SPIDEY 4 becomes AMAZING becomes Marvel's SPIDER-MAN

[Randall]

I wondered what you meant, when I realized you must have thought Mysterio when I said Mephisto.

[Randall]

See, in the comics, it was Mephisto (Marvel's devil character) who erased the world's knowledge that Peter was Spider-Man.

[EricJ]

And the latest fan theory, of course, is that it's really... Mephisto!

Which makes total sense, for so many reasons, including the apparent homages to the One More Day storyline from the comics.

And fans' even more compelling "evidence" is the scene where Peter is being protested on the street, and someone's holding a protest picture of Peter as the devil ("Hah, see, it's a planted Easter egg!")

...Reaching a tad, methinks.

(At this point, we shouldn't ask WHY Doc is fooling with Multiverses, the studio just wants him to as quickly as possible so they can rewrite villain deaths and recast heroes with cheaper actors.
And even then, the trailer makes it clear that Doc could cast the spell if Peter wasn't screwing it up.)

[Ben]

I wondered what you meant, when I realized you must have thought Mysterio when I said Mephisto.

And, of course, I know this. Sorry, was having a senior moment there…

[Dan]

When the inclusion of Dr. Strange was first announced, I actually thought more about the story arc "Happy Birthday", which was the second-to-last story arc under my favorite Spider-Man run, J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr., and ended with the Amazing line reverting to the original numbering, which at at the time came to #500 (which remains one of my favorite individual comic books ever). And the more I think about it from watching the No Way Home trailer, the more I think the film pulls from this story arc than from "Spider-Verse" or "One More Day".

[Ben]

Yes, I can’t imagine Sony — or Marvel — want to go into specific Spider-Verse territory, particularly as they also have a sequel set in that multiverse, and if we start crossing over or drawing too much from the same streams we'll end up with a multiverse or multiverses!

Then again, while they draw *elements* from the comics, the movies do like to mix it up a little to still keep things fresh(er) for fans. I’m hoping we ultimately get a blend that *feels* old, but is new at the same time. Whatever else, the movie looks like it’s going to deliver a good time!

[Daniel]

Majority of those Mephisto theories are jokes because of "WandaVision", where every little reference to the devil was believed to be a hint at the true big bad behind it all. The Devil is in the details!

[EricJ]

Of course, the only other time we've had Mephisto in a Marvel movie was in the first Nicolas Cage Ghost Rider, but that was a Sony, so...

[Ben]

And even that isn’t SPUMC.

Whoever did come up with that name, and/or think it was appropriate?*



*EDIT: apparently no one. They literally just changed it, to the arguably even worse SSU. Why not just call it Sony's Spider-Verse and be done with it!?

[EricJ]

And even that isn’t SPUMC.
Whoever did come up with that name, and/or think it was appropriate?*

Much as I loathe John K.'s existence, I'm hoping the change was the result of a lawsuit from Spumco.

[Ben]

Nope, just the (slow) realisation that it sounded crass and was being made fun of all over the internet.

[EricJ]

Still, Sony was considering keeping it as their followup to the animated Into the Spiderverse:

[Ben]

Eh?

[Dacey]

I'm so confused...

[EricJ]

(And the two most joke-impaired posters were in first...)