Spider-Man: No Way Home went all out in showcasing the Multiverse by bringing back previous Spider-Man villains such as Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus, as well as featuring the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's respective web-slingers. While the Tom Holland-led threequel has been the subject of leaks and rumors in the past months, it wasn't until the film's premiere that fans laid speculation to rest when they finally saw the highly anticipated comeback in their own eyes.
No Way Home is filled with memorable moments, and one of them is the epic final battle at the Statue of Liberty.
After luring the villains to the famous New York City spot, the three Spider-Men went up against Electro, Lizard, and Sandman in order to give them the respective cures that will heal them from their misery. In addition, the location was also a sight of the intense encounter between Holland's Peter and Dafoe's Green Goblin.
That said, many would agree that the Statue of Liberty is pivotal to No Way Home's narrative. Now, a special look at the famous statue has been unveiled in new promotional art.
Marvel's New Statue of Liberty
Spider-Man: No Way Home concept artist Marek Okon shared a new batch of concept art from the MCU threequel, showcasing a fresh look at the original design of the movie's Statue of Liberty.
Okon shared that he spent a good chunk of his time designing the new and improved Statue of Liberty during the film's pre-production:
"If you guys don't mind today's #SpiderMan #NoWayHome concept art update will be slightly more technical. I spent most of my time in preproduction designing refreshed Statue of Liberty and construction sites around Liberty Island."
The initial design shows the Statue of Liberty holding Captain America's shield, but without the surrounding scaffolding at the top:
The visual artist then pointed out that the goal for the key art was to "construct [an] interesting playground" for the three Spider-Men to fight in:
"The goal here was not to create flashy key art images but rather to construct [an] interesting playground for our heroes to fight in. I did a lot of different cross-sections and floor layouts in 3d that was later used to plan camera framing and action flow."
Okon also unveiled a full overview of the Statue of Liberty during the designing process:
The Marvel visual artist also discussed how 3D spaces and VR were incorporated into the design process:
"I used Blender and Eevee for real-time preview while showing those spaces to my wonderful production designer Darren Gilford. Those 3d spaces were later transferred to Unreal Engine and we used VR to look at them from a human perspective. It was pretty amazing."
No Way Home's Epic Final Battle
This new batch of concept art offers a general overview of how the Statue of Liberty's design evolved during No Way Home's development. Given that the famous New York City spot is a significant location in the movie, a detailed look at the creation of its design serves as a fitting reminder of the memorable moments that transpired during the final battle.
Tom Holland's Peter Parker's decision to choose the Statue of Liberty as the sole location to lure the villains makes narrative sense, mainly because it is the most recognizable spot in the city. While it's true that Times Square or the Empire State Building would be plausible options as well, opting to go with the Statue of Liberty was the best route since the location is away from civilians.
The fact that the MCU's Statue of Liberty holds Captain America's shield also gives an idea that this structure is unique from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's respective universes. It also allows artists like Marek Okon more freedom to provide their spin on the statue's design, and it's pretty apparent in the film's final cut.
Aside from No Way Home, Hawkeye also included a nod to the new design of the Statue of Liberty. It remains to be seen if this improved design for the Statue of Liberty will be further referenced in future projects, but it's reasonable to assume that Captain America 4 is a likely candidate to mention it for obvious reasons.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters worldwide.
