December's most anticipated film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, finally brings together the villains from Spider-Man's film history in a massive crossover. According to the trailers, the likes of Doc Ock, the Lizard, Electro, Sandman and Green Goblin appear in Peter's world. According to Doctor Strange, they are all killed by their universes' Spider-Men in some way. Though not much more is known in terms of plot, one theory believes that there's still hope for all villains but one.
According to Reddit user TheMediocreCritic, Peter's reason for stealing the cube from Doctor Strange in the No Way Home trailers is because he thinks he can save the villains. The reason for this logic, according to the theory, is because the enemies crossed into Peter's world before becoming true villains. This is further backed up by the understanding that all villains from the past Spider-Man films appearing have redeemable qualities.
The best example of this is Doc Ock, who, before being corrupted, was a man of science forced to watch his wife die in a tragic accident. Ultimately it was the arms that corrupted his mind since Octavius is still a good man. The theory believes No Way Home could spin this idea by having Doc Ock become a mentor to Peter since he's yet to commit any crimes in his reality. The idea also applies to the Sandman, who became a criminal to provide for his family and sick daughter. His drive to help them ultimately leads him to a particle accelerator experiment that turns his cells into sand. But if he appears before he uses his powers to steal, there could be hope for Flint Marko.
The Lizard is another redeemable character, as The Amazing Spider-Man portrays Dr. Curt Connors as a man dealing with the loss of his arm and the desire for humanity to reach its true potential. His research in cross-species genetics was ambitious and well-intentioned. But sadly, it led to him being corrupted by power and the reptilian aspects of his altered DNA. That being said, Connors is more victim than villain and only needs help to see the light that he can't see on his own. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Max Dillon isn't well respected even though he's a skilled electrical engineer. Once he becomes Electro, he goes from being a nobody to being seen as a villain. To make matters worse, he blames Spider-Man for the crowds turning against him. Electro never commits intentional crimes in the film, but he does endanger lives and is one of the most avoidable heel turns in the franchise.
Although most of these enemies have a chance to be saved, Norman Osborn remains the only one the theory thinks Peter can't help. Unlike the other villains, Norman got his powers because he was greedy and scared of losing funding for his serum. Testing it on himself broke his mind forever, and by becoming the Green Goblin, there was no going back. But while the theory is carefully explored, could it hold up in No Way Home? Sadly, there is no definitive yes or no, but the trailers offer enough context to show the potential for its accuracy.
On the surface, most of the villains are redeemable because the films showed that no baddie is ever purely bad. Only Norman shows Peter what happens when a malicious person does something selfish and becomes even eviler. However, based on Doc Ock and Electro's outfits, these may be variants from a deceptively similar reality to what's been seen in previous films. For example, if this is before Ock's first crime, he wouldn't be wearing the green coat from the trailers. In fact, he never wears that outfit in Spider-Man 2. The same can be said for Electro, who appears human with yellow lightning instead of his blue form from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Ultimately, the most likely reasoning that makes the theory somewhat hold-up is that Green Goblin, Sandman and Lizard are potentially from Sam Raimi and Marc Webb's films while Doc Ock and Electro are variants. This allows for some villains to appear different while being similar enough to still be redeemed. However, Osborn will be the foundation for audiences to measure who can and can't be trusted when they're imprisoned in No Way Home.
To see if these villains are truly evil, see Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters on Dec. 17.
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