Spider-Man: No Way Home produced some of the most exciting comebacks in comic book movie history, but now it turns out it could have been even more nostalgic.
Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returned to play their versions of Peter Parker, aka Peter Parker. Spider-Man in Tom Holland’s multiverse-focused threequel No way home. Several villains from Maguire and Garfield’s Spidey films also returned, but their love interests did not.
However, it has now been confirmed that there were plans to bring back Kirsten Dunst’s MJ and Emma Stone’s Gwen, but those ideas were ultimately scrapped.
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The revelation is contained in a recently released book. MCU: Reign of Marvel Studios, written by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Edwards. An excerpt from the book explains that No way home writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna wrote about Gwen, MJ, and even Sally Field’s Aunt May.
“Sommers and McKenna wrote versions of the story at different times that included Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson and Sally Field’s Aunt May, but ultimately cut all of these women when they decided the story already exaggerated.” excerpt read as shown here via The Direct.
“The only female characters who will have significant screen time will be Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May and Zendaya’s MJ. Because the script was constantly changing, none of the actors could read the locked script, and they joined the project based on their faith in (Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige), (producer Amy Pascal) and director Jon Watts.”
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This wasn’t the only Spidey movie to undergo some changes. Recently, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Justin K. Thompson revealed that the film’s finale, which saw Gwen Hailee Steinfeld assembling the Spidey team, almost didn’t end this way.
“I was really worried about it about six weeks before we finished the film and added it. In the end the movie didn’t work out and was really a bummer.
“We had a screening, and luckily we were able to come up with a strategy to bring all these characters together and bring Spot back – because he didn’t come back – and show Rio and Jeff, and celebrate all the characters.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home available for purchase now at Prime Video, iTunes, Microsoft Store and other digital retailers.
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Jacob is a freelance writer specializing in narrative television and film.
He graduated from the University of Roehampton with a Masters in Journalism and has since written several publications, including Gold DerbyInsidersAnd ScreenDaily.
Jacob has covered major film and television events, including numerous BAFTA ceremonies and the Cannes Film Festival, and has been an awards expert for several publications, including Korea. Arirang. His specific areas of interest include star WarsMCU, Oscar and Hugh Grant.