Spider-Man: No Way Home wasn't finished until mere days before critics saw the movie for the first time, and that meant director Jon Watts was absent from the threequel's press tour. Now, though, he's finally opened up about working on the Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios movie - and its star-studded cast - in an interview with Variety.
The filmmaker revealed that prior to shooting the first scene with Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Men, he got the actors together alongside Zendaya and Jacob Batalon for a very important meeting.
"We sat on folding chairs in a circle and went through the script together. I had talked to everyone separately, but to have everyone together to talk about the story, how the pieces fit together and what Spider-Man meant to them - that was exciting for me," Watts recalls. "We had the only three actors to ever play Spider-Man in a film, and each had been through so much, on and off screen. It was like a Spider-Man therapy session."
"Because we had done that work ahead of time, when filming that first scene with everyone, it was great to take a step back and see the crew watching, like they were watching the movie. You’re capturing something more than a scene from a movie; you’re watching a once-in-a-lifetime event."
As for whether he ever had any nerves about taking charge of those iconic faces from the past, the director added: "The only thing I was nervous about is that I’d miss something great. As a director, you always keep your eyes and ears open...Peter Parker and Spider-Man mean so much to people and I felt that responsibility."
We'll no doubt hear a lot more from Watts over the coming months, especially with plans in place to give Spider-Man: No Way Home a serious push for "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards. The nominees for this year's PGA Awards were recently revealed, however, and there was no mention of the web-slinger. The PGAs are usually a good indication of what will be recognised at the Oscars, so whether the threequel can make the cut now remains to be seen!
Keep checking back here for the latest on Spider-Man: No Way Home.