Released: December 17, 2021

Directed By: Jon Watts

Written By: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers

Based On:  Spider-Man by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Stars:   Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire

Plot:  With Spider-Man’s identity now revealed, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

How did this movie do
Budget:  $200 Million

• Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko.
  
  
• Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books.
  
  
• The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, a high school student from Queens behind Spider-Man’s secret identity and with whose “self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness” young readers could relate.
  
  
• Broke ground as a teenage hero, not as a sidekick.
  
  
• Lives in Queens, New York
  
  
• Been a member of Avengers, Fantastic Four, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Daily Bugle, Heroes for Hire, X-Men, League of Realms, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Army / Web-Warriors

• The creators put a hyphen in his name to prevent him from being confused for Superman (who also wears red and blue).
  
  
• This film marks the first MCU trilogy to be directed by the same director, Jon Watts. All previous film franchises like Iron Man & Captain America had only two consistent directors throughout their trilogies.
  
  
• Tom Holland helped to save this movie from cancellation by forcing renegotiations between Sony and Disney. Under the terms of the new deal, not only does Spider-Man: No Way Home still take place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but Spider-man can also appear in future MCU movies, as well as Sony’s own Spider-Man franchise.
  
  
• Because Sony has the rights to Spider-Man, Disney and Sony had originally reached a deal for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019), whereby Marvel produced these movies for Sony under the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) banner. Sony kept full financial, distributive and creative control, while Disney received merchandising rights and a small percentage of the gross box office. However, in August 2019, Sony wanted to expand the deal with Disney under the original terms, which led to Disney exerting its right to back out of the next Spider-Man film. Sony, which had done well with Venom (2018) and especially Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), then announced that they would continue making the film within their own cinematic universe, outside of the MCU. However, due to negative fan reaction and after intervention of star Tom Holland, a new deal was eventually reached, with Disney investing into the film’s budget in exchange for a higher box office percentage, and the movie remaining in the MCU.
  
  
• Tom Holland began filming the movie just two days after finishing his movie Uncharted (2022), however this film will be released before the latter.
  
  
• This will mark Jon Favreau’s 10th involvement in the MCU after the Iron Man trilogy (2008-2013), The Avengers quadrilogy (2012-2019), and the Spider-Man films (2017-2021).
  
  
• For his appearance in the film, Alfred Molina was digital de-aged to make him appear as he had in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and his mechanical tentacles were created through CGI, rather than through puppetry like in the film.
  
  
• When Peter Parker is suiting up on top of the car, there is a taxi cab behind him. The taxi’s numbers read 1228. This is a reference to Stan Lee’s birthday which is December 28, 1922.
  
  
• Jamie Foxx, and Willem Dafoe were very excited to get to come back and play their respective villains again. Foxx in particular was pleased that he wasn’t going to be blue this time. Alfred Molina, in the meantime, joked that he was only in it for the paycheck before confirming that he liked the story a lot before signing on.
  
  
• On February 23rd, 2021, Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya all posted images from the film along with three different titles on Instagram. Tom Holland’s post titled it “Spider-Man: Phone Home”. Jacob Batalon’s post titled it “Spider-Man: Home-Wrecker”. Zendaya’s post titled it “Spider-Man: Home Slice”. All the titles kept the use of the word “home” from the previous movies. The next day, a video with the three actors was released, showing Tom Holland walking out of Director Jon Watts’ office, thinking he gave them another fake title. As they walk out, the official title was revealed on a whiteboard to be “Spider-Man: No Way Home” along with various titles that they were thinking of.
  
  
• It’s the 27th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, originally meant to be the 28th in the series.
  
  
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) takes place directly after the events of Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019). Meaning that it takes place in the Fall/Winter of 2023.
  
  
• The film was originally scheduled for release on July 16th, 2021, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic its release date was delayed (on April 24th, 2020) to November 5, 2021, placing it on the original release date for the Disney-distributed MCU film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Three months later (on July 23rd, 2020), it was delayed a second time: to December 17th, 2021.
  
  
• K. Simmons had enjoyed playing J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy, and admitted to being heartbroken that he wouldn’t be able to revisit the character in a fourth movie. Naturally, when Marvel approached him to reprise his role in Spider-Man: Far From Home’s stinger and this film, he jumped at the chance. Simmons also expressed excitement in adapting Jameson to the modern-day era, describing him more as a media blowhard than a newspaper editor.
  
  
• The address of the Sanctum Sanctorum in Doctor Strange is 177A Bleecker Street. In Spider-Man 2, the pizza place where Peter, portrayed by Tobey Maguire, is fired from is located at 233 Bleecker Street, less than a block away.
  
  
• Willem Dafoe went to the premier wearing a green face mask.
  
  
• Benedict Cumberbatch has admitted to not reading the full script, wanting to surprise himself with the final product.
  
  
• On August 22nd, the trailer of the movie was leaked on the internet. However, the special effects of the footage were not finished and the quality was low. The real trailer dropped just a few hours later.
  
  
• The first trailer has become the most watched trailer received 355.5M global views in its first 24 hours, surpassing the previous record-holder Avengers: Endgame, which drove 289M views.
  
