Spider-Man: No Way Home Reveals Strange New Tribute to Captain America
The world of the Avengers continues changing. There are new threats and new villains around every corner, but the people of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are still looking to honor the heroes that have already come and gone. As Captain America, Steve Rogers left a permanent mark on the MCU, and the folks living in that world aren't quite done paying tribute to him, though they're finding some strange ways to do it.
Spider-Man: No Way Home's second trailer arrived on Tuesday night and revealed a new tidbit about how the on-screen world is remembering their former Captain America. The Statue of Liberty, one of the most iconic symbols of the United States, is being given a massive version of Cap's shield. Watch the trailer again and pay close attention at the 1:11 mark.
The Statue of Liberty is undergoing renovations and, if you look closely, you can see the planned changes in a banner hanging on its side. The hand of the statue that usually holds the flame is being given a shield instead. That's some potentially questionable messaging, giving the statue meant to welcome people to the country an object literally designed to keep things from reaching you. It replaces a beacon with a defense mechanism, but we'll save that unpacking for another time.
At the big fight later in the trailer, you can see the shield as Spider-Man whips around the scaffolding and takes on his new enemies. There's a moment where it falls from the arm that's supposed to be holding it. The flame is still there, it's just meant to be covered up by the shield.
In Spider-Man: Far From Home, which took place directly after Avengers: Endgame, odes to Tony Stark and Iron Man appeared all over the globe. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed that an entire museum exhibit had been opened to honor Steve Rogers. This world is clearly still hung up on the actions of the heroes that have already come and gone, and you could argue the same is true of the MCU itself. Peter represents the future, but the fingerprints of the franchise's past heroes continue popping up in each of his movies.
It will be interesting to see if New York City is able to add the shield to the statue like it plans, considering it clearly gets torn apart at some point during No Way Home. We'll just have to wait and see!
Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theaters on December 17th.