Movies

Spider-Man: No Way Home Recreates The Spider-Man Meme, You Know The One

Spider-Man pointing meme ARP Films
By Jeremy Mathai/

Is a spoiler still a spoiler if the actual movie studios involved go ahead and tweet it out for all to see? That's right, today's finally the day where we break out the famous "If a tree falls down in a forest..." thought experiment and apply it to, naturally, superhero movies.

Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the last year and change likely knows the struggle of trying to dodge spoilers and mysterious leaks pouring out of the production of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" all too well. Though many would insist that spoilers aren't the end-all, be-all of the moviegoing experience, there is perhaps something to be said for preserving that first-time viewing of a highly anticipated movie. Of course, "No Way Home" went on to become one of the absolute biggest movies of the year in 2021 — in fact, of all-time as well — and much of that was fueled by the film's multiverse-based premise, reuniting three separate iterations of "Spider-Man" franchises over the years through the return of the villains featured in Sam Raimi and Marc Webb's films.

But after months and months of breathless speculation, that couldn't possibly be the full extent of the surprises in store for audiences, could it? We've done our best to maintain a spoiler-free space (within reason) for anyone who may not have felt comfortable heading out to crowded theaters at the height of a pandemic, but the internet at large is an ever-dangerous place for those who wish to remain completely innocent of all surprises. So for one final time, hopefully, we're going to throw out a good ol' fashioned spoiler warning for anyone who somehow, inexplicably, and maybe even miraculously made it this far without already discovering all the secrets hiding within "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Seriously, scroll no further than here if that applies to you. Meanwhile, I'll meet everyone else below.

Spider-Memes

Spider-Man Far From Home Sony Pictures

Alright, still here? Good, because it's long past time that we got down to brass tacks and spoke frankly about the fact that, yes, all three Spider-Men actually did come together and meet up face-to-face-to-face in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and the MCU's Tom Holland all tried to play coy about it for a long time. (Well, Maguire mostly avoided all that hubbub by simply staying out of the limelight, leaving Garfield and Holland to constantly lie ... and sometimes not all that convincingly, either.) In any case, the movie obviously played out like a mix between a live-action version of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and, well, a recreation of that fan-favorite meme from the 1967 "Spider-Man" cartoon, involving two Spider-Men pointing at each other.

Speak of the devil, however, and the memes will appear. After continuing to downplay any big reveals even well after "No Way Home" smashed box office records and the stars themselves began openly talking about their top-secret appearances, both Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have apparently decided that today, February 23, 2022, is finally the day when we no longer have to pretend that none of us can see the spider-shaped elephant in the room. (Okay, my bad, as an arachnophobe I'd be the first one to admit that that's a horrific mental image.) To get to the point, neither major studio behind the film is playing coy anymore. Check out the fun meme tweeted out earlier today by the official "Spider-Man: No Way Home" Twitter account:

Now, you might think that the big news here concerns that home release date (which we already covered previously), but in reality this meme provides us the perfect opportunity to address Spider-butt-gate, stemming from credible allegations that one of the actors needed to wear a fake butt, and get to the (ahem) bottom of it, once and for all. Tellingly, you'll notice that Maguire's is the only one given any prominent airtime while the other two are carefully hidden away. Thus, we're inclined to absolve Maguire of all suspicion (it looks normal!) and set our sights on either Garfield or Holland as the ultimate culprit. Given that Holland suggested that it belonged to one of his co-stars, I'm afraid I must point the finger at Garfield.

Case closed. Go forth, enjoy Spider-memes, and watch "No Way Home" at home on April 12, 2022.

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