The first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home has released, giving fans a closer look at the film. Before now, there was a lot of speculation about movie’s plot and what role certain characters will play. However, Doctor Strange’s presence in the trailer sets the stage for No Way Home to serve as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on a rather controversial comic book story.
Helping Peter with his secret identity problems, Doctor Strange’s role in Spider-Man: No Way Home is reminiscent of One More Day. This arc is one of the most controversial Spider-Man stories in the comics, making it an odd choice of inspiration. That said, there may be more here than meets the eye.
One More Day
One More Day is a storyline published back in 2007 that continues to have huge ramifications across the Marvel Comics Universe. It came after the events of Civil War, wherein Spider-Man publicly announced his secret identity of Peter Parker. In One More Day, Aunt May is shot, making Peter reconsider his recent actions.
Many of his fellow superheroes are unable to help him, including Doctor Strange, with even the expertise of foes like Doctor Octopus being helpless to save May’s life. This forces Peter to eventually make a deal with Mephisto, ending his marriage with Mary Jane Watson, as well as changing years of history. In the end, Aunt May is alive and well, but many fans hate both the storyline and its ending of one of the most iconic marriages in comics.
How No Way Home Is Influenced By One More Day
As shown in the trailer, Spider-Man in No Way Home is also besieged by trouble concerning his secret identity getting out. To fix this problem, he consults Doctor Strange, hoping that a mere magical spell can make his secret identity a secret again. Strange mentions that everyone else will forget, with Peter immediately being worried about his relationship with MJ being erased.
This is much like the setup of One More Day and also foreshadows a similar fallout, particularly pertaining to Peter and MJ’s romance. The fact that Doctor Strange is involved is even more reminiscent, as are some of the villains. As mention, Doc Ock is in the One More Day storyline, and a version of him is also going to appear in No Way Home. This all amounts to the movie essentially being a multiversal adaptation of the arc in as much as the Civil War movie adapts the comic book narrative of the same name.
This is likely a shocker to longtime Spider-Man fans, who know firsthand just how reviled One More Day is and why it deserves this reputation. For a while, the storyline led to an immense downturn in the popularity of Spider-Man comic books, with many seeing it as invalidating decades of stories in order to rewrite the status quo in the name of nostalgia. However, using elements from this story may just work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man’s favor.
Many fans have criticized the MCU Spider-Man due to how comparatively easy his life is, as he lacks many of the struggles and defining moments of both the comics and other adaptations of the character, namely the Sam Raimi movies. Having to deal with secret identity shenanigans afterward as a status quo, as well as “losing” a love interest in some way, would be huge step towards maturing the character. MJ no longer knowing or liking Peter could, in some ways, be his equivalent to losing Gwen Stacy, paving the way for more traditional Spider-Man supporting characters and love interests to be introduced.
To see how Peter Parker’s next solo outing is influenced by One More Day, Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters on Dec. 17.
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