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‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ theory says the villains aren’t who we think they are

A new theory says that the multiversal Spider-Man: No Way Home villains might not be exactly who we think they are.

Alfred-Molina-Doctor-Octopus

Based on the footage we’ve seen so far, the basic setup of Spider-Man: No Way Home appears to be fairly simple. Peter Parker goes to Doctor Strange for assistance after his secret identity is revealed to the world, asking the Sorcerer Supreme to cast a spell that makes everyone forget the whole thing ever happened.

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Obviously, things go terribly wrong after the incantation is botched, which opens up the doors to the multiverse and leads to Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Jamie Foxx’s Electro, Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, Rhys Ifans’ Lizard and Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman showing up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the ghosts of franchises past.

It sounds about as straightforward as you can get with such an outlandish premise, but a new theory from The Direct offers that all five antagonists aren’t the same characters we met between 2002 and 2014; at least a couple could be variants. It’s based on Doctor Strange saying they each died at the hands of Spider-Man, which isn’t strictly true.

Sandman was given a free pass and disappeared at the end of Spider-Man 3, while Lizard was alive and imprisoned when The Amazing Spider-Man ended, and Foxx’s Max Dillon was never 100% confirmed to have bitten the dust. Then there’s the fact that Electro isn’t blue and appears to be powered by Stark tech, which would seemingly indicate he’s not from the Garfield universe.

It’s all very curious, but at least we’ve only got five days until all of these burning questions and more are answered when Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters.