Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield And Tom Holland Finally Open Up About Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home has been breaking the bank, and as of now it's the highest grossing movie this side of the pandemic. The film brought together 20 years worth of franchises to bridge the multiverse and bring across several Peter Parkers, and it's one of the best experiences I've had in a cinema, well, ever. Sony dropped a big talk between Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland on their Spider-Man YouTube channel, and I'm going over the main talking points and what they mean for the actors going forward.

Tobey Maguire explains why coming back to Spider-Man meant more than fan service

Tobey talked about how he got involved after Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige pitched him the idea. He said he realized it was very much a celebration of what had come before, but that for him it also went beyond that. "It was really about getting together with these people and revisiting what was part of my history and getting a chance to like come together, and there are personal things too which are kind of resolutions," he said, adding he didn't want to say it closes the chapter but that it lets him "revisit and have certain resolutions and just join in this like loving creative spirit."

Sony reportedly shelved post-credits scenes that would have set up more Maguire and Garfield stories

Tobey, much like Andrew, had his version of the web head shelved rather than completed. After Spider-Man 3 there was talk of a fourth movie, and storyboards even surfaced last year showing a final battle between the wall crawler and the Vulture, before Sam Raimi stepped back due to creative differences and the character was rebooted with Andrew Garfield. What stands out to me is that Tobey says this isn't a closing of the chapter, and we have heard rumblings behind the scenes that Sony are planning on bringing both Garfield and Maguire back in a project that would reportedly feature them from the start and explore their stories more in depth. The creative team behind No Way Home actually revealed they had several post-credits scene ideas showing the pair on their own worlds, but that these were taken out by the studio. Normally that's done when there are plans for things going ahead but the studio doesn't want to lock itself into anything, and I definitely think at the very least one of the actors will return in an upcoming film.

Andrew Garfield says his return hinged entirely on whether Tobey Maguire said yes

Andrew explained that his decision to come back pretty much all hinged on Tobey's shoulders. "I was just waiting to see if Tobey was gonna do it, and if Tobey was gonna do it, I was like well I have no choice, you know, I follow Tobey to the ends of the earth, I'm a lemming for Tobey," he said, before adding that was sincerely a big part of it. He said the intention behind the film felt very pure and like a great creative story rather than the pair just being asked to come and say hi and leave again. Andrew said he loved "the destiny feeling of the multiverse expanding in this film," explaining that without Tobey's Peter and his own Peter being present, Tom's Peter might not have become the Peter Parker he's supposed to become, possibly losing his girlfriend or going down a darker path without that mentorship moment. "I get chills thinking about it even now," he said. I agree with Andrew's take on the mentorship element. In the build up to the film we talked about how it pulls from storylines like One More Day and Happy Birthday, the latter of which sees Peter travel the multiverse and get a warning from a future version of himself not to go down a certain path. That plays out on screen when Tobey stops Tom from killing the person who murdered the parental figure in his life, and Andrew saves the woman he loves, stopping him from having a Gwen Stacy moment.

Tom Holland admits he was daunted for months before meeting Maguire and Garfield

Tom described how nerve wracking it was having actors of that stature join a film he was already three months into shooting. "The date the other Spider-Mans are coming was etched on my calendar, and the closer and closer I got the more and more nervous I was," he said, though that faded once he met them in Atlanta. He revealed he asked co stars Jacob and Zendaya to come to his first rehearsal as a support system because he didn't know how the scene would go with three actors playing the same character. He also called it "one of the most bizarre experiences of my life" having them put the suits on and jump around in front of a camera together on that first day, but said it was an amazing experience and "a roller coaster that I didn't want to get off."

Andrew Garfield reveals he treated the werewolf denials like a real life game of Mafia

In the build up to the film there were constant leaks about all three returning, and Andrew kept denying it, almost becoming a meme. "I promise you I am not the werewolf," he said at one point, and later gave an "unequivocal" no when asked directly. Asked how he kept it a secret through press tours, Andrew said, "It kind of felt like a game of that game werewolf or mafia, where you're the werewolf and you have to convince everyone that you're not, so I kind of turned it into a little bit of a game for myself." He said the doubt it created gave the reveal extra impact. Andrew also said watching the film with Tobey for the first time left him "in pieces," calling it a deep movie about coming of age, accepting loss, and taking responsibility for your gifts, and said he felt "totally reimagined" seeing Tom's origin story unfold in his third film rather than his first. I completely agree with Andrew here, and I'll admit I had my own doubts going in, I even texted a friend at the premiere asking if the pair were in it and got a cryptic non answer that had me panicking for six hours.

Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield say seeing all three Spider-Men together didn't hit until director John Watts showed them the frame

Andrew said he didn't fully grasp how special the moment of all three Spider-Men standing together was until director John Watts came up the scaffolding and told them that shot was the movie. "We just kind of stood here and both me and Tobey were like, yeah this feels a little weird," he said, before Watts showed them the frame of the three of them in their suits together, which Andrew called "profoundly moving" for Spider-Man fans, adding that's when he realized "people are gonna like this movie a lot."

Tobey Maguire calls playing Spider-Man again a richer experience than he expected

Tobey reflected on what it meant returning to the role, saying once the goofiness of being in the suit goes away, "you're like, oh wow, this is cool, this is a responsibility but a blessing." He said being with Andrew and Tom was "a much richer experience than I anticipated," describing a sense of trust and openness on set with the directors and producers that made him feel safe and part of a team, calling it "this really loving, fun creative experience" that had him "sitting in gratitude every day."

Tom Holland says he would be happy if his Spider-Man story ended with No Way Home

Tom closed out the conversation by saying he genuinely doesn't know what's next for his Peter Parker. He admitted he had to lie a lot during the press tour for No Way Home but said he was telling the truth this time, adding that while he wants to keep playing Spider-Man, if his arc ended with him swinging off into the night sky in his homemade suit, he'd be happy with that. I don't think he'll be done though, especially with the Venom teaser at the end of the film, and with MJ and Ned heading to Boston there are a lot of directions his college years could take the story.

Would you want to see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield return together in their own Spider-Man project, or should Tom Holland's story stand on its own from here?