NWH Nearly Showed How Strange's Spell Affected Non-MCU Peter Parkers
The Spider-Man: No Way Home writers reveal that they initially were going to show how Dr. Strange’s final spell affected the non-MCU Peter Parkers.
Spider-Man: No Way Home writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers reveal they were originally going to show how Doctor Strange's spell affected the non-MCU Peter Parkers. The 27th film of the MCU and the fourth of Phase Four, No Way Home has been a global phenomenon ever since the first trailer was released back in August 2021. The latest Spidey outing has now topped Avatar at the US box office to cement its place as the third highest-grossing domestic movie of all time - an incredible achievement for something that has only been released for two months, not to mention accomplishing it during a pandemic.
The film saw the return of Spider-Man favorites from both the MCU and non-MCU franchises. No Way Home's promotional campaign had fans excited about the potential return of Peter Parker actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, since the trailers showed some of their villains, including Green Goblin and Electro, arriving in the MCU after Strange's original spell malfunctioned. The fans were right in their suspicions, and after the emotional scene of Aunt May's death, audiences around the world were gifted with the return of Maguire and Garfield as their versions of Spider-Man.
In an interview with Digital Spy, Sommers shares that he and McKenna were initially going to address the after-effects of Doctor Strange's spell on the non-MCU Peter Parkers. The film's ending saw MCU Peter Parker sacrificing his identity to the whole world in order to stop the other universe's villains from coming into the MCU world. Both McKenna and Sommers wanted to explore the effects this had on Maguire's and Garfield's versions, but they ultimately decided it would be too distracting from Tom Holland's storyline. Check out Sommers' response below:
Believe me, we talked about it. We actually had ideas for ways of showing the facts, if there were any. Believe me, these are all great questions. Chris and I even were tempted … we wanted to pitch a tag where you got to see something like ‘Oh what would happen if this guy goes back,’ and, ‘This has changed,’ or, ‘Wouldn’t that be fun?’. But again, we didn’t want to distract from the emotion of what was going on with our Peter Parker.
In another recent interview, both writers also revealed that they rewrote the rooftop Spider-Man meet-up scene 10 times to get the characters' motivations right. The emotional scene was a fan-favorite, not only for being the first time all three were brought together, but also as the scene that hit the hardest before the film's finale. It showed the harsh reality of MCU Peter's situation, losing his most important parental figure. It is clear to see why the writers needed to perfect this important scene, and those multiple re-writes worked out well in the end.
The adoration that No Way Home received is no surprise, and really shows why Spider-Man is considered one of the most beloved superheroes. The film recently picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, but many were disappointed not to see it nominated for Best Picture, despite its popularity and an awards push from Disney. Regardless of the snub, No Way Home looks primed to occupy a key role in the superhero movie canon for years to come.
Source: Digital Spy