The Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) teaser trailer has finally dropped.
After months of casting rumors, LEGO leaks, impatient fans, spoilerific interviews, and hope deferred, the first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home starring Tom Holland and Zendaya has arrived. And to borrow a quote from another franchise:
[It’s true. All of it.]
Doc Ock! Electro! Pumpkin Bombs! Alfred Molina! Willem Dafoe’s laugh! Sandman? Lizard maybe? Charlie Cox’s left arm? And whose voice is that saying “Be careful what you wish for, Parker”?
It’s been barely a day since the teaser dropped, and the internet has already dissected every moment of this teaser. We have fans out here putting it into Final Cut and bumping up the shadows to find hidden details (or perhaps to turn off the dark? But I digress).
All that said, I won’t go into theories about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. I won’t go into how WandaVision predicted the trailer date and Mephisto is actually behind it all (he’s not). I won’t go into how amazing it was to see Alfred Molina back as Doc Ock, and how the first time I saw him as Doc Ock was in the Spider-Man 2 (2004) teaser before Return of the King (2003) and I didn’t even care about Return of the King because I was so excited and surprised about Spider-Man 2 because it was a glorious age before the internet let everyone to know everything about every movie.
Instead, the smaller moments stand out to me. It’s Peter and MJ hanging out on a rooftop, his secret identity no longer a barrier between them. It’s the familiar locations of previous films, like Peter’s school, turned hostile. It’s the emotional weight that hangs over the aftermath of the previous film. It’s Peter himself, still young and awkward, but markedly mature.
This teaser shows me that we’re in for some wild multiversal adventures. But more importantly, it shows me that this film hasn’t forgotten the most important part Spider-Man storytelling:
It’s not about Spider-Man. It’s about Peter Parker.
But also, did you see that pumpkin bomb?
Check out the teaser below, and see Spider-Man: No Way Home exclusively in theaters December 17.
