In the latest trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange revealed that the movie's five villains all have one thing in common: they died at the hands of the Spider-Man in their worlds. That makes sense for Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Electro, but Sandman made amends with Peter Parker and The Lizard ended up behind bars.
According to The Cosmic Circus, the threequel will expand on what happened in The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man franchises. That means we'll get details on what both Spider-Men have been up to in the years since we last saw them, and learn how Sandman and The Lizard died.
The site notes that we'll also see Spider-Man: No Way Home explore "the kind of toll that being Spider-Man has taken on Maguire’s and Garfield’s" versions of the character.
Needless to say, any sort of hint about what happened next will be welcomed by fans of each franchise. However, before you start worrying that anything we learn won't be fully authentic to the visions of Sam Raimi and Marc Webb, both directors were reportedly consulted about the story arcs of these returning characters. That's a pretty exciting prospect, and definitely feels like the right move.
Ultimately, time will tell whether these Variant Spider-Men are even in the threequel, as that remains unconfirmed. It does feel like the worst kept secret in the Marvel Cinematic Universe right now, though!
Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in U.S. on December 17 and in the UK on December 15.