The second movie trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home just dropped. At the time of writing, the trailer is trending #1 on YouTube with over 26 million views in just its first day and the hashtag #SpiderManNoWayHomeTrailer trending on Twitter. With numbers like these, it is undeniable that this 3 minute video created a massive topic of conversation and excitement for fans of the Spider, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU, for short), or casual movie fans. Keeping in mind that Spider-Man is one of, if not, THE most popular character in Marvel's roster, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that a 3-way crossover with itself could rival or even surpass the success of the first Avengers movie. However, nothing in Hollywood ever comes without a proof of concept and we might need to thank a certain blue hedgehog for this movie to even happen. Hear me out...
Spider-Man: No Way Home, conceptually, is very similar to Sega's video game Sonic Generations. How come, and how could a video game based on a cartoon hedgehog be the catalyst for one of the most successful movie franchises of our time? Let's start with the obvious similarities. From what we can tell, Spider-Man: No Way Home will bridge together the previous incarnations of Spider-man through the multiverse, bringing into the MCU some of the fan favorite characters (played by their original actors) from the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb movies like Dr. Otto Octavius, Norman Osborn, and Electro (played once again by Alfred Molina, William Defoe, and Jamie Foxx respectively). Similarly, while Eggman is the main threat, Sonic Generations pulls from Sonic's history to bring back fan favorite rivals like Metal Sonic, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Silver the Hedgehog.
While there is speculation about Tom Holland teaming up with previous Spider-Men Tobey and Andrew, based on the trailers alone, nothing has been confirmed yet. But do you know who did team up with an alternate version of himself? Sonic the Hedgehog. The main appeal of Sonic Generations was not just a trip down memory lane, but the idea that you could play as both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic in the same game. Yes, Classic Sonic is supposed to be Sonic's younger version in game, however he was retconned to be a Sonic from a different dimension in Sonic Forces (2017). Furthermore, at the time of their Crossover, were segmented in 3 eras: Raimi, Webb, and MCU for Spider-man and Classic, Adventure, and Modern for Sonic, and that the second era is considered by most fans as the "dark age" for both franchises. Did you also know both crossover properties were released almost exactly 10 years apart? I can keep bringing up similarities between the two, but I think I made my point clear by now.
So, what if the concept is similar? Why does it matter? To answer this, we need to look at what Sonic Generations was and what it meant to the franchise. As most Sonic fans are aware, Sonic had a rough patch between 2006 and 2011. After the release of the disastrous Sonic the Hedgehog (simply known as Sonic 06), Sonic became the go-to punching bag for critics and the video game community at large. While the blue blur finally received unanimous positive reception from both fans and critics, for the most part, in 2010 with the release of Sonic Colors, it wasn't until the release of Sonic Generations in 2011 that the franchise had a full-blown revival. The intent was to celebrate Sonic's history for his 20th anniversary, which gave Sega a reason to bring the 2 play styles together, and re-visit some of the franchise's most Iconic levels. The impact of this game on the series was so massive, Sega tried to go back to the Sonic Generations formula after the failure of Sonic Boom (to little success). What does this have to do with Spider-Man? While this is only speculation, there's nothing that comes from nothing in Hollywood. While I can't predict what Disney or Marvel are planning to do with Spider-Man (specially given Disney's legal battle with Sony for the movie rights), Spider-Man: No Way Home feels to me like a statement, the same way Avengers did back in 2012. How can you top the showstopper that was Avengers: Endgame? Well, if Sonic Generations could bring back a franchise at the verge of death, imagine what it would do to for Spider-man and the MCU!
What about Into the Spider-verse? Wouldn't Spider-Man: No Way Home be taking further inspiration from that rather than a 10 year-old Sonic the Hedgehog video game? The answer is simple: Yes. but actually no. The main difference between Into the Spider-verse and Spider-Man: No Way Home is that Into the Spider-verse focuses on new faces. While there were references celebrating the history of the Spider-man franchise, the focus remained on Miles Morales and the rest of the Spider-crew. While Spider-Man: No Way Home will undoubtedly do something new with these old characters, well... So did Sonic Generations which is why I think the blue blur is a more apt comparison. However, I'm not trying to imply the movie and the game are similar beyond the base concept. I mainly found it amusing all the probably coincidental similarities between the two franchises.I'm very excited to see the movie in December and I can't wait to see what Marvel has in store for us.
What do you think? Do you agree with my tin foil conspiracy theory? Are you excited to see the movie as well? Let me know in the comments below!