showcased who is the host for the Venom symbiote, which also makes his inclusion quite a personal story once he realizes who it is.
Luckily, Hot Toys has offered an update on their 1:6 figure of the new suit that showcases some of the accessories. It once again confirms that he’ll make use of some magical webbing. The big question was if this costume was just his regular costume inverted, as it seemed to resemble the costume when he inverted it during Spider-Man: Homecoming. The closer look does highlight that design but there’s a curious new detail. Peter’s new suit has a magical gauntlet attached to the arms and is now more connected to the fingers.
There’s also the fact that he doesn’t have the red fingers that were included in other designs of this suit. We even saw this model with it earlier on, which implies that they dropped it at some point in development. It’s not even included with the hand variants anymore that let you customize the design. There’s a good chance the suit is created from those gauntlets that may act as the source for his webbing. We still don’t know when this costume might come into play, as he faces off against some familiar faces from cinematic past. Here’s hoping that the next trailer offers an even better look at the design in action.
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next threat seems to be emerging from within the multiverse. The ending of WandaVisionkicked off a new era that saw its expansion in Loki. While all eyes were on the newly introduced Kang, it seems the rumored foe of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness might have an early appearance. In the first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, eagle-eyed fans may have spotted the first glimpse of Shuma-Gorath.
In the trailer, Doctor Strange creates a spell to wipe everyone’s memory of Peter Parker being Spider-Man. As it usually does, something goes wrong and it unleashes something from the multiverse. Eagle-eyed Twitter user @MSpector_JM noticed that in the rift you can spot a rather strange and familiar eyeball with what seems like tentacles. The design is very reminiscent of Shuma-Gorath and continues to tease his presence.
Rumors point to the multiversal being as the main threat in the upcoming sequel and it is after America Chavez’s abilities, who is confirmed to make her live-action debut in Multiverse of Madness. As such, Strange’s actions in No Way Home may break a hole in the newly established multiverse, which gives Shuma the power to finally find the source of power he requires to dominate every reality.
Yet, this brief tease may not be his actual debut within the MCU. Giant green tentacles can briefly be seen in the premiere episode of What If…?, as they try to break through a portal opened by Red Skull before being pushed back in by Captain Carter. He even has a showdown with a Variant of Doctor Strange in a later episode, where he fuses with him. As the show deals with the multiverse and the fact that tentacles are the only connective tissue besides the Watcher, it may be Shuma-Gorath.
Marvel Studios is building up to his full debut in next year’s Doctor Strange sequel. The various teases and this small detail in the Spider-Man trailer could hint at a post-credit sequence involving Strange facing the creature. While the trailer implies it was Peter’s nerves unleashing the multiversal villains, there’s a chance that this small glimpse builds up to the first confrontation as we learn the true reason why the multiverse broke in the first place.
When Insomniac Games dropped their smash-hit Spider-Man in 2018, it seemed they might have done the impossible. Against all odds, the project was almost universally acclaimed by the character’s widespread fandom. The studio received praise for their work on the story, graphics, voice acting, mechanics, character designs, and much more. Yet, there was one aspect that left a good chunk of players wanting more. The game’s many side quests proved to be a fun way of traversing the open-world map of New York City, they often felt as though they were lacking a little spark.
The video game’s main plotline was an emotional rollercoaster filled with surprising twists that involved a number of big-name Spidey characters. As a result, it began to feel a little flat when the majority of the side missions were simply repetitive jaunts to fix broken pipelines and knock the mind-control out of raging college jocks. Sure, a game about your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man should probably have a few friendly neighborhood objectives, but they shouldn’t take up most of the game’s precious real estate. The recently revealed Spider-Man 2 should take advantage of this to improve its take on side quests, and Insomniac should start the process by revolving the goals around more intriguing characters.
It makes sense that Insomniac might not want to use a major Spider-Man villain for a side mission when they could be used as the main antagonist in the future. This might be part of the reason Taskmaster set the challenges instead of a character like Kraven, who the company clearly plans on using in the franchise’s next installment. Luckily, our beloved heroes exist in a universe toppling with extravagant foes and tales just waiting to get adapted. One could take a look at any member of the webhead’s extensive rogues gallery and turn them into a short chain of mission objectives. That being said, the villains selected for the game would work best if their stories are able to possess a solid emotional core to build on. Peter Parker and Miles Morales tend to be at their most interesting when they have a little skin in the game. The stakes of their quests are raised by a personal connection to the threat they face.
A great way to accomplish this is by telling stories that build on the previous game or even hint towards the future. For example, the first game featured a character named Dr. Morgan Michaels, a precursor to Morbius. A fantastic follow-up to this would be Spider-Man hunting down a mysterious new serial killer, only to discover a vampiric Michaels. As this is a character Peter already knows, it would make his efforts to help him all the more engaging. The resulting side quest would feel far more earned and satisfactory than trying to race through Screwball’s obstacle courses ever did. Imagine the controversial F.E.A.S.T. building is taken over by Dr. Elias Wirtham and establishes his new medical center, H.E.A.R.T. Around the same time, the vigilante known as Cardiac begins stealing experimental medical equipment around the city. It results in two separate side stories combining into one.
The upcoming sequel’s additional expeditions would also be best optimized if they added new mechanics. Far too many of Spider-Man‘s added crusades utilized the same gameplay structure. It felt tedious in nature and led to a lack of replayability outside of the game’s grand narrative and general free-roaming. The next adventure’s inclusion of two active Spider-Men with different abilities will play a role in alleviating this issue, as Miles’ camouflage and venom strikes could be used for special stealth-based quests that Peter isn’t equipped for. The intermittent release of Spider-Man: Miles Morales also lends Spider-Man 2 the advantage of additional material to work with, some of which might give Miles some personal connections to new side villains.
A potential example comes to mind in regards to Miles’ brush with the Tinkerer. Building upon one of the last game’s best side quests, it would be interesting to see what might happen if Tombstone’s gang got their hands on her technology and used it to transform a pair of their wayward youths into the rivals Rocket Racer and Big Wheel. Feeling obligated to deal with Tinkerer’s fallout, Miles could rush to detain the duo and attempt to set them on a better path. Despite having just mocked the original game’s Screwball missions, the idea of a speed-based task to break up combat objectives isn’t a terrible one. It would just be better executed if Miles, and the player, had a deeper relationship with the material.
Insomniac looks to be on track to develop another success with Spider-Man 2, but if they really want the game to top its predecessor they’ll need to fix what didn’t work last time. The quality of the game’s side quests won’t make or break it, but they will be an integral part of the project’s legacy. Making them worthwhile through world-building and proper storytelling is something that could help cement the project as one of the industry’s great sequels.
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