‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Surprise Stars ‘Elevated’ Their Superhero Stories
Spider-Man: No Way Home features several surprise stars. And according to the Marvel movie’s writers, two of them contributed ideas that elevated the story.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.]
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ features surprise stars
Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home was rumored for months. But with the film’s release, the pair’s return was confirmed.
Maguire reprises his role as Peter Parker from Sam Raimi’s 2000s Spider-Man trilogy. And Garfield appears as his version of the superhero from the 2012 reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, and its 2014 sequel.
In the new movie, Garfield and Maguire’s Peter Parkers find themselves in Tom Holland’s universe after a spell cast by Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) goes awry. When Holland’s character is overwhelmed with multiversal villains like Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), and the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), he joins forces with the older Spideys to defeat them.
The ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ writers reveal Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire helped shape their characters
After playing Peter Parker in the previous Spider-Man movies, Garfield and Maguire know their versions of the characters inside out. So when Spider-Man: No Way Home writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers came to them with the script, the actors added their own ideas on what their Spideys should be.
“They had thoughts, and it was really interesting and helpful to see their thoughts,” Sommers told The Hollywood Reporter. “No one knows the character as well as — or gives as much thought to the character — as someone who has to then embody it and sell it. It’s always valuable to hear what the actor is thinking. It definitely shaped what we did.”
“They had great ideas that really elevated everything we were going for and added layers and an arc and we really actually started honing into the idea that these two guys were really helping Tom’s Peter on his journey to becoming who he ends up becoming,” McKenna added.
“There’s a crucial, moral moment that they help him get through in the climax of the movie,” he continued. “So much of that was brought by Tobey and Andrew’s ideas and shaping of what they thought their characters could bring to this story.”
The screenwriters wanted to stay true to Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Spideys
Garfield and Maguire’s Peter Parkers each hold a special place in the Spider-Verse. So when writing their character arcs for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sommers and McKenna knew they wanted to stay true to their films.
“As writers, we kept saying, ‘Where are these characters in their lives when they come into the movie?’” McKenna told The Hollywood Reporter. “Really having conversations about specifying where they are, without giving away too much. Not coming in, spilling all the beans.”
The writer revealed that Maguire “wanted to be very minimal about how much you know,” while Garfield “loved the idea of he’s still tortured over what happened in Amazing Spider-Man 2.”
“We were trying to write up to the characters that they did such a great job of creating,” McKenna explained. “And really being true to those characters and those stories and those worlds so that it didn’t feel like we were doing curtain call, fan-service.”
