Days on from a purported leak that appeared to confirm some of the biggest rumours circulating about Spider-Man: No Way Home, actor Tom Holland has been speaking to GamesRadar about the upcoming Marvel and Sony sequel, where he teased that the film is “three generations coming together”.
Now, before you get too excited, Holland isn’t actually confirming his Spider-Predecessors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield here; in fact, as he’s done on numerous occasions now, he stresses once again that he’s specifically not referring to them, but rather villains Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx) and – as the most recent poster confirmed – Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe… presumably).
“It was interesting having those guys come in because they have certain ownership over Spider-Man in their own way, and… I’m talking about Alfred and Jamie and those guys,” said Holland. “To see Alfred come in, and have to adapt and change to the way that the films are made, but also change director, and also [the fact that] I’m now Spider-Man. It was really interesting to see these actors adapt and change what they were doing to fit the modern era.”
“People don’t believe me when I say that [Maguire and Garfield] are not coming back,” Holland continued. “But people are going to have to believe me at some point. It means a lot to me. The first time you see Doc and the rest of the characters that come back, it’s so exciting – and it’s such a huge moment in cinematic history. It’s three generations coming together.”
Holland also teased a shift in tone, stating that: “What people will be really surprised about is that it’s not fun, this film. It’s dark and it’s sad, and it’s going to be really affecting. You’re going to see characters that you love go through things that you would never wish for them to go through… I haven’t seen the film yet but I’ve seen pieces of the film, and it’s the best work we’ve ever done. It’s the best Spider-Man film that we’ve ever made. I really don’t think fans are at all ready for what they’ve put together. I know that I’m not ready, and I know that it’s going to be brutal.”
Holland has infamously earned a reputation for dropping MCU spoilers, so it’s admirable to see him quadrupling down on his denial here. However, by this point it seems that the entire audience is going to go into No Way Home expecting to see three generations of Spider-Men teaming up, and if Maguire and Garfield don’t make an appearance, will anyone be walking about of the cinema feeling satisfied, even if it is the best Spider-Man movie to date?
For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
Spider-Man: No Way Home sees Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home) directing Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Zendaya (MJ), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), Tony Revolori (Flash Thompson), Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus).
Spider-Man: No Way Home is set for release on December 17th 2021.
