Spider-Man: No Way Home is rounding into its fourth week in movie theaters worldwide, and people seemingly cannot get enough of it. The Spidey threequel has broken numerous records critically and financially, becoming one of the most successful movies of all time. And it is doing all this in style as Tom Holland's wall-crawler was introduced to the two past generations of the character in Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
The two past Peter Parkers made their triumphant return alongside some villains from their cinematic universes, leading audiences to freak out. No Way Home added yet another "Portal" scene for fans to gush about, as both Maguire and Garfield jumped through the sparks of a Sling Ring and into the living room of Ned Leeds' grandmother.
No Way Home felt like a monumental effort and as is the case with every big-budget blockbuster it took hundred of hundreds of people to bring it together. Of these people was stand-in Omar Zaki who got to suit up in one of the Spidey suits.
Which Scenes Did Spider-Man: No Way Home Reshoot?
In a post on Instagram, Omar Zaki, a stand-in for Andrew Garfield on Spider-Man: No Way Home, revealed that he was a part of a reshoot that involved Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
In the post, Zaki noted that he was called upon to be in the film as "[he] was the same size as Andrew Garfield" and both Garfield and "one of Andrew’s normal Stunt Doubles (William Spencer) was also unavailable. " This meant the actor got to be a part of "reshoots on... two scenes over the course of 2 days:"
"First off, I’m incredibly grateful for the amazing opportunity (as seen in the videos) and do not take it for granted at all but I also want to make sure there is no confusion and that I’m crystal clear about my involvement in this Film.
They needed to reshoot/pickup some simple scenes in the movie but Andrew Garfield was unavailable and one of Andrew’s normal Stunt Doubles (William Spencer) was also unavailable. The Stunt Coordinator called me because I was the same size as Andrew and he thought I’d fit in the suit (spoilers, he was right). He explained to me that no Stunts were needed at this time and they mainly needed someone who could embody the character to potentially act in a scene or do some simple movement if it came up (not Stunts).
So I got hired and I helped with reshoots on exactly two scenes over the course of 2 days."
Of these scenes, only one made it into the final cut of the film. This sequence was a "small Dialogue scene with Benedict, Tom, and Tobey," but Zaki was ultimately "not shown on camera:"
"1) Small Dialogue scene with Benedict, Tom, and Tobey (mostly Tom and Benedict talking) where I was not shown on camera at all (because I’m not Andrew).
2) A small physical scene that was cut from the final edit of the Film."
All signs point to the group scene being the sequence at the Statue of Liberty just before Goblin drops in to "play" for one last time. This occurs shortly after Doctor Strange comes back from "dangling over the Grand Canyon for twelve hours" and Tobey Maguire's webhead exclaims "You went to the Grand Canyon? He could've used your help."
Zaki mentioned that he was "incredibly honored" to be a small part of the film, even if he was "was framed out" during the one scene he was in that made it to the big screen:
Living the Spidey Dream
When Zaki posted photos earlier of him in the Spidey suit, fans jumped to their keyboards looking to see just how involved the actor was in the making of No Way Home. And while some would have taken the audience's enthusiasm and run with it, saying "oh yeah I was crucial in the making of this thing," Omar does the bigger thing here totally clarifying just how deep his involvement goes.
It would've had to be this particular scene as Zak describes getting to work with Maguire, Cumberbatch, and Holland, and this is the only scene featuring Andrew Garfield's Peter alongside these three.
Yes, Zaki can actually ever be seen on screen in the film, but it is still cool that he had even a small part to play. Even if it was for this tiny scene, he got to have a small part in crafting this epic wall-crawling tapestry.
Spider-Man: No Way Home can be seen in theatres worldwide now.
