Caution: Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home brought three cinematic iterations of Spider-Man together, but it ignored many of the Marvel characters in Tobey Maguire’s home universe. Tobey Maguire’s version of Spider-Man, known in the film as “Peter-Two” and now marketed as the “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” had numerous Marvel characters in his home universe, thanks to not only three films, but canonical spinoff material, such as video games, novelizations, and one-shot comics. No Way Home features three characters with Raimi-universe counterparts, yet “Peter-Two” and his villains ignore this.

All three iterations of Spider-Man come from universes that include numerous Marvel characters. In addition to the villains who appeared (or were mentioned) in No Way Home, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man fought a plethora of Marvel Comics villains in his video games. The Raimi universe video games and novelizations also include references and appearances by other superheroes, like Doctor Strange, Captain America, Mr. Fantastic, Ant-Man, and The Punisher. Andrew Garfield’s iteration of Spider-Man, called “Peter-Three” in No Way Home, similarly features many additional Marvel characters in his universe’s spinoff material.

Related: What If Tobey Maguire Had Been The MCU's First Spider-Man

In the Raimi universe, Peter Parker notably interacts with Curt Connors numerous times in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, and Doctor Connors is said to be a close friend and colleague of Otto Octavius. Neither Octavius nor Peter-Two mentions this when encountering Peter-Three’s Doctor Connors. Doctor Strange, who’s mentioned by name in Spider-Man 2 by J. Jonah Jameson, speaks to both Octavius and Peter-Two but also doesn’t mention that their universe has a Doctor Strange. Behind the scenes, the decision to ignore this may have been to avoid confusing audiences, but in-universe, there are several potential explanations for the lack of acknowledgment.

Dylan Baker as Dr Curt Connors.

Doctor Octopus may have been friends with his universe’s Doctor Curt Connors, but he never lived to see his friend become the Lizard (which occurred in the Spider-Man 3 video game). Though he heard the name of his friend while imprisoned in the Sanctum Sanctorum, he likely dismissed it, not believing that the reptilian being in the nearby cell was his friend—or at least a variant of his friend. As far as Doctor Strange, Octavius simply might not be familiar with his universe’s version of Strange.

Doctor Strange’s Raimi universe counterpart might also look and sound different than his MCU counterpart. While the MCU’s J. Jonah Jameson resembles his Raimi counterpart, Doctor Connors is depicted by two different actors in the two universes. This could explain why Maguire’s Spider-Man didn’t show any familiarity with the MCU’s Doctor Strange. The Raimi universe’s Spider-Man did, however, interact with Doctor Connors in both human and Lizard form.

Maguire’s Spider-Man approached the multiverse villains with the nonchalance of a hero who’s seen and dealt with countless threats over the years. While likely an unintentional reference on the filmmakers’ parts, Peter-Two’s casual acceptance of the alternate universe Lizard and Electro is because he’s fought his reality’s versions of them already. Spider-Man: No Way Home may have ignored the hidden Marvel characters from the Raimi universe, but the film didn’t contradict any of its lore either.

Next: How The Raimi Spider-Man Video Games Can Become Part Of The MCU Multiverse

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