Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has become one of the most theorized-over movies of all time. Over the past year, the internet has been full of speculation and wonder over which characters from which universes will make it into the movie. Well, now the movie is out, and fans finally have answers.
Despite there being a lot of characters that didn't make the cut, the movie did a good job of packing in as many fan favorites as possible. But there are some who deserved way more screentime. However, with a movie so packed to the brim, it simply isn't possible to give every character a satisfying amount of screentime unless it was given a Zack Snyder's Justice League-like length.
Wong
Though he's simply a supporting character in the Doctor Strange series and has no reason to be in a Spider-Man movie, it's always great to see Wong pop up. And in No Way Home, the banter between him and Strange is better than ever, as little of it as there is.
However, the lack of Wong isn't the worst absence in the movie, as MCU fans are enjoying so many cameos from the character. Not only is he in No Way Home, but he also briefly appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and he'll obviously have a major role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness too. Fans are living in Wong's world, especially as he's now the Sorcerer Supreme.
Coach Wilson
The MCU has many trademarks that work so well, and that few other cinematic universes have picked up on. One of those is the use of comedy actors, as there are so many comedians in the MCU, especially the Spider-Man movies. Comedian Hannibal Buress played Coach Wilson in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and he was a hilarious gym teacher who couldn't care less about shaping his students' lives or their futures.
Though he was absent in Far From Home, he returned very briefly in No Way Home. Wilson is found arguing with other members of the faculty in front of Peter about whether or not Spider-Man is a villain. The gym teacher is so firmly in the camp of Peter being evil that he hilariously doesn't care about raising his concerns in front of the student. Unfortunately, he isn't seen again after that one short clip.
Flash Thompson
As the first two Spider-Man movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were John Hughes-influenced coming-of-age movies, there were a lot more scenes surrounding the teenagers. Flash Thompson was somewhat of a bully and completely narcissistic, and it was always a joy when he was on screen. But as the series has developed into a multiverse-spanning epic, there isn't exactly enough time to focus on all of Peter's classmates.
What fans saw of Flash in the new movie was fun, but it would have still been nice to see him talk more about his autobiography, Flashpoint. However, audiences could see more of the character in the future. Flash could be the symbiote's next host, which is especially likely given how the mid-credits scene sees remnants of the symbiote being left in the MCU universe.
Betty Brant
Outside of Peter and MJ, the movie's most wholesome and captivating relationship was Ned and Betty. It would have been fascinating to see their relationship now after they broke up in Far From Home, but they didn't even say a word to each other in No Way Home. Not only that, but Betty was nowhere to be seen in the film.
Betty did feature heavily in the promotional campaign for the movie, as she was interviewing the cast on Tik Tok for The Daily Bugle, almost as if she was interning for the Spidey-hating newspaper. That could mean that there are some scenes between Betty and J. Jonah Jameson, which would have made for a very strange working relationship.
Happy
Happy is essentially only in three scenes: at the beginning when he and Aunt May break up, in the middle when he sees Aunt May dying in Peter's arms, and at the end at Aunt May's grave. And even then, those scenes are way too short.
In Homecoming, Happy essentially acted as Peter's babysitter, and in Far From Home, he became heavily involved in the action. Happy perfectly transitioned from being Tony Stark's bodyguard in the Iron Man series to becoming Spidey's new father figure, and though it seemed like that was going to develop further in No Way Home, it was stalled.
Roger Harrington
Played brilliantly by Martin Starr, Roger Harrington is another of Peter's teachers from the first movie, and he had an imperative role in both of the previous films. As both of the films featured school trips, with the first being to Washington and the second being a giant Euro trip, Harrington was responsible for the children's safety, failing miserably both times.
Unfortunately, there's no time for a third trip with him haplessly keeping the kids in line, but he does feature in the same scene as Coach Wilson. Being the yin to Wilson's yang, Harrington loves Spider-Man, and he even built a shrine in the school devoted to the web-slinger.
Eddie Brock
There are loads of great post-credit scenes in the MCU, but one of the very best is in No Way Home, as it mixes cinematic universes by throwing Venom into the universe. He is seen at a beach bar asking the bartender questions about Thanos. But people were expecting to see him with a lot more screentime. As Sony has wanted to make the Sinister Six for so long, and as there were five villains in the new movie, Venom would have rounded out the infamous villain team.
A big deal was made out of Hardy being on the No Way Home set and posting images on Instagram of him wearing a No Way Home hat. Because of that, it seems like most audiences were expecting to see Eddie Brock in the main body of the movie. It seems like the actor must have been visiting the set just to... visit.
Julius Dell
The third and final teacher that has left such a huge impression on audiences — but not so much on his students — is Julius Dell. Again, Julius shows up with the other two teachers, but where Coach Wilson thinks Peter is evil, and Harrington thinks he's a hero, Julius brilliantly sits on the fence.
J.B. Smoove is another comedian who is best known for playing Leon in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and as that show is built on mostly ad-libs, he no doubt did the same here. It wouldn't be surprising if it was revealed that most of the clip between the three teachers was improvised, as all three actors are known for their comedy chops. And if so, there are surely many hilarious outtakes that Marvel must release.
Matt Murdock
Gearing up to the release of the new movie, Kevin Feige dropped the bomb that if anybody was to play Daredevil in the MCU, it'd be Charlie Cox, who played the character in the beloved Netflix series. It was a random, out-of-nowhere announcement and fans speculated that he'd show up in No Way Home.
And while that was true, he was only in the movie for two minutes. The Netflix series has been canceled for three years now, so it would have been so satisfying to see Cox back in the suit. But him appearing as Peter's lawyer was fan service enough. Not only that, but the Netflix series' Kingpin also showed up in Hawkeye, which has led to questions where Kingpin could show up next in the MCU.
J. Jonah Jameson
Seeing J. Jonah Jameson run a Fox-like news channel on his own and in front of a green screen is a great modern take on the Daily Bugle. But the best thing about Jameson in the original Spider-Man trilogy was his interactions with his employees and his fits of rage that they'd have to suffer.
Unfortunately, as great as it is, the news channel restricts that. The movie could have played with that a little more, especially considering Betty is now an intern for the newspaper. There was a hint of it with his cameraman, but it was extremely tame by Jameson's standards.