As technology continues to grow more advanced, the tools available to editors and VFX artists are now at a previously unthought-of level. These days, Hollywood studios can use digital technology to make actors younger, create realistic faces from scratch, or replicate the likeness of an actor or actress - much of this technology is now even available to enthusiasts at home.
With how advanced this technology has become, many were naturally skeptical when photos and videos of Andrew Garfield on the set of Spider-Man: No Way Home began circling the web. When one leak was doing the rounds, which ultimately turned out to be real, one editor even made a fake video to explain how he was able to create a photo.
Among the biggest influences on Garfield's Peter 3 in No Way Home was the loss of Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy after her death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. But in another corner of the Multiverse, the roles were reversed, and it was a spider-powered Gwen Stacy who had to watch a powerless Peter Parker meet his demise.
Spider-Gwen was first introduced to comic readers in 2014 and recently popularized after she made her big-screen debut in 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. As many are hopeful to see Spider-Gwen come to live-action, especially if Stone returns in the role, one fan has made that happen with a crazy edit.
Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man Meets Emma Stone's Spider-Gwen
Movila shared an impressive deepfake edit on YouTube which sees Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man meet Emma Stone's Spider-Gwen in the aftermath of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
After departing the MCU, The Amazing Spider-Man arrives in what he originally perceives to be his own universe but quickly discovers it is not.
Garfield's Spider-Man observes a masked Spider-Gwen holding onto a dying Peter Parker in the middle of the road.
Just as Peter takes his dying breath, Spider-Gwen removes her mask to reveal The Amazing Spider-Man's Gwen Stacy actress Emma Stone.
Garfield's Spider-Man jumps down to speak to Stone's Spider-Gwen, leading to a short-lived fight.
The two first discuss the Multiverse before sharing a heartfelt moment about their failures to save each other's lives.
Overcame with emotion, the spider-powered Peter and Gwen end the scene with a hug.
A concluding title card reveals the title: The Amazing Peter: Into the Gwen-Verse.
Movila explained in the description that the short film was made as part of a deepfake-focused art school project, meaning the likenesses of Garfield and Stone are created through AI:
"This product was made as an elaborate for my specialist thesis presented at the Academy of fine arts of Catania. The study focuses on the potential of artificial intelligence (deepfake) applied to a film product. Therefore, the faces of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in this short film are digitally synthesized, and no images have been filmed in a way that compromises honor and dignity."
The Amazing Peter: Into the Gwen-Verse can be watched in full below:
Deepfakes Keep Getting More Impressive
Deepfake technology has been widely used in Hollywood in recent years, most famously to de-age older actors into their younger selves. This process has been applied in The Mandalorian, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Irishman, and plenty more cases.
Impressive fan-made edits such as Movila's prove the potential this technology has, as the talented creator was able to recreate Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone's likenesses with no input from the actors. Obviously, recreating their voices would be a whole separate task that Movila didn't go into for this edit, instead replacing the two with an original cast.
In many ways, it's crazy to see this advanced technology becoming accessible from a home environment, allowing fans to create edits above and beyond that of even Hollywood. Most famously, one editor previously took it upon himself to improve the flawed de-aging CGI of Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian, earning him a job at Lucasfilm.
As of now, there are no definitive signs Andrew Garfield will be back as Spider-Man anytime soon, let alone reuniting with Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy. As Sony's Spider-Man Universe continues to expand, the studio will undoubtedly one day dive into Spider-Gwen for a spin-off project, but the chances of Stone returning are doubtful.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is available at home now wherever movies are sold.
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