The Sinister Six have arrived to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the hype around Spider-Man: No Way Home continues to grow with only a month left before the film’s December 17 premiere. After No Way Home’s first trailer amassed an absurd 355.5 million views globally in its first 24 hours, Sony Pictures doubled down for its follow-up preview, rolling out the new three-minute trailer at a live event in Sherman Oaks, California, on Tuesday. And though fans in attendance were surely delighted to witness a surprise appearance by Tom Holland, the trailer itself is all about Spider-Man’s greatest villains.
No Way Home picks up right after the events of 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, after Spider-Man’s secret identity is revealed to the public by The Daily Bugle’s J. Jonah Jameson. As the film’s first trailer teased, Peter Parker decides to handle this unfortunate predicament by seeking out a little help from the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange. For whatever reason, the guy entrusted with protecting the entire world from magical and mystical threats elects to help the teenager out by attempting to erase the memories of, well, everyone, setting the stage for the even more unfortunate predicament Peter now faces. “When you botched that spell where you wanted everyone to forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, we started getting some visitors,” Doctor Strange tells Peter in the new trailer. “From every universe.”
While these “visitors” are strangers to Peter and Doctor Strange, they are, of course, familiar faces to Spidey fans who are watching the third live-action film series centered on your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. The first No Way Home trailer broke viewership records for Marvel due in large part to the return of one of the best villains from Tobey Maguire’s original Spider-Man trilogy: Doc Ock. Although that preview also provided brief glimpses and hints at other villains set to return to the Spider-verse, none beyond Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius appeared in the flesh. Tuesday’s trailer provides first looks at the other four villains who were previously teased—Green Goblin, Electro, Sandman, and Lizard—as Peter squares off against a multiverse of his archenemies in what may be Holland’s last appearance as Spider-Man.
Like No Way Home’s previous trailer, Otto Octavius features prominently in the newly released footage. The second preview shows even more of what appears to be Octavius’s first confrontation with Holland’s Spider-Man, but this time, Otto unmasks the hero and realizes he’s not fighting the Peter Parker he knew (presumably because the last we saw him, he was facing off with Tobey Maguire’s Spidey). Octavius appears again later in the trailer while having a non-confrontational conversation with Peter, MJ, and Ned, where the teenagers proceed to roast him for his goofy comic book name. Between this friendly interaction and Strange telling Peter that all these villains who have entered their universe “die fighting Spider-Man,” it seems as if Peter is trying his best to save these visitors from meeting the same fate.
Elsewhere in the trailer, Green Goblin makes his triumphant return. “Peter, you’re struggling to have everything you want, while the world tries to make you choose,” Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn snarls as he pulls up in his iconic green armor and glider:
After only being teased with a few flashes of lightning in No Way Home’s first preview, Jamie Foxx’s Electro from 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also makes his first appearance, before being joined by Sandman from Spider-Man 3 and Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man:
With five villains officially confirmed out of a Sinister Six superteam of Spidey villains, the sixth member still remains uncertain. All of the potential candidates who emerged from No Way Home’s first preview still seem just as likely, with the crossover of Tom Hardy’s Venom appearing as an even greater possibility following the surprising post-credits scene in October’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Whomever the final villain may be, No Way Home might serve as a complementary live-action follow-up to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as Peter now attempts to return his multiversal adversaries to their own realities, in contrast to Miles Morales’s mission to save his animated Spider-Friends.
Speaking of other Spider-Men, the new trailer also notably omits any appearance from Maguire and Andrew Garfield, as the casting rumors of their returns continue almost a year after they began appearing online (and days after images that would seem to confirm their appearances leaked). For now, fans will have to continue to wait to see whether the three live-action Spider-Men will actually cross paths this December or if imaginations have just been running wild amid the increased prominence of the multiverse and the endless possibilities it presents in the MCU’s Phase 4.
