Did Spider-Man: No Way Home Just Tease More Of The MCU's Blade?
Contains spoilers for "Spider-Man: No Way Home"
With the release of the long-awaited "Spider-Man: No Way Home," MCU fans are finally able to gush over every detail on the internet. The hotly-anticipated film sees Tom Holland's Peter Parker reeling in the aftermath of Mysterio's (Jake Gyllenhaal) death and seeking out the MCU's go-to wizard for help in getting his secret identity back in check. Of course, not everything goes to plan, and Peter and his friends are forced to deal with the consequences of Dr. Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) haywire spell.
With its eye-popping numbers at the box office as proof, "No Way Home" delivers everything Spider-Man fans could want. Not only do we see the return of Spider-Man's most illustrious villains, but Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprise their versions of the web-slinging hero.
In addition to its character returns, one of the most amusing parts of "No Way Home" has to be its slew of Easter eggs referencing the MCU, comics, and other "Spider-Man" films. Some of these Easter eggs are obvious, while others are not so in-your-face. In case you missed it, we're diving into one such subtle detail that may be teasing a future MCU blockbuster.
Ned Leeds could be teasing Blade in the Sanctum Sanctorum
Thanks to the "Eternals" post-credit scene, we now know that vampires are soon to be making their way into the MCU. "Moonlight" star, Mahershala Ali, is set to reboot Marvel's superhero vampire, Blade, and per The Phase Zero podcast, we also know that the Ebony Blade of Black Knight (Kit Harington) is much more closely related to Blade and vampires than we previously had thought. So, it's not crazy to think that a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" could be referencing the MCU's upcoming take on vampires.
When Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) best friend, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), comes to his aid along with Peter's girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), they find themselves among the mystical artifacts in Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Interestingly enough, Ned picks up and dallies with a crossbow. Unbeknownst to him, however, the crossbow is actually loaded with a stake rather than an arrow. And thanks to titles like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Van Helsing," and "Daybreakers," we know crossbows are a popular weapon to use against vampires. According to well-known vampire lore, they prove especially deadly when loaded with wooden stakes. With the myriad of other magical objects in the Sanctum Sanctorum, Ned could have just come across this weapon randomly, but we like to think this was a subtle reference to Marvel's upcoming "Blade."