The Emotional On-Set Moment That Bonded The Spider-Man: No Way Home Cast

Many fans still don’t seem to be over “Spider-Man: No Way Home” following its release. It is, after all, the only film so far to feature all three actors who have ever played Spider-Man on the big screen — Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland — and it is now the sixth highest-grossing of all time as of this writing (via Box Office Mojo). This means that a number of people went ahead and saw the movie a second or third time. It’s more than likely that this excellent response has to do with the film’s biggest surprise.

Not to mention, there are plenty of great moments with each version of Peter Parker that don’t come off as merely fan service — they even managed to subtly sneak in the Spider-Man pointing meme somehow and it still worked. Basically, Garfield and Maguire fit well, and their appearances make sense — they serve the plot and don’t feel forced. Holland’s Peter meets them at his most fragile and emotionally devastated moment on a rooftop, and Garfield and Maguire act as experienced older brothers who help him learn how to get through the pain, remain empathetic, and lead with Aunt May’s (Marisa Tomei) final words on responsibility in mind.

It was an almost therapeutic moment between Peter and two other versions of himself, making for a beautiful moment. And it was recently revealed by director Jon Watts that a similar sort of emotional therapy session actually happened on set between Garfield, Maguire, and Holland. 

The main cast had a script reading therapy session

In a recent interview with Variety where Watts discussed everything “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” he noted a particular point in production that stood out to him involving that rooftop scene where the three Spider-Men first meet. Watts said that before shooting it, he gathered all three Spider-Man actors plus Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, had them sit on some fold-out chairs, and do a dry-run of the script together. Watts said it was so exciting for him as he had talked to each actor separately, but to have them discuss it amongst themselves was something else. “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,” Watts said.

As such, this “therapy session” means that it’s incredibly likely that the conversation involving Maguire, Garfield, and Holland specifically went outside of the script. It’s no secret that being the person who holds the role of Peter Parker holds a lot of weight, a lot of responsibility. It must have been quite the time listening to each actor talk about not only what the role meant to them, but how they dealt with that responsibility off-screen. Similar to the final scenes of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” where Holland’s Peter says goodbye to the other Peters, it was probably a nice passing of the torch.

Amidst plenty of rumors about what’s next for Spider-Man, the reception of the film and the resurgence of love for Garfield, Maguire, and Holland’s portrayal of Spidey/Peter Parker may leave the door open for incredible opportunities.