Spider-Man: No Way Home Cut One Powerful Villain’s Original Design

Ryan Meinerding’s logic regarding Lizard’s «Spider-Man: No Way Home» design is mostly sound. Changing the look of the character too much could confuse the audience, making it harder for fans to connect this take on Dr. Connors to the «Amazing Spider-Man» version. At the same time, it stands to reason fans would’ve made the connection even with some alterations to his attire and bone structure. Not only does the presence of his universe’s Spider-Man — portrayed by Andrew Garfield — drive the point home that we’ve met this Lizard already, but the events of «The Amazing Spider-Man» are touched on in the film itself by the characters.

Not to mention, «No Way Home» isn’t against giving characters different designs than the ones they sport in their previous movies. Most notable is Lizard’s fellow «Amazing Spider-Man» series antagonist, Electro (Jamie Foxx). Instead of appearing as his blue-skinned, tech suit-wearing self from «The Amazing Spider-Man 2,» he gets a total overhaul. He looks like a normal person wearing street clothes, just with yellow electricity flowing from his limbs and surging across his face in a comic-accurate fashion. It’s explained as a byproduct of his reacting to the energy of another universe, but it’s still a massive visual leap for viewers to follow. A physical appearance and clothing change could have been similarly explained for Lizard.

Overall, «Spider-Man: No Way Home» is nostalgic fun that reads as a love letter to the web-slinger’s cinematic legacy. It’s too bad a more comic-accurate Lizard doesn’t feature within it.