Zendaya Reflects on Gwen Stacy Tribute In Spider-Man: No Way Home

By Jennifer McDonough Updated:
Zendaya Spider-Man Gwen

Zendaya recently spoke on the significance of the scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home where Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker got to make up for past mistakes.

Every Spider-Man movie fan will surely remember it. During the final battle of Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, MJ, as portrayed by Zendaya, fell off some scaffolding only for Tom Holland’s heroic web-slinger to leap to the rescue. But he’s unable to make it in time, leaving Andrew Garfield’s Spidey to make the save.

The sequence directly mirrors the scene in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in which Garfield tries to save his love Gwen Stacy in a similar fashion but fails, resulting in Gwen’s death. 

Zendaya Talks Andrew Garfield’s Key No Way Home Scene

Gwen Stacy Amazing Spider-Man 2
Marvel

In an interview conducted for Spider-Man: The Official Movie Special (via backtosnack_TTV on Twitter) MJ actress Zendaya discussed the moment in Spider-Man: No Way Home where her character is saved by Peter 3 aka, Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man:

“Andrew’s Peter Parker gets to help save someone else’s love, which is huge for him because it’s something he must deal with every single day. When you lose someone that you love and you feel like it was your fault, it is a huge burden to bear.”

The actress expanded on her comments, calling the scene “a really sweet moment:”

”It’s a really sweet moment because MJ doesn’t know what happened. She just knows that he just saved her, so she’s like, “Thank you!” He’s crying, and she’s like, “Are you OK?” Even though she’s the one that just fell from the building.”

As mentioned above, the rescue is particularly important for Peter 3, since he felt immense guilt from failing to save Gwen Stacy all those years ago. 

Zendaya also touched on the “strong relationship” that each of the Spider-Man actors has with the character, noting that Garfield, Tom Holland, and Tobey Maguire share a certain reverence for the wall-crawler:

“They were so lovely and so thoughtful about their respective Spider-Men because they care about their characters too. They care about their Peters and their different stories. Each of them has a connection to Peter Parker and has this strong relationship.”

A Monumental Spider-Man Moment

Zendaya and Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man No Way Home
Marvel

In No Way Home, Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker confessed that he lost control after Gwen was killed, and stopped pulling his punches. While he eventually overcame his rage, the guilt of losing Gwen was still there.

Garfield previously discussed how his Peter getting to save MJ in the Spidey threequel was “cosmically beautiful” and separately praised Zendaya’s performance in the highly emotional scene.

Fans are no doubt wondering what’s next for Peter 3, as he was transported back to his home universe at the end of the movie. His performance in No Way Home was undeniably a standout. With Avengers: Secret Wars rumored to be pulling from all corners of the live-action Marvel Multiverse, might Garfield get a chance to put on the suit again and go for another swing?

Time will tell on that one, but for now, Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home, while not currently streaming on Disney+, is available for purchase wherever movies are sold.

- In This Article: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Release Date
December 17, 2021
Platform
Theaters
- About The Author: Jennifer McDonough
Jennifer McDonough has been a writer at The Direct since its 2020 launch. She is responsible for the creation of news articles and features. She also has a particular affinity for action figures and merchandise, which she revels in discussing in the articles she writes, when the situation calls for it.