  
• Sam Raimi was very happy to see Doctor Octopus in this film’s first trailer, praising the character’s appearance and tentacle animation while also expressing excitement to see the full film.
  
  
• On August 24th, when the teaser trailer was released, Jon Watts, the director of the film, made an Instagram post displaying the trailer in the same ‘phone inception style’ shown in the leaked version. He captioned this post “The way the director intended”, joking at the fact that it was leaked the day before.
  
  
• Jacob Batalon lost a staggering 102 pounds for his role in this movie, although he’s indicated that shedding that weight was also a lifestyle choice.
  
  
• Tickets went on sale at midnight on November 29, 2021, with several ticket websites such as Fandango, AMC Theatres, and Regal Cinemas almost immediately crashing due to the high influx of users attempting to purchase said tickets. The same thing happened when Avengers: Endgame ticket theater servers crashed due to users attempting to purchase tickets.
  
  
• On 22nd August 2021 the trailer for the movie — or some version of it was reportedly leaked online primarily on TikTok. Massive tweets and memes surfaced online in the wake of the leak. Various copies of the trailer have been removed by Sony Pictures on copyright grounds. Tom Holland himself appeared to address the leak with a simple but to-the-point message on his Instagram Story. “You ain’t ready”.
  
  
• This will be the second Spider-Man film, after Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) that co-creator Stan Lee won’t have a cameo in, since he passed away on November 12th, 2018; Avengers: Endgame (2019) was Stan Lee’s final cameo.
  
  
• This was the first MCU Phase 4 film set to be shown in China. Previous Phase 4 theatrical entries Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and Eternals (2021) were denied a release in that country. However, the film’s Chinese release dates were removed from schedule due to recent political unrests with the U.S.
  
  
• With a runtime of 148 minutes, Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently the longest Spider-Man movie, beating out The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), which ran for 141 minutes.
  
  
• In one TV spot there’s a shot of Norman running away while his Goblin mask is lying shattered next to a dumpster, mirroring the shot of Peter Parker tossing his Spider-Man suit in a trash can from Spider-Man 2.
  
  
• Tom Holland’s 6th MCU Film following Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) & Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).
  
  
• Tom Holland’s little brother Harry was supposed to cameo as a drug dealer in this movie, much like he did in Cherry, but shortly before the film was released Tom revealed in an interview that the scene had been cut.
  
  
• The line of dialogue said by Doctor Strange “Scooby-do this crap” is not quite as improvised and random as it sounds. Doctor Strange is a Marvel character whose rights are now owned by the Disney Corporation whilst the animated detective dog character of Scrooby-Doo is owned by rival studio Warner Bros. There has been a long standing feud between these giants since the mid 1990s when Disney reneged on a gentlemans agreement between the two after Warners let Disney use some of their Loony Tunes characters for the Disney live action /cartoon mash up ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ (1988). Disney reneged on the agreement when Warners wanted a Disney Character to officiate the basketball game in their feature film ‘Space Jam’ in 1996 creating bad blood between the two studios. Since then both studios have been inserting subtle digs at each other in their family films to annoy their respective boards and lawyers. This line said by Dr Strange is the latest in the long line. Whilst this movie is a Disney/Sony co-production note it is not said by Peter Parker or Spider-Man as Disney do not own the rights to that character so had little control over the Sony owned property.
  
  
• Electro admits to believing that Spider-Man was black under the mask. He figures (correctly) that there still must be another, black Spider-Man out there referring to Miles Morales.
  
  
• Coincidentally, the film will be released in the tenth-year anniversary of the canceled Spider-Man 4. Spider-Man 4 was scheduled for a 2011 release.
  
  
• Jon Favreau’s 7th MCU film as Happy Hogan following Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Endgame (2019) & Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).
  
  
• Third longest-running film in the MCU, behind Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Eternals (2021).
  
  
• When Strange smacks Peter’s Astral form out of his body, you can see that Peter’s head has transparent versions of the classic wavy Spider-Sense lines.
  
  
• The teaser revealing the film’s logo has the logo briefly glitch out in a very similar fashion to the glitch effect constantly shown in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Fitting considering the multiverse shenanigans in that film
  
  
• Spider-Man: No Way Home had its world premiere at Fox Village Theater in Los Angeles on December 13, 2021.
  
  
• Original 1970s television Spider-Man actor Nicholas Hammond was considered for a tongue in cheek cameo role but the part was cut at the script stage due to concerns about the length of this film.
  
  
• When the spell goes awry, an eye can be seen in the center of the screen.
  
  
• Unlike the blue color scheme he had in his first film appearance, Electro’s lightning now matches the golden color of his original comic design. His electricity can form a “mask” in front of his face, resembling the star-shaped mask of his classic comic counterpart.
  
  
• The Green Goblin mockingly delivers a speech to Peter about the nature of choice, much like he did to the Peter Parker of his own universe in Spider-Man. He also warns Peter “no good deed goes unpunished”, which is essentially the message of his “in spite of everything you’ve done…” lecture to his universe’s Spidey.
  
