As the
Crisis Crossover to all
Spider-Man films, memes about
the movie were inevitable.
Return to the main meme page here.
Please add entries in the following format:- The meme. Explanation The explanation behind the meme.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
- "[Actor name here] has been cast in Spider-Man: No Way Home."Explanation Late into 2020 and early into 2021 while production was underway, a multitude of big names were mentioned as possible Role Reprises in the film, such as Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and their respective ensembles. Fans got carried away and started throwing the kitchen sink about who would be featured in the film.
- "Tom Holland has been cast in Spider-Man: No Way Home."Explanation Done as an extension of the above, some joked that Holland would be so Overshadowed by Awesome in his own Spider-Man movie that people needed to be reminded that he was actually in it.
- It's like One More Day, but good!Explanation After the trailer revealed that Doctor Strange works to help people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, people joked that No Way Home would adapt one of the most maligned Spider-Man stories ever and do it right.
- Mephisto confirmed.Explanation Aside from the One More Day jokes mentioned above, people had a field day with the shot of a protest board with devil horns drawn onto Peter's head.
- "I got you for three minutes! Three minutes of playtime!"Explanation The teaser trailer is three minutes in length, leading many to fall back on this meme, especially given the return of the Raimi characters.
- Scarlett Johansson leaked the trailer.Explanation Near the end of July 2021, Scarlett Johansson sued Disney for a breach of contract over simultaneously releasing Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+. Since the lawsuit extended into August, once No Way Home's trailer was leaked before its official release later that month, many people joked that she was taking revenge on the company. (Though that would be Misplaced Retribution if it were the case, since No Way Home is a Sony release and she alleges Marvel Studios was on her side.)
- Angry Kevin Feige Explanation Due to the trailer being leaked over a day before it was supposed to come out, many fans have made memes about Kevin Feige reacting in a fit of rage over what happened, including photoshopped images of him aiming a sniper rifle, or of him with Glowing Eyes of Doom.
- "Hello, Peter." Explanation This line, which was coupled with the official reveal of Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus in this film, instantly took off on social media by a legion of hyped-up fans.
- The fact that Peter messed up Strange's spell upon realizing it would erase his and MJ's relationship has led to plenty of jokes about him being detrimentally horny.
- Doctor Strange is Elsa.Explanation Due to the Sanctum Sanctorum being inexplicably filled with snow in this film's teaser trailer, many fans started comparing Stephen with Elsa from Frozen, due to them both being magical beings who reside in snowy areas.
- That's not Doctor Strange. Explanation Following the trailer, many fans speculated that the Doctor Strange that appears in the trailer isn't the real Doctor Strange due to his seemingly out-of-character personality, with subsequent theories claiming that he was Mephisto in disguise, the evil Doctor Strange from What If?, or Loki.
- WandaVision predicted the trailer date.Explanation In the first episode of that series, there's a date marked on a calendar with a heart placed there. This date was August 23, the same day that the frequently-speculated-about trailer was set to arrive.
- Keep Tony Stark out of this! Explanation Due to the infamous streak where the last two Spider-Man villains are caused by Tony Stark, many fans angrily wished that Tony Stark would quit inspiring the villain of this movie so Peter would develop into his own person.
- A lot of jokes about everyone messing up the Multiverse and Doctor Strange being just as irresponsible as Wanda and Loki/Sylvie Explanation After WandaVision and Loki (2021) many fans expected Strange to be the Only Sane Man who will fix their mess only for him to join the club. Typically involves Wanda, Loki and/or Sylvie, Strange and, optionally, Peter depicted as three Spider-Men pointing at each other, the Ghidorah meme except all three heads are Kevin, the trio from Harry Potter being chided by a teacher, office co-workers discussing who broke the coffee machine, attackers punching a helpless victim laying on the ground and labeled "Multiverse", guests eating a cake together, characters driving past Strange and offering him to get in and join them in wrecking the Multiverse, Obi-Wan telling Strange that he was supposed to bring balance to the world rather than join others etc. Occasionally involves Sam and Bucky from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier standing aside and minding their own business.
- That feels weird, but I'll allow it. Explanation Doctor Strange uttering this line in the trailer became a meme template and got associated with all sorts of weird stuff in the larger MCU or Real Life.
- Wong: Don't do X. Strange: Fine, I won't. (wink) Explanation Wong warning Strange not to cast the multiverse-altering spell and Strange doing it anyway after lying to him has been compared to several humorous instance, such as 'When your teacher tells you to not use phone and you do it anyway' or 'When your team head tells you to not submit your code before testing and you do it anyway'.
