Why Spider-Man: No Way Home's Trailer Has MCU Fans Worried About Ned
After the latest "Spider-Man: No Way Home" trailer dropped last night, fans have an incredible amount of details to sift through that may give them any clues as to the plot, villains, and of course, if Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man will in fact show up at some point in the film.
Although there is no appearance of Maguire or Garfield in the latest trailer, we still get a lot from it — including more information on the plot and confirmation of Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Jamie Foxx's Electro, and Rhys Ifans' Lizard appearing, among others. The end of the trailer even shows a monument to Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) being built as Tom Holland's Spider-Man is in the middle of an intense battle with nearly the entire rogues gallery, or at least most members of the Sinister Six, on the surrounding scaffolding.
Reflecting many parallels to the Maguire "Spider-Man" trilogy, fans witness MJ (Zendaya) fall off of the scaffolding near the end of the trailer, with Spider-Man leaping to save her — unmistakably reminiscent of Maguire doing the same thing in the bridge scene at the end of 2002's "Spider-Man." While the short clip leaves many fans worrying about MJ, there's another shot in the trailer that is actually causing concern among fans over the fate of another character — Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon).
Fans are afraid Ned will fall and get severely injured
At the end of the newest trailer, it's not just MJ at risk of getting hurt, but also Ned, who can be seen right near MJ as she falls, hanging onto a pole as the surrounding structure collapses. According to a recent thread on Reddit, a lot of fans are worried that Ned may not be able to hang on while Peter's focus is on saving MJ. Even if the other Spider-Men (Maguire and Garfield) are there, their focus would likely also be on saving MJ, leaving Ned to fall to what could possibly be his death. User Radium_Cobalt_847 initiated the discussion, asking if anyone was going to even address the detail of Ned dangling to save MJ.
In response, user Ozymandias12 brought up an interesting question and possible theory: "What if Tom chooses to dive after MJ, she gets saved by Garfield Spider-Man and Ned actually falls, he gets severely injured and that leads to him becoming Hobgoblin?" It's entirely possible that "Spider-Man: No Way Home" could adapt the comic book storyline in which Ned does in fact become Hobgoblin, a theory brought up by Nerdist all the way back in 2019. Although, it's worth noting that Ned doesn't actually fall off in the trailer, at least from what we're shown, so it's possible he may not fall at all.
Ned falling may be the first time we see Maguire and Garfield
Even more interesting was a comment from user misthios98, who asked that, assuming both Ned and MJ fall off the scaffolding, what if Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man saves Ned? Or to go even further, what if Tom Holland's Spider-Man doesn't reach MJ or Ned in the heat of the battle, possibly losing both, only for Maguire and Garfield to show up and save them?
This theory was supported by multiple fans, including user LoL_LoL123987 who noted that it would "redeem" both Maguire and Garfield's similar failings in their own films. Garfield's Spider-Man doesn't save Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) from her death in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," while Maguire's Spider-Man is unable to save his own best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), at the end of "Spider-Man 3."
User misthios98 went on to say that if this were to occur, it would not only shock fans because they initially think MJ and Ned die, but it might also bring them to tears after, with Maguire and Garfield providing "meaningful" comments to Holland's Spider-Man based on their own past, tragic experiences. Fans can only hope that this theory might come true, as many anticipate seeing Maguire and Garfield when "Spider-Man: No Way Home" hits theaters December 17.