The trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home has revealed key elements about the film's plot - including the fact that it appears to be adapting elements from the controversial and unpopular storyline of One More Day, from Marvel comics. In One More Day, Peter Parker, who has recently publicly revealed his identity as Spider-Man, suffers consequences for it - including the assassination of his Aunt May at the hands of the ruthless Kingpin. In order to put things back to how they had been, he makes a deal with Mephisto, and at the cost of his marriage, once again regains the anonymity of his secret identity.
The comic was unpopular among fans, who felt that Spider-Man making a deal with the Marvel analog to the Devil was out of character, and that the whole affair was an effort to walk back years of character growth and development. Although No Way Home Spider-Man's MJ isn't named Mary Jane, and they aren't married, it appears that concern for this relationship - and for the past that he has built with the other friends and relations who know his secret identity - will again be a sticking point. This gives some hope that the most egregious parts of the original comic won't be repeated.
The easiest way for No Way Home to avoid falling into the same traps as One More Day is to differ on the points that were so contentious, and No Way Home has already taken some positive steps in this regard. While the general premise - Spider-Man seeking a supernatural solution for his identity problem, with disastrous results - retreads the same ground covered in the comic, both cause and effect are different, and those changes in approach make a considerable difference. With Spider-Man not responsible for his own outing, and no Mephisto, the story changes for the better.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Is Adapting Parts Of One More Day
No Way Home comes closest to adapting the controversial parts of One More Day in its initial pitch; that Spider-Man, having found that his life is intolerably complicated by the revelation of his identity, seeks to undo the damage by magical means. In seeking such a remedy, however, he finds that his meddling has consequences and that he stands to lose people that are important to him. This is a familiar morality play to fans of the Brothers Grimm or W.W. Jacobs' The Monkey's Paw, driven home by an ominous warning from Dr. Strange to Spider-Man in the trailer for No Way Home to "be careful what you wish for, Parker."
Exploring that theme, it's not surprising that Spider-Man and Doctor Strange might find a reason to fight, especially with the latter taking Mephisto's role of 'granter of wishes'. Both Mephisto and Strange effect the desired change by apparently tapping into the multiverse - seeking a world to draw from that more closely resembles the one that Spider-Man wants to live in. In the context of One More Day, this was simply a means to an end; although the concept of the multiverse is invoked, it's not explored. No Way Home appears to be more interested in deciding what 'using the multiverse to counteract a major decision' might actually mean.
Why One More Day Is Such A Hated Spider-Man Story
Among the reasons that One More Day was unpopular among fans and critics alike was that it seemed shoehorned in; that rather than being used to further Spider-Man's storyline or to watch how he grew as a person, it was being used to regress him to a previous state. Since adjusts the timeline just when the multiverse is being explored as a major part of Phase 4, this might not be consistent in this adaptation. As well, One More Day had Spider-Man dealing with Mephisto in order to return things to the status quo, a feature not mirrored in this story; Doctor Strange might still be arrogant and impulsive, but he's not the manifestation of evil that Mephisto is.
One More Day also dealt with the consequences of a very different set of choices. The Civil War story in the Marvel comics was very different from Spider-Man is uncommon in having a secret identity problem; most heroes in the MCU don't maintain them at all. As a result, One More Day feels like someone trying to escape the consequences of their actions; No Way Home, at least to date, seems like someone trying to solve an unusual external crisis.
How Spider-Man: No Way Home Can Avoid One More Day's Mistakes
There are a lot of changes already evident from the trailer of No Way Home; chief among these, Peter Parker is seeking a solution to a problem not of his own making, and instead of making a deal with the devil with hidden costs, he sought help from a friend with unexpected consequences. Immediately, he's a more sympathetic character, and the changes to his continuity are problems to deal with, rather than deliberate ends for editorial purposes. Much though the movie will be peppered with familiar villains and other returning characters, the real struggle will be against the consequences of Spider-Man's choices - unlike the comics, where he was left unaware of his own doings.
No Way Home can also distinguish itself by making Spider-Man choose; there is a definite sense in the trailer that trying to be both a normal teenager and a superhero at the same time is the source of Spider-Man's woes. After all, while the majority of MCU heroes don't maintain a secret identity, neither do they get to walk away from the hero life for any stretch of time for privacy, however well deserved. Instead of regressing character development, No Way Home can build on it by forcing Peter Parker to make a choice, and while that choice may work out better for him than he anticipates, it could also be a well-rounded story about the price of power.
While Spider-Man's fix for his secret identity may resemble the comics, a great deal of thought has clearly gone into how to keep the story engaging, and not to turn off viewers with apparent deus ex machina sweeping the issue under the table. Instead of using this movie as a tool to reset expectations about what a Spider-Man movie can be, it's clear that the goal here is to advance both Spider-Man's personal story and the metaplot carrying through Phase 4 so far. As much as superhero movies have traditionally reset the status quo to allow for the shared universe of the MCU, this film promises to live up to its title and show lasting consequences: Spider-Man: No Way Home.