- An edited photo of Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland dancing in the street together went viral after rumours of the possibility of the other two actors' return started.
- Wong will return next week with more disturbing facts.Explanation A two-panel meme, inspired by a similar meme from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fandom. First panel is Wong telling Strange not to cast the spell replaced with a non-sequitur phrase, followed by Wong leaving with a caption saying "Wong will return next week with more disturbing facts".
- Spider-Man running from Doctor Octopus.Explanation One of the screenshots released by Empire features a shot of Spider-Man running from Doctor Octopus, with the image featuring some blurry, unconvincing CGI (which thankfully looks better in motion in the actual film). Fans were quick to place labels over the two characters.
- Spider-Man: No Way Off The BridgeExplanation A good deal of pre-release promotional stills focuses on Spider-Man fighting Doc Ock on a highway bridge as seen in the trailers, leading to jokes about how most of the film would take place on the bridge itself.
- Oh my God, it's Alfred Molina!Explanation A reference to "Dr. Octagonapus" from The Lazer Collection that gained new relevance with the original character's return.
- Give us the tits.
Explanation A small but very vocal group of fans on Tumblr insist that Alfred Molina should show off his chest just as he did in Spider-Man 2.
- Three Tom HollandsExplanation Since it was widely expected that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men would appear in the film, more than a few fans had joked/feared that the film would simply have Tom Holland play the role of two AU Spideys instead. Became a Discredited Meme after Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men appeared in the film.
- Spider-Man blamed for everything. Explanation Given how dark the movie is, according to Tom Holland, some fans speculated that Peter Parker would be blamed for everything that the other Avengers did such as: Wanda's enslaving the entire town of Westview, Sam and Bucky "corrupting" the new Captain America, Loki and Sylvie screwing up the time stream, etc. This is evident given how J Jonah Jameson is a bigger jerk here.
- Lizard's invisible foe.Explanation The second trailer shows a scene where Spider-Man lunges towards Sandman, Electro and the Lizard. However, it's quite obvious that Electro and the Lizard are not leaping at Spidey but others. Even more obvious is that an international version of that trailer shows the extended version of the shot, which features the Lizard getting decked in the head by something that isn't shown in the trailer for whatever reason. This has been mocked for the obviously poor editing out of someone aiding Peter that isn't Dr. Strange, with the movie's release confirming the presence of the other two Spider-Men, Tobey Maguire being the Lizard's invisible foe. Before the reveal, some people have joked about the invisible foe being other characters such Miles Morales (who has the ability to turn invisible) or Drax (carrying over from an already well-known meme from Avengers: Infinity War regarding Drax supposedly mastering the art of being invisible).
- "You're not Peter Parker."Explanation What Doc Ock says once MCU Peter reveals his face to the villain in the full trailer. Peter's face is often overlaid with other figures from pop culture, such as Andrew Garfield, J. Jonah Jameson, or Evil Dan.
- Spider-Man: No Way You're Getting Tickets. Explanation A new title for the film passed around on social media in the wake of the Demand Overload once tickets went on sale and crashed most movie theater websites, in levels unseen since the release of Avengers: Endgame.
- Kevin Feige holding Andrew Garfield at gunpoint.Explanation Garfield repeatedly denying his involvement with the film in the lead-up to its release more often than not looked like he had to constantly and suspiciously clarify his response because someone nearby was threatening him. Fans then made a joke that the guy, usually when Andrew is attending interviews via webcams, was Kevin Feige, holding a gun while sitting nearby.
- Andrew Garfield lying his ass off / Andrew Garfield is the werewolf.Explanation When the flurry of rumors and speculations about the film kicked into overdrive, Andrew Garfield denied his involvement in the film, even stating that he wasn't even aware if he was supposed to be in it and likened it to a game of Mafia or Werewolf (1997) where denying that you're the werewolf makes people think you're even more likely to be the werewolf. Then a short clip of Andrew, unmasked in his costume from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and talking to another character in a Spider-Man costume that looked exactly like that of Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, leaked. The meme was vindicated when the movie was released with that exact shot in it.
- The entire fandom's response to both the video and Andrew's denial can be summed up with this famous meme.
- "I'm a really good lawyer."Explanation Matt Murdock's answer to Peter after he catches a brick thrown through the window from behind him. This Non-Answer became a Memetic Badass line used to explain all of the insane stuff that Matt does as Daredevil.
