‘Scooby-Doo This Crap’ What No Way Home’s Worst Line Really Means

In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange tells Peter Parker to "Scooby-Doo this crap," and there's a meaning behind the derided line. Marvel's latest No Way Home trailer had several significant reveals. In the trailer, the past Spider-Man villains invading the Marvel Cinematic Universe don't recognize Tom Holland's Peter Parker as Spider-Man, confirming that they are definitely from alternate universes. "You're not Peter Parker," Alfred Molina's Doc Ock says after glimpsing Holland's face. Additionally, the trailer shows why Spider-Man and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) fight in various clips from the film. According to Doctor Strange, the invading Spider-Man villains have to die, but Peter Parker seemingly wants to save them instead.

Ever since the latest No Way Home trailer premiered, fans have been breaking down footage frame-by-frame to look for secrets. Spider-Man's eyes caught the internet's attention in one scene towards the end of the trailer, possibly showing that Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man makes an appearance. In another scene, Rhys Ifans' Lizard jumps at a foe that doesn't appear to be there, supposedly hinting that Marvel removed a character from the video to hide its identity.

Besides praising the footage, fans have also groaned over No Way Home moments, including Doctor Strange's infamous "Scooby-Doo" line. However, there may be an explanation for the dialogue. In the trailer, Doctor Strange tells Peter Parker and his friends to "Scooby-Doo this crap" after the villains enter the MCU. The joke hasn't landed with viewers, and fans have complained that a significant portion of the trailer features the moment. However, as derided as the scene is, the joke has significance. As pointed out by a viewer (via Reddit), the moment may reference a cartoon called The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, where a warlock (who looks a lot like the MCU's Doctor Strange) helps Scooby and the gang return thirteen dangerous ghosts to captivity in a chest. With the context, the joke could work in the film.

The similarities between No Way Home and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo are hard to ignore. The cartoon's plot consists of Scooby (Don Messick) and Shaggy (Casey Kasem) mistakenly letting thirteen terrible ghosts out of a chest and then trying to correct the faux pas. Vincent Price guest-starred in the series as a warlock called Vincent Van Ghoul and aided the gang in their quest. Since a sorcerer also helps a group of kids put villains back where they came from in No Way Home, the two distinctly different projects have clear parallels. With Tom Holland's Peter Parker constantly bringing up pop culture references in the MCU, he could easily mention The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, allowing Strange's line to make perfect sense.

It's odd that the line appears out of context. On its own, "Scooby-Doo this crap" doesn't mean much. After all, the Scooby-Doo cartoons mainly consist of a dog and a group of kids solving crimes and learning that the monsters were secretly desperate people in costumes. Doctor Strange could mean that Peter Parker and his friends will have to capture the villains, much like the kids do in Scooby-Doo. However, a 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo reference makes more sense, especially considering a wizard works with Scooby in the cartoon. So if Spider-Man: No Way Home isn't referencing that classic cartoon, Peter Parker's biggest rescue mission may be saving Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange from that failed line.

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