The Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer is currently blowing the minds of fans everywhere. The crazy trailer gave us a much better feel for the story as well as better looks at the villains that are traversing the multiverse and bringing their brand of trouble to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We see a new version of Jamie Foxx as Electro, the returning Alfred Molina as Doc Ock, and seemingly two versions of Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin (or is it?). We also Rhys Ifans’ Lizard from Amazing Spider-Man. But, does his appearance here create a plot hole?
We find out from the trailer that Doctor Strange is trying to round up these villains and potentially lock them away forever in a magical prison or maybe even delete them from existence. This is because all of these villains are fated to die whilst battling Spider-Man and that when the multiverse bursted open, they were pulled into the MCU right before their demise. Peter Parker is of course not ok with this, as he doesn’t want anyone to die, so this in turn leads to the conflict between the two heroes and quite possibly to the prison box breaking open and releasing the villains.
There is a problem with Strange’s logic: Dr. Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, didn’t die in The Amazing Spider-Man. So, is Strange wrong here? Is he just bloodthirsty? Is this a plot hole? According to some, it is – but when you really look into it, no, it is not a plot hole.
Remember, there is another villain in this movie that also didn’t die in his first appearance, the Sandman. At the end of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, he and Parker make amends of sorts and he leaves, alive. It would be a plot hole if there was just one of the villains who didn’t die – but to include two villains out of the five that survives fighting their own respective Spider-Men is a choice. And it is one of two reasons.
Either Strange is ignoring their survival because they are villains and shouldn’t be on this Earth in the first place, or their demise comes during a future battle with their own Wall Crawler that was not on the big screen at any point. Remember, these universes continued on after the films that we saw, so it could be from a future that is currently unbeknownst to us. There might even be a third option – they are variants from another universe altogether and not the exact versions we’ve seen before.
Regardless, none of us have seen the film yet, so we can’t say if there is a plot hole or not when the plot hasn’t even been fully revealed. Surely this film will answer these questions and more when it comes out in theaters on December 17th.
Do you think the Lizard’s appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home creates a plot hole? Let us know in the comments below!