Geeks and nerds all over the world rejoiced on August 23, when the highly anticipated teaser trailer for Marvel’s upcoming movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, was finally released. The teaser gained 355.5 million views in its first 24 hours, breaking the previous record held by the Avengers: Endgame trailer (289 million views). The main reason? The return of Doctor Octopus, played by Alfred Molina after 17 years since his first appearance in Spider-Man 2, donning the character’s trademark trench coat, glasses, and robotic tentacles. Though he appeared in the trailer for only a few seconds and said just two words — “Hello, Peter” — it was enough to foster excitement for one of Marvel’s most ambitious movies yet.

However, most fans would admit that the appearance of Doc Ock — or any of the other villains teased in the trailer, like Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Jamie Foxx’s Electro — is not what they are most excited for. The hype surrounding No Way Home is largely driven by something yet to be confirmed officially: the possible appearance of two previous Spider-Men, namely Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Much of this is based on speculation and alleged leaked “behind the scenes” footage and images. Garfield himself has repeatedly denied being in the movie, which many fans have chosen to take with a grain of salt.

Here’s one possibility that many refuse to consider at this point: what if Maguire and Garfield aren’t in the movie? After all, No Way Home will be the third film in Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland, and there are enough threads for the film to tie up that bringing two other Spider-Men into the fray would take away the spotlight from the real main character. Unless Holland’s predecessors will only appear in cameo roles — in which case, how rewarding would it actually be for the audience to see their favorite Spider-Men interact for a few seconds at most?

There is obviously a good reason why Marvel keeps as many secrets as possible: surprises are much more satisfying if they haven’t been “spoiled”. They take secrecy so seriously that, for Marvel actors, it’s already a long-running joke to acknowledge the “Marvel snipers” during interviews where they can’t properly answer any questions about their movie. This has worked to Marvel’s advantage in the past: the first Endgame trailer, for instance, contained little actual footage from the movie, which left much of its most satisfying moments for the film itself. Some Marvel trailers even included scenes that aren’t in the movies themselves, or at least were digitally manipulated to mislead viewers from their actual context.

For Marvel’s latest release, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, many audience members have noted that the movie is much better than it appeared from trailers and marketing. The difference between Shang-Chi and No Way Home, however, is expectation. By carefully choosing what to reveal about Shang-Chi in its promotion, Marvel was able to lower expectations for the movie, which allowed it to break those expectations easily. No Way Home, however, is already loaded with high expectations — by playing coy with what happens in the movie, expectations only continue to skyrocket. All the mystery surrounding the movie only serves to allow fans to imagine without bound what they want the movie to be. It doesn’t help that Holland has called it “the most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever made”.

One source of comfort? Marvel probably knows what it’s doing. One of the things that make Marvel movies so successful is the carefully calculated marketing and promotion that fosters hype for even the most obscure characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man. They’ve also made mistakes to learn from, like the disappointment from fans when Avengers: Age of Ultron did not match the darker tone promised by its trailers. No doubt, the folks at Marvel have seen every single theory and “spoiler” out there about No Way Home. They’re aware of the high expectations for the movie. And if they knew that the expectations have already gotten too high, they would already be doing their best to temper those expectations. So perhaps all the mystery and secrecy can only mean that Marvel is confident in the ability of No Way Home to exceed everyone’s expectations.

With how much bigger every Marvel installment gets, one can only wonder how long they can keep this up. Perhaps this December, when No Way Home is released, we can all find out whether Marvel has finally swung too close to the sun.