2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home brought fans a team-up they never expected to see on the big screen, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as their takes on the iconic web-slinging hero from Sam Raimi's trilogy and The Amazing Spider-Man movies, respectively.
Though both actors were deliberately kept out of all marketing in the build-up to the film's release, their involvement was one of the MCU's worst-kept secrets. Maguire and Garfield ended up having fairly substantial roles in No Way Home once they showed up, but this may not have been the case if a certain unnamed individual had their way.
While speaking to Collider, director Jon Watts revealed that an idea that was pitched from "one unspoken person" was to have Garfield and Maguire's Spideys swing by for what would have been little more than cameo appearances during the final battle.
"I remember there was one unspoken person who was like, 'Whatever is happening in the movie in the third act, oh no, Peter Parker’s in trouble! Thwip, where did that web come from? Thwip, where did that web come from?' Reveal: Tobey and Andrew. They swing in, they save the day, they leave. I was like, 'I won’t make that. I absolutely refuse to make that.' Just a character showing up for a cameo, being like, 'Hello! Remember me? Okay, see you later.' I was like, 'That’s not going to happen.'"
We don't know for certain who Watts is referring to here, but we're sure there will be plenty of speculation!
Thankfully, Watts stuck to his guns, and Peters 2 and 3 proved to be vital parts of the story.
"So, with this broad-stroke idea about three versions of the same guy being able to learn to help each other in a really dark time, I thought that was enough of an emotional seat to build a story around," Watts continued. "As you do that, you’re like 'Well, why are they all here? What happened? How do you get to this situation?' That’s how we did it. We started there. It involves taking everyone seriously as a character, making sure it’s about something real and emotional, and then building it from there."
Watts will not return to direct the fourth Spider-Man movie, Brand New Day, with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings helmer Destin Daniel Cretton stepping behind the camera.
Earlier today, cinematographer Brett Pawlak shared some very interesting images as part of a mood board, which you can check out here.