Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters in December, just in time for the Christmas holiday, and recent rumors indicate that the movie will possibly re-create a classic comic book moment.
In the rumors, it sounds like Spider-Man will attempt to kill one of his most dangerous villains in revenge for a traumatic act.
Here is what we know.
Spider-Man could try to kill Green Goblin
First, this is just a rumor for now as it was reported by We Got This Covered, a site that doesn’t have the best reputation. However, they claim they got the news from the same source that reported the Guardians of the Galaxy was in Thor: Love & Thunder before that news hit.
With that in mind, the site said the source, who is close to the production, said Spider-Man will try to kill Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The idea is that this would mirror the events of The Amazing Spider-Man #121-122 by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane (1973). This story was “The Night Gwen Stacy Died.”
Now, there are a couple of notes here.
First, Spider-Man went through this storyline in the movie Amazing Spider-Man 2, where Harry Osborn’s Green Goblin killed Gwen Stacy, and Spider-Man went after him for revenge.
The first Spider-Man movie in 2002 featured Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin and played out the storyline with Mary Jane Watson. Still, Spider-Man saved her there, and he chose not to kill Norman, only for Osborn to kill himself accidentally.
The idea that the third Spider-Man franchise would use the same storyline that both of the first two already did seems like overkill. Plus, it would likely mean that MJ (Zendaya) could die, which seems unlikely.
Despite that, the rumors indicate that could be the case, and Spider-Man: No Way Home has already finished shooting, so it is possible someone knows something.
However, there could be another explanation.
Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Hobgoblin
Fans already know that Willem Defoe will be reprising his role as Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Also returning is Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man 2) and Jamie Foxx as Electro (Amazing Spider-Man 2).
Since Norman Osborn was also in Amazing Spider-Man 2, and died, this likely means the multiverse will finally play into the MCU after teasing and pulling the rug out from under fans in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
There are also rumors that Peter Parker’s best friend Ned Leeds could become Hobgoblin in this Spider-Man movie (also mirroring the comics, where Ned was brainwashed to portray the Hobgoblin by the real Hobgoblin to cover his tracks).
If there are all these villains, and if there are multiple Peter Parker’s in this movie (Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire are both rumored), Peter could learn about the Green Goblin from Maguire’s Parker and then assume that Defoe’s character was responsible for an attack on MJ and go after him, only to learn it was Hobgoblin.
Once again, these are just theories based on a rumor, so anything could happen … or none of these things could happen at all.
There are eight months left before Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters, so there is plenty of time for speculating about what could happen, and that is always fun.
Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters on December 17, 2021. Check out the full Marvel movie release schedule here.