- "Didn't you learn anything from WandaVision?"Explanation This and other spoofs of concern-trolling comments made by fans skeptical of the movie involving the Multiverse — after WandaVision bamboozled fans by hiring the actor who played Fox Quicksilver to play a character that wasn't Fox Quicksilver, despite increasing amounts of evidence suggesting that the movie was going to emphasize the Multiverse — became common as the film got closer to release. Also became a Discredited Meme after the appearances of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as the Peter Parkers of their respective universes.
- Track 19. Explanation Track 19 from the soundtrack (titled "Shield of Pain") contains both James Horner and Danny Elfman's themes from their respective Spider-Man films, inspiring a slew of nostalgia-induced tears.
- The multiversal nature of the film sparked jokes about Webb-verse Peter being the Butt-Monkey out of the three movie Spider-Men, mostly due to him being the only one without a girlfriend. Falls into Harsher in Hindsight territory due to Peter losing MJ after becoming an Un-person.
- Avi Arad's special thanks credit.Explanation The credits feature an extended shout-out to Avi Arad, the longtime producer of the Spider-Man film franchise. While he was instrumental in getting Spider-Man onto the big screen, as well as being a producer on several of Marvel's other early film adaptations, including Blade, X-Men, and the first two MCU movies, he’s nowadays more known for the Executive Meddling tied to Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This has led to jokes that the line in the credits was added as a way to keep Spider-Man in the MCU, or that he wrote it himself.
- Who is Peter Parker?Explanation (SPOILERS) The movie ending with all memories of MCU Peter Parker being erased has led to some fans playing along, revisiting past MCU moments and claiming they have no clue who that random kid interacting with Tony Stark and the Avengers is.
- The final member of the Sinister Six.Explanation With the film falling one villain short of six, fans have jokingly speculated as to the sixth member of the villainous consortium, often including the tree that Peter accidentally zapped into Dr. Strange's cells.
- Ned standing.Explanation A lot like the "Where's Goku?" memes, a simple render of Ned being put into random scenes (usually involving a crowd) has become quite popular.
- This wouldn't have happened if we were all lizards.Explanation Since the Lizard comes less across as a Well-Intentioned Extremist like in The Amazing Spider-Man and more like someone who just wants to turn others into Lizard Folk for no real reason, fans have joked that he thinks that all problems could be prevented if everyone was a giant lizard person (e.g. Thanos would have never done the Blip if everyone were lizards).
- "You can't do that, huh?"Explanation Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker says this to Tom Holland's Peter after demonstrating how he doesn't need mechanical webshooters. Often used in memes where Bully Maguire is showing off stuff he can do while the others can't, like saving Gwen Stacy's life.
- Floating Doc Ock Explanation Shortly after the film's release, a user on Twitter posted this image◊ of Octavius from the bridge scene, editing out his tentacles so it looks like he's floating in mid-air. And the rest just writes itself◊.
- Doc Ock's big, sad, wet eyes Explanation A number of fans have noted how soft and sad Molina's eyes look for a good portion of the film, often comparing them to those of a sad dog or cat.
- You're not lame... You're The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Explanation A meme using the "He didn't say that"/Title Drop format. It refers to the moment in the movie where Tobey Maguire's Peter gives Andrew Garfield's Peter a Rousing Speech.
- "I think I've seen this film before...and I don't like the ending."Explanation After the second trailer showed MJ falling to her death, many fans began to draw parallels to Gwen Stacy's death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with many fans terrified as to whether or not MJ was fated to die or if Webb-verse Peter will be able to redeem himself by saving MJ. The line comes from the Taylor Swift's song "Exile".
- Principio de ArquimedesExplanation A Latin-american meme that surged on popularity before the release of the movie, mocking a fan-made dialogue that involved the three Spider-Men discussing the physics of web-fluid and the differences between each of their universes. It went onto becoming even more popular in LatAm social media when the movie was shown to actually have a scene where the Spider-Men express surprise at Tobey's Spider-Man having organic webs.
- Peter-3 saves everyone.Explanation The scene where Webb-verse Peter/Peter-3 manages to save Michelle from falling and redeemed himself from failing to save Gwen Stacy in TASM2 has led to exaggerated parodies of Peter-3 saving everyone who falls down a great distance, whether they wanted to be saved or not. Examples include but are not limited to Black Widow when she tries to sacrifice herself for the Soul Stone, Loki when he's trapped in an endless fall by Doctor Strange, Ajak when she's pushed off a cliff by Ikaris, etc.
- The scene where Peter 2 shouts "HOW IS THIS HELPING!?" in response to Peter 1 and Peter 3's Casual Danger Dialogue is often jokingly referred to as "the return of Bully Maguire". Acknowledged by Tom Holland, who shared the meme on his Instagram as a story.
