Spider-Man: No Way Home Height Difference Interfered With Peter & MJ Stunts

By Richard Nebens Updated:
Spider-Man, Tom Holland, Zendaya

Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures are in the final stages of preparation for the upcoming release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is already becoming the cinematic event of the year. Tom Holland and Zendaya will take on the leading roles in their third MCU solo movie together, although they're far from the only major players in this Multiversal threequel.

Holland and Zendaya will find themselves in plenty of action alongside Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange and a handful of villains from both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb's web-slinger outings. Although the story featuring the Multiverse is likely the main event, Peter Parker and MJ's relationship will play a key role in helping Peter evolve into the hero he's meant to be.

The movie is confirmed to start in the immediate aftermath of Spider-Man: Far From Home as Peter and MJ escape the crowds of people surrounding them, which should see them on the Queensboro bridge shortly after that event. While it looks to be an exciting moment in the movie's early minutes, it turned out to be quite the difficult stunt to pull off due to the height difference between the real-life couple.

Holland and Zendaya Heights Making Stuntwork Difficult

In a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, via RedditSpider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland and Zendaya looked back on one of their more difficult stunts from the movie. Specifically, the pair revealed that their height difference made for difficulties performing the swing to the top of the Queensboro bridge that's been seen in both full trailers.

Zendaya reminisced on how the stunt had Spider-Man swinging MJ to the top of the bridge and simply walking away from her. However, due to Zendaya being taller than Holland, her feet would always hit the ground before Holland's would:

"There’s a particular stunt, I don’t know if it’s in this, but Spider-Man swings up on top of a bridge, and he places me there, that’s the bridge we eventually jump off that I was screaming. So, he’s supposed to gently rest MJ on the bridge and walk away from her. Because of our height difference, if we’re on the same point, because we were attached, I would land before him, my feet obviously hit the ground before he does."

Holland explained how the stunt was planned out, which was supposed to make ensure that nobody suffered any major injuries. However, with Zendaya landing first, Holland ended up swinging out from under her every time before she would catch him, which didn't end up looking very superhero-like:

"It’s called a bottom mark, and the bottom mark is a thing that they do in stunts that is basically designed to stop you from shattering your kneecaps. So Zendaya would land, and I’m the superhero, I’m supposed to look cool. She would land, and then I would sort of land like this, and my feet would swing from underneath and then she would catch me."

 

Spider-Man Stuntwork Bringing Laughs for Holland and Zendaya

Tom Holland and Zendaya have always found a way to make their time working on the Spider-Man movies enjoyable, even through the more difficult work. This comes as yet another example of the fun times they've had developing these movies, and it's clear that the pair made the best of the challenges ahead of them, including this stunt.

Throughout No Way Home's promotional tour, the Queensboro Bridge sequence has been one of the scenes used most often, although fans haven't seen the particular moment where Peter and MJ actually land on the bridge.

The clips of Holland and Zendaya have shown them standing on top of the bridge in front of helicopters and even freaking out over the situation with Ned, but there is likely still more to this moment that remains a mystery. It will be interesting to see how Marvel and Sony edit this scene so that it looks more natural, but the memory alone will surely be something the pair enjoys long after the film arrives.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will swing into theaters on December 17, 2021.

- In This Article: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Release Date
December 17, 2021
Platform
Theaters
- About The Author: Richard Nebens
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.