A piece of fan art identified the invisible assailant who punched The Lizard in the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer and his name is John Cena.
Marvel and Sony recently unveiled the second trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home and one particular shot had fans speculating that a Spider-Man or two could have been edited out. The shot in question featured Tom Holland's Spider-Man swinging into battle against Electro, Sandman and The Lizard. While the moment seemed inconspicuous at first glance, one key detail caught the public eye. In the Brazilian version of the new trailer, the shot is extended, and The Lizard can be seen taking a blow from an invisible attacker. While most viewers speculated the missing fighter was a former Spider-Man, new fan art posted to Instagram by Samuel Cheve posits that the culprit was actually Cena, actor and WWE star famed in internet memes for his "You Can't See Me" taunt.
The fan art depicts Cena first as Spider-Man, with the actor wearing the traditional red-and-blue color scheme of Peter Parker's costume. Spider-Cena poses with the caption "Yes, I punched The Lizard," but is countered by "No, we punched The Lizard," by another version of Cena clad in the symbiote-infested suit of Eddie Brock/Venom.
Fans first suspected digital trickery was afoot in the Spider-Man: No Way Home marketing when they noticed a few suspiciously wide shots in the movie's second trailer. But when the Brazilian trailer's Lizard punch was identified, the clip immediately went viral. Similarly to Cheve, the artist BossLogic responded with a fan edit, adding an invisible Miles Morales to the scene to explain the mysterious blow.
The speculations surrounding No Way Home's trailers have partially been fueled by the numerous reports and rumors that the film will see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their roles as their respective versions of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Garfield has repeatedly denied his involvement with the film, but recently leaked No Way Home set photos and costume descriptions seemed to suggest otherwise. Some have also speculated that No Way Home could feature Venom in some capacity, partially thanks to a viral photo of Venom star Tom Hardy wearing a No Way Home baseball cap, but Sony producer Amy Pascal played coy about the rumors.
Whether or not No Way Home will actually feature other Spider-Men, Venom or Cena, the second trailer did confirm that the third Spider-Man movie will feature returning villains Sandman and The Lizard, characters who made their first appearances in Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man, respectively. No Way Home will also see the return of other classic Spider-Man villains including Alfred Molina's Dr. Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin from Spider-Man and Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon/Electro.
To see who actually punched The Lizard, watch Spider-Man: No Way Home when it swings into theaters Dec. 17.
Source: Instagram