Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Spider-Man: Surprise actors did not sign on to No Way Home until halfway through filming

Spoilers for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ below

Annabel Nugent
Thursday 30 December 2021 05:35 EST
Comments
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The writers of Spider-Man: No Way Home have revealed that some of the surprise actors in the movie did not sign on until halfway through filming.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s writers – Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers – gave fans a behind-the-scenes look into the newly released third entry in the MCU’s Homecoming trilogy, which stars Tom Holland as Spider-Man.

Excitement surrounding the release was huge with many fans speculating that the film would see previous iterations of the web-slinger (played by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire) appear alongside Holland’s superhero.

Spoilers for No Way Home below!

Since the film’s release on 15 December, the rumours have been confirmed. Garfield and Maguire do star, despite the film’s cast repeatedly denying the speculation.

Film Review - Spider-Man: No Way Home
Film Review - Spider-Man: No Way Home (©2021 CTMG. All Rights Reserved. MARVEL and all related character names: © & ™ 2021 MARVEL)

While the pair’s appearance was pivotal to the storyline, McKenna and Sommers have said that securing the two actors was not always a certainty. They signed on to No Way Home when the film was already halfway through its shooting schedule.

The film began shooting in October 2020, with Maguire and Garfield signing onto the project in December 2020. Filming wrapped in March 2021.

In addition to Garfield and Maguire, villains from past Spider-Man franchises also appeared, including Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, Willem Dafore’s Green Goblin, and Jamie Foxx’s Electro.

Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker
Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker (Sony/Columbia)

Despite not knowing if they had succeeded in securing the return of so many actors, McKenna said he and Sommers had to proceed as though they had.

“All you can do is act like we’re getting everybody that we want and let the powers that be reach out to those people and see if this can actually become a reality,” said McKenna.

The appearance of Garfield has resulted in some fans calling for the Tick, Tick… Boom! star to reprise his role as Peter Parker in a potential third entry in his The Amazing Spider-Man franchise.

Read The Independent’s three-star review of Spider-Man: No Way Home here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in