Spider-Man: No Way Home has so far managed to gross over $1.5 billion at the global box office, and the discussion surrounding the film is showing no sign of slowing down.
Bringing the two original big screen Spider-Men into the MCU (along with all those villains) was huge, and fans have been understandably desperate to learn as much as possible about how this epic blockbuster came together ever since. So, we've scoured through every post-release interview and reveal to bring you the 10 biggest and surprising new details about the film!
From how the cast reacted to those big leaks to unexpected on-set details and major characters who ended up on the cutting room floor, there's lots of intel here we're sure you won't already know.
If you've got this far, then you'll probably realize that SPOILERS follow from this point on!
10. Venom Was Nearly In The Sinister Six
Spider-Man: No Way Home only ended up making use of five villains, but we came this close to see the three Spider-Men battling the true Sinister Six in the film's final battle.
Writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers told Variety that Tom Hardy's Venom being in the final battle was "definitely discussed," explaining that their initial approach was to "write [a] script that is the kitchen sink and we’ll just act like we were going to get everything we wish for." Unfortunately, something had to give, and that was Eddie Brock's role.
As for what appears to be a plot hole with how Venom was pulled into the MCU alongside those who know Peter Parker is Spider-Man (there is no Spidey on his world), McKenna has an explanation for curious fans. "The idea is that the symbiote has knowledge of other universes," he explained. "Buried in his brain is some knowledge of that connection."
9. Tobey Maguire And Andrew Garfield Spent 2 Weeks On Set
We've yet to hear from Tobey Maguire about his return as Spider-Man, but Andrew Garfield has been given the opportunity to talk about joining the MCU as his Peter Parker Variant while promoting tick, tick...BOOM! Chatting to Variety, he revealed how long he worked on Spider-Man: No Way Home.
"We were shooting for two weeks, Toby and I, but I think we managed to achieve something that is not just showing up and going, “Hi! Bye!," Garfield said. "My Spider-Man got to save his younger brother’s romantic relationship, potentially. And to heal the most traumatic moment of his own life through doing it for his younger brother. Making sure that he didn’t have the same fate, there’s something cosmically beautiful about that. It meant getting a second chance at saving Gwen."
Two weeks isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but both actors were definitely given the opportunity to make an impact with their scenes, which is evident from the positive response from fans!
8. Ditching Green Goblin's Mask
Green Goblin's mask from 2002's Spider-Man has always been divisive among fans, and it only shows up on a couple of brief occasions in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Norman Osborn destroys it shortly after arriving in the MCU and that gives Willem Dafoe the opportunity to bring the Goblin to life through his deranged, often monstrous facial expressions while fighting Spidey.
That aside, why no mask in this film?
"I must be honest, I am aware that there was some criticism of that [Green Goblin] mask in the original one. We heard it enough that it was probably a consideration, to change it up a little bit," Dafoe told The New York Times. "I don’t think about that because I don’t think about emoting with my face. My face follows my heart. It’s just an expression of what you’re feeling."
It would have been fun to see more of the Goblin's mask in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but this was the right decision for the film. Marvel Studios also found other neat ways to reference the comics.
7. America Chavez's Cut Role
Spider-Man: No Way Home was supposed to be released after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, likely explaining why America Chavez was featured in early concept art from the film.
It seems she was set to be pivotal to this story, possibly taking Doctor Strange's place on some occasions and even helping Peter Parker out during the final battle against the Green Goblin. We'd guess her power to punch through realities would have been what brought those other Spider-Men to the MCU, while it also appears the Darkhold was going to be the original MacGuffin.
It's always interesting to think about what might have been, but COVID changed things and we really can't complain about the film we ended up getting. America will now make her MCU debut in May.
6. Alternate Post-Credits Scenes
At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Maguire and Garfield's Spider-Men return to their respective realities, and that's the last we see of them. Talking to Variety, writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers confirmed that they considered teasing the futures of one or both characters in a post-credits scene.
"I would hope so!" McKenna said of possibly seeing them again. "I would love to see more of their journey. We even talked about, ‘Oh, we could do a [post-credits] tag with this one! We could do a tag with that one!'" Sommers adds, "Can we do a TV show with the two of them traveling around in a van solving mysteries?'" McKenna then joked, "Like, ‘No, you weren’t supposed to say that!' We are doing Tobey and Andrew in a van going from town to town!"
