Spider-Man: No Way Home Hidden Details: Norman Osborn's Fake Teeth, an Unfinished Cure and Doctor Strange's Sixth Spell

Spider-Man: No Way Home hides far more than its multiverse cameos, including Norman Osborn's fake teeth, a cure that was only about 80 percent finished, and a line suggesting Doctor Strange cast his spell six times rather than five. When the film arrived on 4K Blu-ray in April 2022, I picked up the new steelbook and went back through it in forensic detail, looking for new things I am pretty sure had not been mentioned anywhere else.

My earlier breakdown covered almost every hidden detail I could find, but there was still more to be unearthed. The film brings across several villains from the Marvel universe to make what I think is one of the best comic book showdowns ever. We may not get a shirtless Doctor Octopus, but we do get details that go beyond the characters simply coming back, and many of the makeup techniques are reused from prior films.

Norman Osborn's fake teeth return from the original Spider-Man

In the original Spider-Man, Willem Dafoe effectively played two personas: Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin. To subtly differentiate between them, the costume department gave him fake teeth that straightened his grin whenever he was Norman, the man who was somewhat of a scientist himself. When he stepped into the Green Goblin persona, those teeth were removed so that Dafoe's sharp incisors and the gap in the middle were on display.

This carries over into No Way Home. When Norman is putting together the cures, you can see that his teeth are fake throughout the scene. Later, when Tom Holland's Peter is punching him, his grin has the gap in the middle.

Norman's cure was only about 80 percent done, and I think the Goblin wanted it that way

The cure scene holds more hidden details that show why the cure did not work for him. Credit goes to another breakdown creator for pointing out a shot where we can see how far along each villain's cure is. Max Dillon's is completed, whereas Norman's is only about 80 percent done. It is a really cool detail that explains why May injecting him had no effect.

Beyond that, I actually think the Goblin never wanted it to work. In the excellent scene between Doc Ock and Osborn, he clearly hints that he is the only one in control. When Otto asks how it feels to be "about to become whole again" with "no more darker half", the answer suggests that only one of them is really there. So I think this was on purpose: he did not want to cure himself, and no matter what had happened, he never would have created a cure that could take out the Goblin.

That is why, in my view, the cure only works later on when Tobey Maguire's Peter steps in, because by then a way has been found to undo everything in him without the Goblin meddling in the process. That other breakdown was so good that I had to drop some of my own details because of it.

Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man gets two subtle callbacks, including "who am I"

Tobey Maguire is a massive part of the film, and plenty of callbacks to his character are on the nose. There are two really subtle ones, though, that I have not seen pointed out in any other breakdown. When Peter first enters the doughnut shop, MJ waves at him, but it is revealed that she is actually waving to Ned. Jump back to the first Spider-Man film and there is a scene in which MJ waves at Peter, but she is actually waving to her friends standing behind him.

The second is in the credits. Among the cast drawings there is one of MJ covered in markings. On the left is the sketch she drew of Peter in detention, with fragments of his letter just below it, and clearly she is wondering who Peter Parker is. In the top right corner, the words "who am I" are written upside down. That is a really important phrase in the Spider-Man universe, as it is the line that opened the first Spider-Man film.

Andrew Garfield's Peter shrugs off electricity while Tobey Maguire's slows his fall

Tobey's experience is shown throughout the film, and the VFX artists add a ton of subtle touches to flesh out the characters. After Andrew Garfield's Peter and Tobey's Peter are electrocuted, Tobey kneels down in pain while Andrew manages to get back on his feet and recover quicker. That is because in his own universe, Andrew insulated elements of his suit so that he was more resistant to electricity.

When the two of them drop down to meet Tom for the first time, zoom in and follow Tobey on his fall. He actually touches the ledge for a split second to slow his descent. "I think this detail is absolutely brilliant." Andrew just drops down normally, whereas Tobey runs his hand along it for probably less than a second, and it shows how much more precise he is.

Tom Holland's Peter uses a web bomb to hold the car on the bridge

During the bridge fight, Peter catches a car before it dangles over the edge and strains to hold it in place. Knowing Otto is right around the corner, he cannot spend long doing this, so he throws a web bomb attached to his first web. It explodes and throws webbing between the smashed segments of the bridge, holding the car in place so Peter can go off and face Otto.

The same bridge scene hides another detail. When Tom's Peter lands, his suit dissolves into the belt device hidden just under his jacket as the nanotech retracts. Look at his shadow on the left hand side and you can see it change along with him as the costume retracts. This leaves his clothes really wrinkled, and those creases carry over to his blue shirt later on when he is in the Sanctum.

Andrew Garfield's burning foot on a Statue of Liberty that is bronze, not green

There is a brilliant moment when Andrew's Peter gets blasted by Electro on top of the Statue of Liberty. As he goes flying, his foot is on fire, because a piece of the covering from the top is stuck to his sole. The statue is made from copper, so if it were hit with a bolt of electricity it would become a conductor and generate heat. The top would set on fire, and because Andrew is acting instinctively, he has not thought about disengaging the suction on his feet, so it sticks to him while still burning.

The statue is also bronze rather than its typical green, but that was actually its original colour. You may have noticed some pennies turn green after a while, because the element reacts to oxygen in the air, which changes its pigmentation. The same thing happened with the statue, but in the film it is being cleaned up as part of the renovation work to add the shield.

Happy's apartment hides an Iron Man 2 shield and an Electro spark

Speaking of shields, when we cut to Happy's apartment you can catch the one from Iron Man 2 in the security feed. There is also Happy's boxing equipment, which he wore in that film, and Happy in the comics was a boxer, which ties into it. That is really good attention to detail.

Another great one in the apartment comes with Electro later on. Just before the TV turns on, zoom in on his hand and you can see him shoot out a tiny, almost imperceptible jolt of electricity to power it up. It is such a cool detail and really difficult to catch.

The prom photo of MJ and Ned is missing Peter by design

The film ends with Peter removing the memory of himself from everyone's mind, and several shots hint at how MJ and Ned will continue their friendship. Early in the film, we get a quick look at a photograph of the pair from prom, and it later shows up at Ned's grandma's house. I think it is really interesting that the photograph is of just the two of them. It completely leaves out Peter, so they could keep it up around their homes without ever questioning why it is there.

Peter also goes to MJ later with a speech he has clearly practised. That shows he learned from his mistake earlier in the film, when he did not prepare his MIT speech and clearly had not rehearsed it. This time he prepares so he does not forget what he wants to say.

Doctor Strange may have cast his spell six times to remember Peter

Speaking of forgetting, it is actually possible that Strange makes Peter forget him messing with the spell. I love the line where Strange says "you changed my spell six times" before correcting himself to five. It could show that Strange carried out the spell six times instead of five.

My theory is that when Strange said he wanted the entire world to forget, he would have been included in that too. Because he wanted to remember Peter, he altered the spell for himself, made Peter forget about it, and then continued with the others. It "might be a reach", but I had to include it because "I do quite like that theory".

Happy Hogan finally ends up on the other side of the unanswered call

The last thing I want to talk about is Happy. Throughout Homecoming, he was dismissive of Peter and constantly ignored his calls. In No Way Home, after the apartment scene, Happy calls Peter but cannot get through, so he leaves a voicemail. How the tables have turned.

And to end with a joke: who does Peter meet at Aunt May's grave at the end of the film? Sad Hogan.

Do you buy the idea that Strange quietly cast a sixth spell so he could keep his memory of Peter, or is it just a slip of the tongue?