Marvel Studios and Sony's Spider-Man: No Way Home took the world by storm and webbed up the hearts and minds of millions of fans and critics alike. The 1.5 billion dollar-grossing film featured an assortment of Multiversal villains (like Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and Jamie Foxx's Electro) and also included special appearances from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's versions of Peter Parker, from Spider-Man movies past.
Teaming up with Tom Holland's MCU-native Web-Slinger, the three Spideys took on the bad guys and saved the day before depositing everyone back into their own universes.
Fans might remember that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 almost recast its Peter Parker due to back injuries suffered by lead Tobey Maguire on the set of Seabiscuit. Of course, things ultimately went as planned and Maguire still starred in the sequel, but there was, in fact, a sly reference to Maguire's back issues in the film itself: after experiencing a "web block" and unable to fire webbing from his wrists, Peter falls several stories and lands on a car, limping away and clutching his lower back.
In No Way Home, a fan-favorite sequence occurs when Andrew Garfield's Peter offers to crack Maguire's back after seeing him stretching and complaining about the pain he gets from web-swinging.
This particular moment turned out to be a real crowd-pleaser, and now, Garfield has shed some added light on the scene.
Experiencing Back Pain? Consult a Spider-Man
During an interview with Josh Horowitz's The Happy Sad Confused podcast, Andrew Garfield discussed a humorous bit preceding the scene where he cracks Tobey Maguire's back that was left on Spider-Man: No Way Home's cutting room floor.
Garfield mentioned that at one point, his version of Peter Parker "was doing some old man stretching" as well:
"It was so playful and creative and free, and like, I loved the fact that Tobey has his back issues and I'm all like, being his friend by saying I have my back issues too. I was stretching at one point in that scene. Like, I was doing old man stretching before that moment, which didn't make the cut, but I think it's better that that was all Tobey's."
Andrew Garfield Had a Cracking Good Time on Set
The camaraderie and bonding between the three Spider-Men in No Way Home is something special to see. The fact that Maguire returned to the role after 13 years and Garfield, seven years, made things all the more memorable.
Marvel Studios and Sony crammed all the fun moments they could between the three Peters. From recreating the famous "pointing" meme to coordinating in the heat of battle and even a team-up web-swinging sequence, it was clear that the production was taking full advantage of these three iconic characters being on-screen at the same time. It's interesting to know that the sense of fun felt in the movie carried over to the behind-the-scenes realm.
Of course, many die-hard fans have begun the rallying cry for Sony to produce another solo Spidey film starring Andrew Garfield, a task that the actor says he'd happily return for if the conditions felt right. The focus is also on the upcoming fourth solo outing for Holland's Parker, which does not yet have a release date.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters.
