There has been a lot of information about villains showing up in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The first was when Jamie Foxx revealed he was returning as Elektro, the villain he played in Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man.
Up next was Alfred Molina revealing he was returning as Doctor Octopus, from Spider-Man 2 with Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man.
Now, Collider’s Jeff Sneider revealed the villains of the movie on the latest episode of his podcast.
Who are the villains for Spider-Man: No Way Home?
Sneider said that the title, Spider-Man: No Way Home, had nothing to do with Spider-Man not being able to get back home.
Instead, this was in reference to the villains not being able to get back home, after arriving in the Spider-Man world in the MCU with Tom Holland as Spider-Man.
“I had heard that the No Way Home wasn’t in reference to Spider-Man but to the villains — that the villains are coming out of all the alternate dimensions and things like that, and that they don’t have a way to get home.”
This ties into what Alfred Molina already said, when he revealed his character in Spider-Man: No Way Home would start off the instant that he began to drown at the end of Spider-Man 2.
This is why he didn’t die.
From the way it sounds, the characters ended up sent to an alternate Earth in the Spider-Man multiverse and have no way back.
According to Sneider, this will lead to the formation of the Sinister Six, the villains that fans have wanted to see Spider-Man face since the first trilogy.
It also appears that it won’t include Vulture, who was last seen in prison but might be making an appearance in Morbius for Sony next year.
Instead, Sneider said the villains would include three others seen in past movies. Sandman from Spider-Man 3, Rhino from Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Lizard from Amazing Spider-Man would fill out the cast.
“I’ve heard Sandman, Rhino, and Lizard. Those are the other three that I’ve heard. I don’t know if any of those are confirmed. I don’t know if Rhys Ifans, [Paul] Giamatti, or Thomas Hayden Church have been seen on set or anything.”
“Six Spider-Man villains from the past wind up in Peter Parker’s universe, and they are the ones who have no way of getting home.”
This also is a little disappointing for fans of those older movies.
At the end of Spider-Man 2, Doctor Octopus realized the error of his ways and ended up sacrificing his own life to stop his evil plans.
At the end of Spider-Man 3, Sandman helped Spider-Man beat Venom and seemed to leave to live his life out in peace, albeit in hiding. His was a truly tragic story.
Those two characters just returning to their evil ways almost undoes the work Sam Raimi did to rehabilitate them in the end.
Of course, Marvel has confirmed none of these rumors outside of Elektro and Doc Ock returning.
Who is the Sinister Six?
Spider-Man fought his own unique villains in his early days and eventually they all teamed up to go after him.
Originally, it was the Green Goblin who convinced them to work together, and while Sneider did not mention his name in his podcast, there have been rumors of Willem Dafoe returning as well.
Over the years, Doctor Octopus was also a leader and there is a big Sinister Six comic book storyline coming this summer in Marvel Comics that could help promote the new movie.
Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters on December 17, 2021. Check out the full Marvel movie release schedule here.