To the disappointment of many fans, the new Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer does not feature appearances from Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield, but most still believe that they will show up in the full movie.
Since the start of the year, theories have run rampant across the internet that No Way Home would see multiple versions of the web-slinging hero working together in a similar vein to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse.
However, neither Sony Pictures nor Marvel Studios have confirmed whether this is the case, while Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland have both done their best to dismiss the speculation, albeit with little success.
Assuming for a moment that Maguire and Garfield will appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s not wholly surprising that they wouldn’t be shown in the trailer, as their arrival would likely be saved for a big reveal in cinemas.
But while the Spider-Men are yet to materialise, that doesn’t necessarily mean we haven’t been shown scenes in which they will appear, as Marvel has made a habit lately of doctoring footage from its projects for the purpose of a spoiler-free trailer.
Culture Crave notes that in the Brazilian version of the No Way Home trailer, there’s a moment in which Spidey villain Lizard seemingly gets punched in the face by thin air – suggesting another character will be on-hand to fight the Sinister Six.
It would make sense for this to be Garfield’s Peter Parker, given that Lizard aka Dr Curt Connors (as played by Rhys Ifans) first appeared in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
Lizard gets hit with an invisible punch in the #SpiderManNoWayHome Brazil trailer ????
— Culture Crave ???? (@CultureCrave) November 17, 2021
Looks like they edited out Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield ???? pic.twitter.com/oJheAgOI9C
There are several examples of other misleading moments in Marvel trailers, some of which have been more focused on disguising settings than characters.
For instance, the Thor: Ragnarok trailer shows Hela making her iconic entrance in an alleyway on either Sakaar or Asgard, but in the actual film, this moment occurs on a picturesque cliff in Norway.
Likewise, Marvel’s Eternals features a moment where Sersi and Ikaris are admiring the view from the window of their spaceship – in the trailer they are looking at a scenic Earth landscape, while in the actual movie they are deep in outer space.
Marvel also edited a scene for the Avengers: Endgame trailer to avoid showing that Pepper Potts had survived the snap, so there’s a precedent for using trickery to hide major character reveals.
All this is to say that fans desperately hoping to see all three live-action Spider-Men in No Way Home don’t necessarily have to give up on that dream just yet. Although for now, memes may be their best source of comfort.
andrew and tobey on the trailer was like #SpiderManNoWayHome pic.twitter.com/pkuosf4knL
— ♡ˊˎ- (@TASMFELICIA) November 17, 2021
Spider-Man: No Way Home is released in cinemas on Wednesday 15th December 2021. Check out more of our Film and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.