"A Spider-Man Group": Andrew Garfield Addresses The Dynamic Between Him, Tom Holland And Tobey Maguire In Spider-Man: No Way Home

By Nicolas Ayala

Published Dec 9, 2024

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Andrew Garfield reveals how he, Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and director Jon Watts designed Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending, before they returned to their original timelines.

Speaking to Ryan Reynolds in an episode of Variety's "Actors on Actors", Andrew Garfield recalls how Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts allowed the three Spider-Man actors to explore their characters freely, encouraging them to improvise without worrying too much about the script. Garfield describes the experience of working closely with fellow actors Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire as a "Spider-Man group", delving into the complexities of their respective heroes. Check out Andrew Garfield's full conversation with fellow Marvel star Ryan Reynolds below:

It was a beautiful thing to genuinely feel like you were a of a Spider-Brother, and I do mean that sincerely. It was a genuinely lovely. And Jon Watts, such a great director. He was so loose, he was so relaxed. I was like, 'So what are we gonna do about what's on the page? Because we need to work on it.' And he's like, 'Yeah, yeah, we'll work on it.' And it's like, 'Ok, but when?' He's like, 'Well we'll improvise a lot.' And I'm like, 'Great. Great! Really?' It was beautiful. [...] It was suddenly like oh, we have an opportunity that no one's ever had where it's like a Spider-Man group. What does that look like, let's really go down to the nuts and bolts and the studs—what could that look like? What's the dynamic that we could build that is completely specific and unique to these particular Spider-people.

What Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man: No Way Home Comments Mean

Large Part Of Spider-Man: No Way Home Was Based On Improvisation

Spider-Man: No Way Home's multiversal Spider-Men displayed a brotherly bond despite not knowing of each other's existence. These dynamics are so genuine because the same applied to the actors. Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire only got to know each other on set, and they formed a close friendship while filming. Spider-Man: No Way Home's plot changed drastically due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and the subsequent delays in the MCU's Phase 4, meaning that Jon Watts and the Spider-Man: No Way Home cast had to improvise constantly.

In early Spider-Man: No Way Home drafts, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Men were introduced differently. Apparently, they would have been brought into Earth-616 consciously by an unknown character (probably Doctor Strange).

A big factor in the Spider-Man actors' genuine friendship may have been the high secrecy of Spider-Man: No Way Home's production. Spider-Man: No Way Home was as highly anticipated as MCU crossover events like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and rumors about all its possible cameos and surprise actor appearances flooded the internet. Hence, Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire may have had to maintain their communication extremely private and develop their characters' own bond with this unique experience as a real-life basis.

Our Take On Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man: No Way Home Comments

The MCU Shouldn't Leave The Three Spider-Men's Friendship Behind

Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending set up a more grounded sequel for Tom Holland's Peter Parker, though the MCU's Spider-Man 4 might be heading to a more multiversal-themed plot. If Avengers: Secret Wars ends the possibility of multiversal travel at the end of the Multiverse Saga, then Spider-Man 4 could be the last time all three Spider-Man actors could reunite on the big screen. In that case, Marvel Studios shouldn't miss its chance to have all three live-action Spider-Men in the same movie after Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Source: Variety