Kevin Feige & Amy Pascal Interview: Spider-Man No Way Home
Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. The film promises to explore the multiverse like never before, with Tom Holland's Peter Parker meeting characters from the previous Spider-Man films directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb. Spider-Man: No Way Home premieres in theaters on December 17.
Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige and Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal spoke to Screen Rant about bringing the original Spider-Man villains into the MCU, the opportunities brought about by the multiverse, and Netflix casting rumors.
Screen Rant: Bringing Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, and whoever else might show up in this film, we're losing it. Kevin, why was now the right time to tackle something this ambitious?
Kevin Feige: I think if we've learned anything over the years, and particularly just the deal between Disney and Sony to do these movies together, that almost anything is possible if enough people believe in it and have a passion for it. Kicking off with Peter Parker's identity being revealed at the end of Far From Home immediately set us on a course for things we'd never seen before in a Spider-Man movie. That's the fun of making movies, is to do things people haven't seen before, and in the MCU there are ways that lots of amazing things can happen, and that Dr. Strange would be a good conduit to that.
On a personal note, it's very surreal with Willem being back and Alfred Molina being back from two movies that were at the very beginning of my career, and the first time I met Amy and watched her run a studio and put those movies together was amazing learning for me and now to be doing it together is surreal and a dream.
Amy, you kind of calmed us down the other day because we were a little worried that this could be maybe a swan song for Tom Holland.
Amy Pascal: Here's the thing, just because we're calling this the culmination of the Homecoming trilogy, that does not mean that is the culmination of Tom Holland being Spider-Man. Tom Holland is Spider-Man, and we will keep making movies with him.
I was going to say, what can you say about the future of your partnership together?
Amy Pascal: We love working together. We're going to work together as long as they let us.
Kevin Feige: Exactly.
Between No Way Home and Dr. Strange the Multiverse of Madness, I feel like there's a lot to be revealed. Has the secrecy of these movies made you hold back on any potential announcements and will we get any new news soon? There are a lot of untitled projects on the slate. We're curious.
Kevin Feige: There'll be news. There'll be various events. Obviously with the pandemic, the way we've announced things has changed and altered, and in some ways that's been good because it's kept the focus on what's next. It's kept the focus on the projects as they come out, and certainly the anticipation for No Way Home, I would say, is as big as anything we've ever felt before, which is good timing as the movie's about to come out.
Amy Pascal: Yeah. No kidding.
You made sure the entire internet was just Spider-Man because the first Into the Spider-Verse 2 trailer dropped yesterday.
Amy Pascal: Yes. Wasn't that terrific?
The fact that it said part one, I'm very curious how you responded to whatever Phil Lord and Chris Miller have up their sleeves.
Amy Pascal: Phil and Chris are really talented and the movie is terrific and we're working hard on it, and the first one comes out in October.
There was a Miles Morales mention in Spider-Man: Homecoming, will that ever come back around?
Amy Pascal: You never know. Someday maybe. We can do anything we want now with the multiverse and everything else.
That's true. Anything's possible to the point where my brain is broken.
Amy Pascal: Our brains are broken too. The possibilities are endless, and we talk about all of them all the time.
There is a hint in Hawkeye about potential Kingpin rumors. There are rumors about Netflix Marvel characters, is there anything you can say in what you're considering in terms of those characters?
Kevin Feige: I always say that whenever a character comes back into the Marvel sandbox, it becomes another tool in the storytelling ability of the MCU. As I said before, the good news is, all will be revealed when people actually finally watch. We make these things for people to watch them and enjoy, not to -
Amy Pascal: Spoil them.
Kevin Feige: Give them away beforehand, but all of that is coming up in the next few weeks. One way or another people will know what's true and what's not true.