Spider-Man: No Way Home - What We Know So Far

For some upcoming movies, it's pretty simple to determine what we know about the plot or the cast or when it's supposed to come out. That cannot be said for "Spider-Man: No Way Home," however. Production for the third Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man film has been marked by a constant and deafening churn of gossip and speculation. 

Even the title was up in the air for a moment when the film's young stars Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya revealed three different Home-based titles — "Spider-Man: Phone Home," "Spider-Man: Homewrecker," and "Spider-Man: Home Slice" — during a coordinated Instagram prank in February 2021. Since then we've thankfully nailed down the actual title (Marvel and Sony Pictures cleared things up the next day by letting everyone know that it's "Spider-Man: No Way Home") but there's still plenty more speculation to sort through.

Since its inception, "Spider-Man: No Way Home" has been beset by rumors of returning Spider-Men from different timelines, villainous resurrections, and more multiversal shenanigans than you could shake a Time Stone at. Holland told Variety his third outing is going to be "the most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever made" and so far it's shaping up to be just that. 

Here's everything we know about the release date, cast, and plot of "Spider-Man: No Way Home." 

Let's start with something we do know for sure. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is set to debut in theaters on December 17, 2021. When it comes to the film's future on at-home streaming services, though, things get a little more complicated. 

If you're an MCU or Disney fan, you've likely already taken advantage of the fact that the studios have been releasing some of their most hotly anticipated blockbusters on Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic. It would make sense for "No Way Home" to follow suit, except that the "Spider-Man" movies are actually Sony properties and the fact that the character was introduced into the MCU at all is kind of a business deal miracle. That deal means we get to see Holland's Peter Parker palling around with the likes of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) but it also means that you won't be seeing the movie on Disney+ Premier Access. 

According to What's On Disney+, "No Way Home" will be heading to Starz after its theatrical and home video runs. While it will eventually find its way to the Disney+ library, that won't be happening anytime soon. If you want to see "No Way Home" when it premieres on December 17 you're going to have to head to the theater. 

When it comes to the cast for "Spider-Man: No Way Home," there are some things we can be sure of. Holland is definitely back as Peter Parker. Furthermore, Zendaya will reprise her role as MJ, Batalon will return as Ned Leeds, and Marisa Tomei will once again play Aunt May. 

Additionally, we know that there will be several MCU crossovers. Benedicts Cumberbatch and Wong will be making appearances as Doctor Strange and Wong, while perennial MCU ensemble member Jon Favreau will once again play Happy Hogan. 

Now comes the fun stuff. As has been speculated for some time, there will be returning characters from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy and the two "Amazing Spider-Man" films from Marc Webb. The "No Way Home" trailer gave us a glimpse of Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus aka Doc Ock and teased the presence of Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon a.k.a. Electro and Willem Dafoe's iconic Green Goblin. More recently, The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) were confirmed to be making appearances, as well. J.K. Simmons, who popped up in the mid-credit sequence of "Spider-Man: Far From Home," will also be returning as J. Jonah Jameson.

The biggest question surrounding "No Way Home" is whether any of the previous Spider-Men — Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield — or characters like Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) or Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) will be featured in the film. Everyone from Holland to Garfield to Kevin Feige himself (via ScreenRant) has thrown cold water on those rumors. And yet, there is evidence to suggest that fans shouldn't lose all hope that they will get the massive Spider-Man crossover of their dreams. After all, it wouldn't be the first time audiences have been lied to about Spider-Man. 

Ultimately, though, we probably won't have confirmation either way until the film premieres.

As far as the plot for "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is concerned, there's a lot we do know and even more we don't.

Based on the trailer and the official bits of synopsis that have come out, we know that the film will see Peter Parker dealing with the aftermath of the mid-credit sequence from "Far from Home," where Jameson played a video from Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal a.k.a. Taylor Swift's ex) revealing to the world that the plucky high schooler is in fact Spider-Man. When the pressure of this revelation gets to be too much for him, Peter goes to his old buddy Doctor Strange to have him perform a little timeline magic and zap everything back to before his identity was doxxed. But of course, that doesn't exactly go as planned.

The trailer's world-bending action and the presence of villains from the previous film series suggest that "No Way Home" will see Peter and his allies dealing with a total multiverse meltdown. Of course, exactly what that entails will be revealed when we see the movie itself. Considering this is the last movie in Holland's "Spider-Man" trilogy, though, it's safe to say that the stakes will be huge.

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" hits theaters on December 17.