Spider-Man: No Way Home was arguably the experience of a lifetime for Spidey fans as Tom Holland returned as Peter Parker to try and fix his identity crisis. To do this, he went to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange to try and wipe everyone’s memory of the incident—which resulted in nearly breaking the Multiverse as it made its true MCU arrival.
Beings were able to squeeze through the cracks, leading to the likes of Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin visiting the MCU. That wasn’t most people’s favorite parts, however, as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield made their returns and stole the show.
The return of the two previous Spider-Men was meant to be a secret by Sony. The studio tried its hardest to deny any rumor that came up. The internet was up to the challenge, however, and soon leaks were popping up everywhere.
It was often referred to as Hollywood’s worst kept secret, yet Marvel and Sony remained mum and didn’t reveal anything about their returns until over a week after the film hit theaters.
One of the more significant leaks to hit the web was a photo which saw Garfield’s Spider-Man standing next to Tobey Maguire—complete with their Spidey outfits and all.
Now, the former The Amazing-Spider-Man star has commented on what it was like having to continue lying to the world in the face of damning evidence like that.
How Sony Handed Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man Leak
During an interview with The Wrap, Spider-Man: No Way Home star Andrew Garfield said that he was upset that so many leaks hit the internet while he was trying to keep everything a secret.
According to the actor, “[he] worked so hard to keep it a secret,” and exclaimed to the studios, “Oh, my God, guys, what the hell is going on… here's an image of me with Tobey!”
Garfield noted that despite the telling leaked images and video that showed Garfield and Maguire together, Sony wanted to maintain the shroud of secrecy: "No, no, we're gonna keep it quite:"
“I worked so hard to keep it secret that I was in Atlanta shooting… all these leaks were happening, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, guys, what the hell is going on? I'm working so hard here to stay secret, and then here's an image of me with Tobey!' And they're like, ‘No, no, we're gonna keep it quiet.' ‘OK, I'll keep denying it.'”
Was Garfield annoyed about all of the lying? The Spider-Man actor declared that “[he] was happy to do it, but it was a lot of work on everyone’s part:”
“I was happy to do it, but it was a lot of work on everyone's part. It obviously gave people a big thrill in the theater, and what more do you want from a theater experience than a thrill?… It's been a rare experience to play that mass game of Werewolf with every single Spider-Man fan in the world. That's been incredibly fun.”
Andrew Garfield Is the Werewolf
At the very least, it’s great to hear that the actor was having a good time playing his global game of Werewolf—many fans pointed out how it seemed like he may have been getting annoyed with it all; especially given how he was asked about his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home on every single press tour he has done in the past year.
It is a surprise that Sony and Marvel held out as long as they did. The amount of evidence and leaks regarding the involvement of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were nearly impossible to deny. Yet, many still made it to the theaters not knowing for sure if they’d show up—which no doubt led to a more explosive reaction when they showed up on the screen.
Now people want more of both of them. Fan campaigns have been launched to try and get Sony’s attention in order to continue both of their stories in new solo films.
While it’s not known for sure if that will happen, the odds of them making appearances in other projects are likely pretty high. With the Multiverse being a huge factor for the MCU in the coming years, there are undoubtedly plenty of opportunities for the two webheads to show up.
Then there’s also Sony’s Spider-Man villain cinematic universe, which is in desperate need of a Spider-Man. It would seem that they have two perfectly good candidates right in front of them; fingers crossed for Garfield.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is playing in theaters worldwide.
