Spider-Man: No Way Home secretly sets up lightning bolts* Most exciting debut: Exciting MCU theory

Lightning* one of the MCU's most exciting new characters is about to debut, and his arrival may have been secretly planned and explained by Spider-Man: There's No Way Home according to one compelling theory. Lightning* The premiere is scheduled for May 2, 2025, and will star a team of fallen anti-heroes and reformed villains, gathered by Valentina Allegra De Fontaine for an as yet unspecified purpose. Although they are seemingly bound together under duress, Lightning* will be the biggest ensemble film since then Avengers: Endgamemaking it feel like a particularly important part of the MCU.

Added to this is the fact that the film will also feature Sentry, a character so powerful that it's hard to imagine a cohesive team of Avengers being able to deal with him, let alone the relatively weak members of the Thunderbolts. Sentry's involvement was all but confirmed in the latest trailer Lightning*in which Lewis Pullman “Vertical” can be seen knocking back a barrage of shots, while another shot shows Sentry's iconic belt buckle. His arrival raises several questions, which probably lead to one important answer Spider-Man: There's no way home.

Spider-Man: No Way Home revealed that magic can erase memories across the world

Kof-Kol Runes are an extremely powerful spell

Spider-Man: There's no way home he also played Doctor Strange, as well as a litany of Spider-Man characters from the past, which helped the Marvel Studios film become the third most successful film of all time. It was through Strange that characters such as Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus made it to the MCU's Earth-616 reality after a failed use of the Kof-Kola Runes caused a rift between their realities. In an attempt to make the inhabitants of Earth-616 forget about Peter Parker, he instead met people from different realities who knew their Spider-Man's true identity.

While breaking the gap between realities is a monumental power in itself, the intended purpose of the spell cannot be underestimated. At the film's climax, Strange once again casts the Kof-Kola Runes for maximum effect. depriving all inhabitants of Earth-616 of any knowledge of Peter Parker and making the MCU's Spider-Man completely anonymous – even to your loved ones. The implications of these results are enormous and will likely be discussed in Spider-Man 4. Despite everything, Spider-Man: There's no way home he proved that with one powerful spell it was possible to annihilate the memory of the world's population.

In the comics, the entire world forgot about Sentry

The Sentinel causes everyone to forget about him to help quell the void

Sentry's Marvel Comics stories are repeatedly based on his repressed memories. In fact, his comic book debut occurred when Robert Reynolds – the man behind the cloak – suddenly remembered his past as the divine being that is Sentry. With the help of Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, Reynolds states that his memory, like that of every person on Earth, has been suppressed due to Sentry's cataclysmic alter egoA void whose almost unstoppable rampage has caused the deaths of millions. Suppressing the memory of his powers was therefore a necessary step to prevent the Void from being released again.

In Marvel Comics, the world's collective memory is once again suppressed by Sentry when he learns of his disastrous past and alter ego. This is achieved through Sentry's immense psychic abilities with the help of Reed Richards and Doctor Strange. Considering that Sentry's incredible powers amount to near omnipotence, it would seem that something similar had already happened before his acting debut in Lightning* because the MCU wouldn't be able to explain how Sentry went unnoticed until now. Comfortably, Spider-Man: There's no way home laid the groundwork for how this happened.

Is Doctor Strange (or another wizard) responsible for the MCU forgetting about the sentinel?

The Kof-Kol runes are a great way to explain the anonymity of the Sentinel

Sentry himself is capable of incredible paranormal feats, though he still enlists the help of the wisest man in the world, Reed Richards, and the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, to achieve memory erasure on a global and perhaps universal scale. Spider-Man: There's no way home he proved it though Strange is able to achieve the same results on his own. Similarities can also be seen in the fact that Strange can include himself as a target of the spell, erasing Peter Parker from his own memory after casting the Kof-Kola Runes.

If Marvel is going to closely adapt Sentry's comic book debut, it makes sense for the MCU to revisit the powerful memory clearing process introduced in Spider-Man: There's no way home. Explaining that all of Sentry's memories were erased by other means, such as through Sentry's own powers, would only serve to overstuff this particular MacGuffin into an already history-rich cinematic universe. Additionally, Sentry rarely uses his psychic powers for anything other than erasing memories in Marvel Comics, and stripping him of those powers during his live-action debut should help streamline the character on the big screen without going too far.

Should Marvel continue this thread? Doctor Strange or another wizard must be responsible for the MCU's collective amnesiaand the other two most likely candidates are the Ancient One or Wong. This would coincide with Sentry's Marvel Comics origins, where he enlisted Strange to erase his memories for the second time anyway. If this is the case, Doctor Strange's MCU story will be much more significant than before.

What would be the consequences of Strange's spell?

Doctor Strange may repeatedly risk reality itself

When Doctor Strange suggested the Kof-Kol Runes as a solution for Peter Spider-Man: There's no way homeWong vehemently rejected this notion, stating: “This spell pushes the dark boundaries between known and unknown realities. It's too dangerous.Doctor Strange countered that he had already cast the spell on Wong and the other sorcerers, seemingly without any major shocks, as evidence that Wong might be overreacting. Nevertheless, Wong's fears were confirmed moments later when Strange's mishandling of the spell resulted in the near destruction of the universe, if the raiding rules are any indication.

If Strange also used this spell to help the Sentinel, he is characteristically playing with fire. This suggests that he uses it rather brazenly, threatening to break reality every time. Between Spider-Man: There's no way home AND Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness, Perhaps Strange has finally learned his lesson when it comes to reality-altering spells, but the damage may already be done. In fact, his blasé use of this spell may have even contributed to the raid that Clea accuses him of causing.

Regardless, assuming Strange dealt with the Kof-Kol Runes without any problems, his interference could have other consequences. In Marvel comics erasing Sentry from everyone's memory led to the construction of Stark Tower in the exact same place as Sentry's headquartersThe Watchtower. While this wouldn't be consistent with Strange's timeline for gaining his powers in the MCU, as Stark Tower was already built, it's possible that the Ancient One deleted all knowledge of the Watchtower instead.

What seems clearer is this Lightning* will directly deal with the consequences of wiping Sentry's existence from the world's memory if Marvel adapts to it. The trailer shows that the CIA, led by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, knows about Sentry, which deviates from the details of his comic book debut. Still, if Sentry is as powerful as he is in Marvel Comics, his MCU debut could provide a satisfying tie-in Spider-Man: There's no way home and a wider MCU and make it feel more integrated from the jump.

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  Marvel's Thunderbolts* is a superhero film based on the comic book team of the same name. The film is part of the fifth phase of MCU films. The film features characters like Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell, Red Ranger and more as an unlikely group of heroes and villains gathered to fight for good.

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  For the first time in Spider-Man's cinematic history, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and is no longer able to separate his normal life from the trials and tribulations of being a superhero. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) seeks help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) when his identity becomes a problem for the people he loves. Unfortunately, when the spell doesn't work, Spider-Man will have to face villains like Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) as Peter finally comes to terms with the fact that he can't escape being Spider-Man. Supported by close friends and help from an unexpected place (or the multiverse), Spider-Man will go head-to-head against some of the most legendary foes in his history.

Upcoming MCU movies