Anyone who’s stumbled across meme images in the last decade or so is likely familiar with the crude cartoon macro of Spider-Man pointing at a doppelganger of himself, who happens to be returning the favor. The image had the perfect opportunity for mainstream acknowledgment with the enduring box office success of Spider-Man: No Way Home and its no-longer-secret onscreen team-up of star Tom Holland with past Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. While the moment didn’t manifest—at least in an exact manner—in the film, a promotional photo for the film’s upcoming Digital, 4K UHD and Blu-ray release has finally fulfilled that expectation.
Yes, they’ve done it, folks! We now have an officially released meme-mirroring image of Spider-Man actors Holland, Maguire and Garfield unmasked but suited up properly, pointing at each other. In another aspect that conveys the depth of this promotional gift to the larger, meme-addled fandom, the image of the actors is set against a plain grey background, easily facilitating figure cropping in image-editing programs, thereby making it an effective template to further the evolution of the meme beyond the wildest of dreams.
Check out the full, history-making image below.
The original meme (as seen in the title image) was taken from the 1967-1970 Spider-Man ABC animated series, specifically the January 1968-aired Episode 19B, “Double Identity.” It has long served as a template for text-teeming macros that typically convey a pot-calling-the-kettle-black dynamic for just about any issue, promoting any line of persuasion. Naturally, during the height of the December-released No Way Home’s hype, a tribute rendition surfaced, showing the film’s trio of Spider-Men—in contrast to the two from the original meme—in cartoon form. This is the setup that the officially released photo seems to emulate, as demonstrated in the comparison picture below.
Interestingly enough, the film itself managed to pay indirect homage to the meme with a scene in which Holland’s Marvel Cinematic Universe Peter Parker/Spider-Man is working in a lab alongside his universe-displaced cohorts. The meme moment occurs when MCU Peter’s pal, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), calls out to him by name, creating a moment of confusion amongst the uniformly named trio in which they all point to one another. Again, it was not an exact recreation of the meme, but savvy segments of the audience clearly discerned the meme-inspired intent.
Nevertheless, Spider-Man: No Way Home will soon find its way home—to yours, specifically, since the definitive, pandemic-obstacle-smashing blockbuster hit of 2021 is being released on Digital starting March 22, followed by physical releases on 4K UHD and Blu-ray on April 12. It’s a scenario that seems surreal, seeing as the film, less than a month away from its digital drop date, is still riding at #3 on the domestic box office charts, adding to its $1.8 billion worldwide gross.