- After the film’s brutal Bittersweet Ending with Peter losing everything - his academic future, his infrastructure and any money, any connections to the Avengers, his mentors, his parent, his girlfriend, his best friend - and being reduced to living in a crappy apartment alone and with no one to help him… certain fans were delighted since they deemed this Truer to the Text and finally the Spider-Man portrayal they wanted. Memes now go around about how happy those fans are now that MCU Peter is suffering a miserable, lonely life.
- Peter 3 looking for MJ.Explanation Some fans have joked that after witnessing his two different incarnations being in relationships with women named MJ, Andrew Garfield's Peter is going to look for his universe's incarnation of MJ, as soon as he gets back home.
- The visitors catching up. Explanation (Spoilers) Eddie and Venom not joining the fight with the Spider-Men due to their attempt of understanding the universe they are both in has been jokingly compared to fans catching up with all previous movies before the release of the new movie.
- Peter-2 stops killing blows. Explanation The scene where Raimi-verse Peter stops MCU Peter from killing Norman by holding back the glider has led to edits where he holds back others aiming to kill, such as stopping Thor from killing Thanos and John Walker from killing Nico.
- Doc Ock becoming Peter-1's new uncle. Explanation Doctor Octopus almost married Aunt May at one point in the comics, and fans joked about the possibility of them becoming a couple in the film due to MCU May being younger and closer to Doc Ock's age, further fueled by the fact that Marisa Tomei and Alfred Molina played an onscreen couple before in The Perez Family.
- "Great, it’s just some random guy."Explanation Usually used to show people's reactions to random strangers showing up in the movie, said random strangers being established characters, that the normal movie going audience might not be aware of, like Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil. In the actual movie, this is Ned's reaction to Tobey Maguire's incarnation of Peter Parker arriving in casual civilian clothes.
- "Strong enough to X, too weak to Y!" Explanation A paraphrase of Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin claiming MCU Peter is strong enough to have it all, but is too weak to take it. The sentence is modified to be a Take That! to other characters, such as saying Peter-3 is "strong enough to save everyone, but too weak to save Gwen" or saying Wanda is "strong enough to break the rules, but too weak to face the consequences ". The character in question usually has their face photoshopped over MCU Peter's face.
- "Where the fuck were all you people in 2014?!" Explanation With Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man being Rescued from the Scrappy Heap, a fake quote circulated the internet reflecting the fan's interest in seeing a third Amazing Spider-Man movie, despite the lackluster reception of the previous installment.
- Deepfake Tobey Maguire/"I'm Spider-Man." Explanation A poorly-made "leak" from the film editing Tobey Maguire's face onto Tom Holland's body and saying "I'm Spider-Man", which became widely parodied on Twitter.
- "He's scarier without it on." Explanation A reference to a lyric in "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Ode to a Superhero" (a retelling of the first Spider-Man film set to Billy Joel's "Piano Man"), wherein Al notes that the Green Goblin's "dumb Power Rangers mask" in the original Spider-Man serves as Nightmare Retardant. This movie had Norman Osborn ditch the mask early on in the film, and his performance in this film was widely considered an improvement over his previous appearances.
- A still from a deleted scene of Peter, May, and the villains taking the elevator to Happy's apartment has become a pretty popular meme template.
- "The entire world is about to forget X." Explanation Doctor Strange's failed attempt to cast the memory spell at the beginning of the movie saw a surgence in snowclones in 2022, usually altering the scene so that Strange is trying to erase the memory of things fans would prefer to forget, such as celebrities' NFT collections, the existence of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, or the eighth season of Game of Thrones. Popular follow-ups to this meme include people causing the spell to go wrong by suggesting specific changes, much like in the movie proper.
- "What the hell is wrong with you? We're a family!"Explanation A quote from Breaking Bad meant to describe that even though the Spider-Man fanbases of different franchises and interpretations (Webb, Raimi, Watts) united during No Way Home, eventually drifted off again and started butting heads with each other.
- Tobey Maguire's T-shirt.Explanation In some behind the scenes interviews/commentaries, Tobey Maguire is seen wearing a grey T-shirt, which suspiciously looks a lot like the T-shirts he wore during the behind-the-scenes interviews of his other three Spider-Man movies. Fans started making jokes about how he has been wearing the same T-shirt since 2002.
- "The Bullyverse is real?"Explanation A collage of "bully" versions of Marvel actors followed by an altered version of Peter Parker's quote "The multiverse is real?" from the movie was also very popular. Note that, the scene where Peter said that was different from this one.
