Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer brings in Doctor Strange and teases a wild multiverse plot

Some fan-favorite Spider-Man villains are about to make a big screen return.

The highly anticipated first trailer for Marvel's Spider-Man: No Way Home was released Monday, teasing a wild plot that looks to be bringing in numerous characters from prior Spider-Man film universes. After Peter Parker's identity was revealed to the world in Spider-Man: Far From Home, he convinces Doctor Strange to cast a spell that would undo these events. But that apparently has some unintended consequences, and the trailer ends with a big reveal: the return of Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus from 2004's Spider-Man 2. It also appears to tease Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin from 2002's Spider-Man.

It's a significant moment for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which generally doesn't incorporate characters or plot lines from non-MCU movies, like the original Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. But fans have long speculated that No Way Home could involve all three of the live-action, big screen Spider-Man franchises being combined following some crucial multiverse events in Loki, and there have even been rumors that prior Spider-Man actors Maguire and Andrew Garfield could potentially return. That still hasn't been confirmed, but the film is also reportedly set to feature Jamie Foxx as Electro, a character who originated in Garfield's Spider-Man series.

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This is all certainly a far more ambitious storyline than you might expect from an average Spider-Man sequel, and the trailer also teases what looks to be a big role for Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange. Rumors surrounding the movie's multiverse connection have made this trailer among the most anticipated in recent superhero movie history — though the fact that it fails to reveal whether Maguire and Garfield are indeed returning means the frenzied speculation is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan is a staff writer at The Week. A graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in journalism, he also writes about horror films for Bloody Disgusting and has previously contributed to The Cheat Sheet, Heavy, WhatCulture, and more. He lives in New York City surrounded by Star Wars posters.