Their later comments are clearly in jest, but it might have been fun to see more of the two Spideys, even if it was just to learn what their lives look like after meeting the MCU's Peter Parker. This would also have presented Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures the opportunity to deliver more cameos...
5. Why Certain Cameos Didn't Happen
There is some disappointment online that we didn't get a glimpse into Peter's happy ending with Mary Jane Watson (Gwen showing up never really made much sense), and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked why neither character was used in an interview with The New York Times.
"When people see the movie, they will understand," he explained. "It's about the story. It was a big goal for all of us - Amy and Jon [Watts, the movie's director] and our writers, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers - that Peter Parker's senior year in high school didn't get lost amid the insanity that ensues thanks to his encounter with Doctor Strange. That easily could have happened. And that's the reason there's not another 20 people in the movie."
Spider-Man: No Way Home could have quite easily become a cameo-filled two-and-a-half hours, but credit is due for not heading down the lazy fan-service route. Kirsten Dunst has expressed interest in returning as Mary Jane Watson, though, so it's a shame we didn't get to her at least.
4. Mysterious Multiversal Silhouettes
Near the conclusion of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Multiverse started breaking apart as everyone from every reality who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man found themselves being pulled into the MCU. Those tears featured some interesting silhouettes, which have since been identified.
Some were pretty obvious while watching in the theater, of course, but others were harder to work out given how quickly they disappeared from the screen. So, who are they?
There's the Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus in Peter Parker's body), Kraven the Hunter, Scorpion, Black Cat, Rhino, and perhaps most interestingly, Mysterio. Quentin Beck is the one who revealed the wall-crawler's secret identity in the MCU, though as the villain wasn't really from another world, we're guessing this isn't the same character we met in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Whether there are any future plans for these villains remains to be seen.
3. Why Aunt May Had To Die
One of Spider-Man: No Way Home's biggest gut punches comes when Aunt May dies in her nephew's arms. Talking to Variety, writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers explained why it was necessary at this point in the movie for Peter Parker to lose the woman who raised him.
"We were at a point where we felt like there needed to be a loss, a sacrifice, that Peter needed to pay a real price for this decision to try to save the villains," Sommers explained. "I think it became pretty clear to a lot of us that losing Aunt May was the thing that would really drive home the point we were trying to make: making this the movie where Peter Parker experiences the loss that the other ones did in their first movies."
"He was trying to do what May taught him and that made the sacrifice that much more difficult because it blew up in his face and it got her killed," adds McKenna. "Then he started questioning that morality in a way that he never really questioned because he hasn’t been put to the test in that way." It's a moment we may never forget, that's for sure. *Sniffs*
2. Sandman Was Never On Set
Eagle-eyed fans have pointed out that the shots of Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors and Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko were lifted from The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 3, and the latter never showed up on set. That was confirmed by VFX Supervisor Kelly Port during an interview with before & afters.
Asked if the team working on Spider-Man: No Way Home had access to facial capture for Sandman, she responded: "Well, we had his voice. We weren’t able to get a lot of visuals on him, but we were able to get his voice for sure and we got scans and textures and things like that."
We're assuming this was also the case for Ifans, with a stand-in likely on set to play The Lizard via motion capture. Whether scheduling issues or COVID was the cause of their absence is hard to say, though it's also possible the actors signed on so late that their scenes were already shot with the hope they'd be secured down the line.
1. How Sony Pictures Reacted To Those Big Leaks
We may never know whether all those big Spider-Man: No Way Home spoilers were staged or the result of a leaky ship at Sony, but they certainly managed to increase excitement for the film. Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield both spent months denying more than one Spider-Man would show up, but how did the latter feel about those massive leaks while claiming not to be in the film?
“I worked so hard to keep it secret that I was in Atlanta shooting," Garfield recalled in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "All these leaks were happening, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, guys, what the hell is going on? I'm working so hard here to stay secret, and then here's an image of me with Tobey!' And they're like, 'No, no, we're gonna keep it quiet.' 'OK, I'll keep denying it' [...] I was happy to do it, but it was a lot of work on everyone's part. It obviously gave people a big thrill in the theater, and what more do you want from a theater experience than a thrill?"
The truth is now out, of course, and Garfield can finally speak freely about his amazing experiences in the MCU. Fans have started campaigning for Sony to #MakeTAS3, and after the way things ended for him with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, you've got to believe he's feeling good right now.