This story was originally published in the second edition of The Lion’s Tale (December 13th, 2021).

Over the past two decades the world has seen many different faces take on the mantle of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, from the nerdy newspaper photographer played by Tobey Maguire, the quick-witted web-slinger played by Andrew Garfield, and now the high school Avenger played by Tom Holland. And beyond that we’ve seen Chris Pine as a Spider-Man in his prime and Jake Johnson as a Spider-Man presumably past his peak, both in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, alongside Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales and many, many more Spider-Mans, no, Spider-People, or Spider-… Beings? Point is, there’s been a lot of them. 

Throughout these years, audiences have debated this cluster of Spiders and the thinning out of their best villains, wondering how much is too much, or if we’re already past that point. But the newest edition to the MCU pantheon and Tom Holland’s third chapter as Spider-Man in this diverse universe promises something wildly new for the web-slinger’s world while offering the perfect chance to celebrate the Spider-Men of yester-year. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up where the last film left off, with Spider-Man’s identity being revealed to the world all thanks to previous antagonist Mysterio. With his reputation ruined and half of New York despising the wall-crawler, Peter seeks out Doctor Strange to reverse the damage and make the world forget that Parker is Spider-Man. But when the spell goes wrong and the multiverse starts tearing apart, both Spidey and the Sorcerer Supreme must work together to round-up the most infamous in the web-head’s rogues gallery, all from alternate realities. 

The hype behind this film is the biggest the MCU has ever seen, far larger than even the grand epics of Infinity War and Endgame from just a few years ago. But regardless of what unfolds in this sequel, fans are pumped for when Spider-Man: No Way Home drops on December 17, 2021 and are ready for the first live-action cinematic ride through the Marvel multiverse.