Tom Holland's Peter Parker has got his work cut out for him in the new poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home. In the foreground: the signature tentacles of Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus, last seen in 2004's Spider-Man 2. And looming in the background, the cackling Green Goblin, whose presence is signalled by the vapour trail from his jet. Willem Dafoe is set to reprise his role from 2002's Spider-Man movie.
The presence of these non-Marvel Cinematic Universe villains will be explained via the multiverse. In the movie, Peter collaborates with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to reverse the consequences of his identity being leaked by the villainous Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). However, the idea goes wrong, imploding space and time and exposing Peter to some new (although familiar to us) baddies.
This is the first live-action multiverse movie in the MCU, aiming to build on the potential of the Oscar-winning 2018 animation Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. (That movie was unaffiliated with the MCU timeline.) The big question remains, however: will Holland's Spidey predecessors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield be joining him?
Answers will be forthcoming when Spider-Man: No Way Home is released in Cineworld cinemas on 17th December. Don't forget that the latest MCU movie, Eternals, is now on release.