Theoretical Thursday: No Way Home

Hello, Ticketholders, and welcome to Marvel Theory!

I began my career on the internet by modifying the catch phrases of Ryan Seacrest, television film critics like Leonard Maltin, and obscure Stephen King characters like Symphonic Stan, the Big Band Man (who may or may not also be Joe Strummer from The Clash and/or one of The Ramones) from Black House and The Talisman. So it's only fitting that I "borrow" from a fellow internet personality in this day and age to kick off my latest MCU theory.

Now, I ask you: Why is Michael Keaton's Vulture riffing on Bugs Bunny in the Morbius trailer when the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the (ugh! Do I really have to type this? Did they really think this would roll off the tongue?) "Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters" were confirmed to have nothing to do with each other? Why is Eddie Brock reading the Daily Bugle tabloid from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy in the trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage? And how did Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man 2) and Jamie Foxx's Electro (Amazing Spider-Man 2) end up in the MCU in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home? The events of Loki may hold some answers. But for now, watch the trailers and see if you can spot these connections and more.

In Loki, we were introduced to the concept of Nexus Events and multiple Universes, though, to be fair, the end-credits scene from Guardians Of the Galaxy 2 confirmed that every visual presentation of a Marvel property that had a Stan Lee cameo, going back to the live-action Incredible Hulk in the 1980s, exists in a shared Multiversal continuity. Weirdly, this may also include non-Marvel properties like Star Wars, The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, Muppet Babies, Robot Chicken, the DC Animated Universe (broadcast only), and Heroes. Kind of a Tommy Westphall situation, isn't it?

But we aren't here to talk Stan Lee cameos (there's a Wikipedia page for that). We're here to talk about Loki and Spider-Man, beginning with the last question of how I think Doc Ock and Electro got out of their respective films and into No Way Home. For Doc Ock's extraction from the Raimi films, it's pretty easy. He was working on an energy source that was supposed to function like a miniaturized version of the sun, but in the finale of Spider-Man 2, it malfunctioned because of mad science and evil robot arms, so Peter had to bring him to his senses and convince him to stop it before it went supernova and consumed the Earth. The off switch didn't work, so Ock sacrificed himself, redeeming his character arc and saving the day. Enter black hole/wormhole theory and comic book logic, and we have a villain from a previously unconnected cinematic Universe transported to the MCU. But the theory doesn't stop there. I believe that the finale of Spider-Man 2 created a Nexus Event, and that the Venom films are the true continuation of Raimi's films, while Spider-Man 3 takes place in a branching continuity. This explains why the mugger from the first Spider-Man doesn't look like Thomas Haden Church (Flint Marko, a.k.a. Sandman, who was retconned to have killed Uncle Ben for Spider-Man 3), why no one but Harry Osborne and MJ seems to remember Peter showing his secret identity to everyone in the second movie, why Bruce Campbell (retroactively credited as Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio, on the IMDB pages of all three Raimi films) has a French accent, and why Eddie Brock and Venom are utter trash. So Spider-Man 3? Not canon. Or, at least, not sacred. On to Venom and its sequel, where Spider-Man is...dead maybe? There were talks early on in Venom's production that it would be loosely connected to the MCU's Home Trilogy, but the tabloid (whereas the MCU version of the Daily Bugle has a Fox News-type format like in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series) says otherwise: that Venom and its sequel follow from the final moments of Spider-Man 2. There is a poster in the Morbius trailer above that depicts Spider-Man in the Raimi costume, grafitti'd over with the word, "Murderer," hinting that Spider-Man in the SPUoMC (my tongue is hamburger right now) may be a fugitive in hiding.

The more challenging part of the theory comes with how Electro made the jump. We know that after he was defeated in Amazing Spider-Man 2, his Bluetooth voltmeter remained intact, at the time so Sony could set up more ASM  sequels and a Sinister Six film, which never happened because fans and moviegoers saw through the desperate catch-up tactics that ASM 2 employed to try to compete with the MCU. I mean, they tried to set up Black Cat, Allistair Smythe, Ultimate Green Goblin, Ultimate Venom, Norman Osborne as a second Lizard, the Rhino, the return of Electro, Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Man-Wolf, the Grizzly, Scorpion, and any other animal-themed Spider-Man villains I forgot, all in one film! Even by Spider-Man 3 and Batman & Robin standards, that is way too many villains to introduce in a two-and-a half-hour period. But I digress and diverge. We know that Electro is still potentially active. We also know that Amazing Spider-Man 2 ended with a freeze-frame of Spider-Man about to throw down with the Rhino. So could this be part of a reset by the TVA? Was Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man captured as a Variant, like Loki was? Did Electro jump from his headpiece to a Temp Pad or a pruning baton, and hitch a ride to the MCU proper?

That's all I have for you today, so remember to give your thoughts on my thoughts in the comments section and click those social media buttons down below, and the Ticketmaster will see you in August with more Marvelous content.

Ticketmaster,

Out.