With the third installment in Marvel’s Spider-Man series set to release on December 17, we are just under a month away from the return of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.
In a recent interview with Empire Online, Holland detailed a jaw-dropping scene involving his Parker character, Parker’s Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and a mystery character. But while Holland revealed that the scene involved he and the mystery character having a conversation about what it’s like to be a superhero, the mystery character was never revealed.
In fact, besides an appearance from fellow Avenger Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the trailer for the upcoming film, there had been little confirmation of which heroes, and villains would play a part in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Fortunately, Marvel and the Spider-Man team just released the official movie poster, and it’s full of Easter eggs pointing to which villains Peter Parker will go up against.
The most obvious villain is Dr. Octopus, who appeared in 2004’s Spider-Man 2, starring Tobey Maguire. Sitting atop a heap of rubble presumably caused by some classic Marvel superhero fighting, Holland’s Spider-Man is surrounded by Dr. Octopus’ huge, metal arms, indicating Doc Ock’s presence in Now Way Home.
Lightning bolts slash across the movie poster, pointing at the presence of Electro, who appeared in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, starring Andrew Garfield. And streams of sand flying through the sky behind a crouching Spider-Man acknowledge that Sandman, one of two main villains featured in 2007’s Spider-Man 3.
Despite cameos from Doc Ock, Electro and Sandman in the film’s poster, the real villain is obviously The Green Goblin. Just over Spider-Man’s left shoulder, a translucent Green Goblin floats on his glider and appears to be headed right in his direction. The Green Goblin, played by Willem Dafoe in the first Spider-Man movie, 2002’s Spider-Man, and then by James Franco in the third film in the Maguire trilogy, is the most iconic Spider-Man villain and it will be interesting to see how Marvel weaves him into the already-complicated mutliverse.
Check out the poster for Spide-Man: No Way Home and let us know if there are any villains we missed.