  
• Jameson incredulously asks if the Lizard is a dinosaur. Captain George Stacy from the Lizard’s universe mockingly calls him a dinosaur in The Amazing Spider-Man. In that same spot, Jameson is shown wearing a very similar outfit to the one his Raimi-Verse counterpart wore when witnessing his Spider-Man fight Sandman and Venom.
  
  
• Tobey Maguire’s Peter once again ends up catching the Green Goblin’s glider blades before it impales something. This time, he ends up stopping MCU Peter from impaling the Green Goblin.
  
  
• Just before Strange chases Peter into the Mirror Dimension, he runs past a newsstand selling copies of People magazine. The current issue features an exclusive interview with Liz Toomes regarding Peter’s outing and calling him a liar.
  
  
• After Matt Murdock informs Peter that the charges against him won’t be pursued, he goes on to tell Happy that he’s under investigation due to some Stark Tech going missing; Peter winds up finding a Stark Industries fabricator hidden in a back room in Happy’s condo.
  
  
• Flash Thompson’s book is titled “Flashpoint”, which is a funny dig at DC, long time competitors of Marvel, as they have a famous comic book storyline of the same name, centered around the character “The Flash”. A similar dig was seen in “Spider-man – Homecoming (2017)” in which Flash answers a question in class and the teacher says “Just because you’re fast doesn’t mean you’re right”
  
  
• This marks Alfred Molina’s return as Dr. Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus for the first time in 17 years, since Spider-Man 2 (2004).
  
  
• When Peter and Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin have their first fight of the film, their blows cause an entire building to crumble beneath them. In the alternate universe comic entitled “What if…#105”, Peter and Norman have a similar fight, this ends up costing Peter a leg and Norman his life.
  
  
• Doctor Octopus’s trenchcoat attire, while still far more grounded than his depictions in the mainstream Marvel Universe, is slightly adjusted from its appearance in Spider-Man 2 to look closer to the colors the character wears in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man.
  
  
• This movie has the largest amount of Spider-Man villains, which these villains are most of the villains that previously appeared in the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb Spider-Man film series. The only exceptions are Venom from Spider-Man 3 (2007), Rhino from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) and Harry Osborn who was the Green Goblin in both of these aforementioned films.
  
  
• This is Willem Dafoe’s fourth time portaying Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin, after the Sam Raimi Trilogy (2002 – 2007). Although his appearances in Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007) were only camoes.
  
  
• This will be Benedict Cumberbatch’s fifth time portraying Doctor Stephen Strange, after Doctor Strange (2016), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers; Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
  
  
• This movie marks the return of Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko / Sand Man for the first time in 14 years, since Spider-Man 3 (2007).
  
  
• This movie marks the return of Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors aka The Lizard for the first time in 9 years, since The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
  
  
• This movie marks the return of Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon aka Electro for the first time in 7 years, since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).
  
  
• On 17 April 2021, Alfred Molina who played Otto Octavius in 2004’s Spider-Man 2, confirmed that he is returning for this movie to play the villain again after 17 years. He also elaborated as to how exactly his character is alive in this movie. In Spider-Man 2 he died of drowning after stopping the fusion reaction, but according to Molina, his character will somehow move into the multiverse right before he was supposed to die in Spider-Man 2, meaning he’s still alive.
  
  
• To preserve the secrecy of film’s production and to prevent their appearance from being leaked, Rhys Ifans, Thomas Haden Church and Willem Dafoe walked around the set with a cloak covering their costumes. Tom Holland accidentally bumped into Dafoe while cloaked was how the two first met on-set.
  
  
• Despite being released in July 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home already touched on the idea of the multiverse, that will be an important part of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Far From Home takes place the longest time after Avengers: Endgame (8 months), despite series’ like WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki aired almost 2 years later in 2021, and except Loki, these series’ takes place just a few months after the events of Endgame. Given that Far From Home also takes place after the events of Loki, in which the Loki variant famously enabled the multiverse, it means that Mysterio might not have lied, when he told Peter about the existence of the multiverse, or the multiverse was already enabled, and the movie just didn’t clarify that on purpose until Loki was aired.
  
  
• Parts of the plot involving Spider-Man erasing his identity borrow heavily from the 2010 story arc “One Moment In Time” and the 2007 story arc “One More Day” both written by Joe Quesada.
  
  
• After the trailer’s release, a rumor arose that Charlie Cox was returning as Daredevil in the film, reprising his role from the now-defunct Marvel Television-produced Netflix show. However, these rumors were first debunked by Cox himself, and later by the IMAX trailer of the film. However, Marvel Studios chairman Kevin Feige would later confirm that Charlie Cox was indeed returning as Daredevil in the MCU, but his debut would have to be seen at the time. Cox was later seen as Murdock in this film, who works as Peter’s lawyer.
  
  
• While on the roof of the school near the beginning of the film, there is some graffiti that if you look closely says “ditko”. Nice little nod to such an influential part of the Spider-Man universe.
  
  
• This movie marks Tobey Maguire’s return as Spider-Man for the first time in 14 years, since Spider-Man 3 (2007).
  
  
• This movie marks Andrew Garfield’s return as Spider-Man for the first time in 7 years, since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).