Spider-Man: No Way Home Secretly Sets Up Thunderbolts * Most Exciting Premiere: Exciting MCU Theory Explained

Rays* 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: No way home, according to a convincing theory. Rays* is set to be released on May 2, 2025, starring a team of depressed antiheroes and reformed villains brought together by Valentina Allegra De Fontaine for an as-yet unstated purpose. Although they seem to be together under duress, Rays* will be the biggest team-up film since Avengers: Endgamemaking it feel like a particularly important MCU installment.

To compound this, it will also star Sentry, a character so powerful that it's hard to imagine a fully assembled team of Avengers defending against him, let alone the comparatively weak members of the Thunderbolts. Sentry's involvement was practically confirmed in the latest trailer for Rays*in which “Bob” can be seen ignoring a hail of gunfire, while another photo shows the Sentry's distinctive belt buckle. Its arrival raises several questions, with a significant answer possibly arising from Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man: No Way Home revealed that it's possible for magic to erase memories across the world

Kof-Kol runes are an incredibly powerful spell

Spider-Man: No Way Home co-starred Doctor Strange, plus a litany of Spider-Man characters from the past who helped make the Marvel Studios film the third most successful of all time. It was thanks to Strange that people like Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus arrived in the MCU's Earth-616 reality after their botched use of the Runes of Kof-Kol opened a rift between their realities. In his attempt to make the inhabitants of Earth-616 forget Peter Parker, he brought in people from different realities who knew of their Spider-Man's true identity.

While breaching a rift between realities is a monumental power in itself, the spell's intended purpose cannot be underestimated either. In the film's climax, Strange recasts the Runes of Kof-Kol to maximum effect, leaving everyone on Earth-616 clueless about Peter Parker and making the MCU's Spider-Man completely anonymous – even to your loved ones. The implications of these results are vast and will likely be addressed in Spider-Man 4. Without considering, Spider-Man: No Way Home proved that it is possible to nullify the memories of the global population with a powerful spell.

In the comics, the Sentry was forgotten by the entire world

Sentinel makes everyone forget about him to help end the void

Sentry's Marvel Comics stories repeatedly rely on his suppressed memories. In fact, his comic book debut came when Robert Reynolds – the man behind the mantle – suddenly remembered his past as the divine entity that is Sentinel. With the help of Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, Reynolds finds that his memory, along with that of everyone on Earth, has been suppressed due to the Sentry's cataclysmic alter ego.the Void, whose nearly unstoppable attacks have caused the deaths of millions of people. Suppressing the memory of his powers was therefore a necessary step to prevent the Void from breaking free once again.

In Marvel Comics, the world's collective memory is suppressed once again by Sentry upon learning of his catastrophic past and alter ego. This is achieved through Sentry's immense psychic abilities with the help of Reed Richards and Doctor Strange.. Given that Sentry's incredible powers are tantamount to near-omnipotence, it appears something similar happened before his live-action debut in Rays* since it would be impossible for the MCU to explain how Sentry has gone unnoticed until now. Conveniently, Spider-Man: No Way Home laid the groundwork for how this occurred.

Is Doctor Strange (or another sorcerer) responsible for the MCU's Sentry being forgotten?

The Runes of Kof-Kol are the perfect way to explain the Sentry's anonymity

The Sentry himself is capable of incredible psychic feats, although he still enlists the help of the smartest man in the world, Reed Richards, and the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, to achieve memory wipes on a global and possibly universal scale. Spider-Man: No Way Home proved, however, that Strange is capable of achieving the same results alone. There are also parallels to be drawn in the fact that Strange can include himself as the target of the spell, removing Peter Parker from his own memory after casting the Runes of Kof-Kol.

If Marvel is about to closely adapt Sentry's comic book debut, it makes sense for the MCU to revisit the powerful memory-clearing process established in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Explaining that all of the Sentry's memories were erased by other means, such as the Sentry's own powers, would only serve to overwhelm this particular MacGuffin in an already story-rich cinematic universe. Additionally, Sentry rarely uses his psychic powers other than to erase memories in Marvel Comics, and depriving him of them in his live-action debut should help streamline the character for the big screen without going too far.

Marvel should follow this thread, Doctor Strange or another sorcerer must be responsible for the MCU's collective amnesiawith the other two most likely candidates being the Ancient One or Wong. This would tie in with Sentry's Marvel Comics origins, as he summons Strange to erase memories a second time anyway. If that's the case, then Doctor Strange's story in the MCU will be much more consequential than it already was.

What would be the consequences of Strange's spell?

Doctor Strange may be repeatedly risking reality itself

When Doctor Strange suggested the Runes of Kof-Kol as a solution to Peter in Spider-Man: No Way HomeWong emphatically repudiated the concept, stating “This spell travels the shadowy boundaries between known and unknown reality. It's very dangerous.” Doctor Strange responded that he had already implanted the spell on Wong and other sorcerers, apparently without much fuss, as evidence that Wong may be overreacting. However, Wong's fears were justified moments later when Strange's mishandling of the spell caused the near-destruction of the universe, if the rules surrounding incursions are any evidence.

If Strange also used this spell to help the Sentry, then he's playing with fire. This suggests that he is quite careless in his use, threatening to fracture reality each time. Between Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Strange may have 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 incursion that Clea accuses him of causing.

Regardless, assuming Strange got the Runes of Kof-Kol without trouble from the Sentry, his interference could have other consequences. In Marvel comics, the elimination of the Sentry from everyone's memory caused Stark Tower to be built in the exact same location as the Sentry's headquartersthe Watchtower. While this doesn't follow the timeline of Strange acquiring his powers in the MCU, as Stark Tower has already been built, it could be that the Ancient One has removed all knowledge of the Watchtower.

What seems clearest is that Rays* will directly address the consequences of the Sentry's existence being erased from the world's memories, if that's what Marvel is adapting. The images in the trailer suggest that the CIA, under the direction of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, is aware of Sentinel, which is far from the details of his debut in the comics. Still, if Sentry is as powerful as he is in Marvel Comics, his MCU debut could provide a satisfying tie-in to Spider-Man: No Way Home and the broader MCU and make it feel more integrated from the start.

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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 sees the likes of Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell, the Red Guardian and others as an unlikely group of heroes and villains coming together 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 can no longer separate his normal life from the trials and tribulations of being a superhero. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) turns to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help when his identity becomes an issue for those he loves. Unfortunately, when the spell goes wrong, Spider-Man will now have to face villains like Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Electro (Jamie Foxx), while Peter finally comes to the conclusion that he can't escape being Spider-Man. . Supported by his close friends and help from an unexpected place (or multiverse), Spider-Man will face some of the most legendary enemies in his history.

Upcoming MCU films