Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland aren’t the only ones with Spidey senses.
Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts recalled a time when fans were speculating that the two Spider-Man stars were set to appear in the third Holland-led film ahead of its late 2021 release. During a conversation with Collider at the Mediterrane Film Festival, the filmmaker revealed he had to shift how Maguire and Garfield entered the story because a fan on Reddit predicted his original idea.
“There had been rumors that Tobey and Andrew were going to be in the movie, and this is while we’re shooting,” he recalled. “We were writing the script, and we were working on where we wanted to reveal the guys, and it always seemed like Peter’s going to be sad because Aunt May has just died, and that the portals are going to open, and the two Spider-Men are going to step out.”
Watts said after sleuthing on the discussion platform, he noticed a fan-made piece of art identical to the then-planned scene in No Way Home that would reveal Maguire and Garfield.
“Then I was on Reddit, and I was looking at people who had already made fan art of, ‘This is probably what it’s going to be like when the two Spider-Men get revealed.’ It was on a rooftop. It was sad, two Doctor Strange portals were open and two Spider-Men are stepping out,” he explained. “I was like, ‘Well, we can’t do that. If that’s exactly what everyone thinks we’re going to do, we absolutely can’t do that.’”
After that, they opted to have Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men appear in Ned’s (played by Jacob Batalon) grandmother’s home. Watts explained that they specifically wanted the two former Spider-Man actors to appear in such way to add an element of surprise for fans.
“So, after I saw all this fan art, and I’ve decided, ‘We absolutely can’t do just exactly what everyone thinks we’re going to do,’ I was like, ‘What does no one expect that we’re going to do? What’s something that no one’s going to see coming?’” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Probably having the two Spider-Men appear at Ned’s Filipino grandma’s house in Queens. I don’t think anyone was doing fan art of that on Reddit.’ It made perfect sense in the story because it’s kind of the first time we leave Peter’s narrative.”
Holland’s Peter Parker instead crossed paths with Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men on a roof while he’s mourning the death of Aunt May. Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers told The Hollywood Reporter both of the former franchise leads “had great ideas that really elevated everything” in terms of their evolving individual Spider-Man characters.
“They had thoughts, and it was really interesting and helpful to see their thoughts,” Sommers said, while McKenna added, “There’s a crucial, moral moment that they help [Holland’s Peter Parker] get through in the climax of the movie. 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.”
Holland’s fourth Spider-Man film, deemed Spider-Man: Brand New Day, will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). While details of the project have been strictly kept under wraps, McKenna and Sommers did return to write the screenplay.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will hit theaters next summer on July 31, 2026.