Spider-Man: No Way Home is being credited for revitalising the box office amid a pandemic. The film has exceeded every expectation and is now the sixth-biggest grosser at the worldwide box office. This would have been impressive before the pandemic, but for it to happen now it is downright exceptional, even for an MCU movie.
Bringing back Tom Holland as the titular webslinger, the film also features the last two live-action Spidey actors, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
The story explored the concept of the multiverse, and addressed the fallout of Spider-Man’s real identity getting exposed to the world by JK Simmons’ J Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the last film in the franchise.
Supervillains from previous Spidey film franchises, like Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, crossed over to the MCU to face the three Spider-Men.
This is clearly good news for Sony, one of the studios behind it (the other being Marvel Studios), which enjoys majority of the profits from Spidey movies (75 per cent as per reports).
However, the company had issues with the way Holland was promoting the movie. While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Holland explained that he got in trouble for using words like “emotional” and “brutal” while on the press tour.
Andrew Garfield reprised his Spider-Man in No Way Home, after eight years. (Photo: Sony Pictures)
“I got a phone call from some people at the studio, saying, ‘Stop saying the movie is brutal! Stop saying the movie is emotional! It doesn’t sell the movie!’ And I was like, ‘But it is! This is the most emotional superhero movie that’s ever been made.’ And they were like, ‘We want people to understand how fun it is.’ And I was like, ‘It is fun, but it’s also kind of heartbreaking.’ So I had to sort of change track on how I was promoting the movie, but I’m glad I gave at least some people some warning.”
In an answer to a question about Andrew Garfield, Holland said he is proud of the response Garfield is receiving, which is in stark contrast to the mixed response Garfield’s solo Spidey–The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2–received.
Holland also regretted not calling Garfield when he was cast in the role.
“Had someone said to me after my second movie that I was done and this other kid was taking over, I would’ve been heartbroken. So looking back, I wish I had the chance to make amends with him, but this film was our opportunity. It was not only an opportunity for him to make peace with the character and the studio, but it was also an opportunity for me and him to have this moment where we realise we could share this thing. The look on his face when he saves Zendaya [MJ] is totally genuine, and I’m really proud of him. I’m really chuffed that he got this opportunity to win back the world and for people to be reminded that his Spider-Man movies are fantastic and brilliant in their own right,” he said.
Holland will next be seen playing the titular role in the Uncharted movie, which is slated for a February 18 release.