Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

[arc]

Writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna talk to THR about the movie. No spoilers barred now, so they talked about getting Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire on board. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/spider-man-no-way-home-andrew-garfield-tobey-maguire-1235068153/

[swanpride]

How long does it take to study at MIT? Because frankly, I expect a time jump before the next movie anyway. Granted, we are already in 2024 in the reality of the MCU, but eventually real time will catch up again. 

Though frankly, it would make sense that now that Peter Parker doesn't really exist anymore, that Black Cat will be introduced. She is after all the one love interest who only cares about Spider-man. 

[tv echo]

Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers also did a Variety interview...

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Screenwriters Explain All Those Surprises and Spoilers: ‘This Wasn’t Just Fan Service’
By Adam B. Vary    December 29, 2021
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/spider-man-no-way-home-spoilers-tobey-maguire-andrew-garfield-aunt-may-1235144617/ 

Quote

The duo’s initial mandate: “Let’s write the script that is the kitchen sink and we’ll just act like we were going to get everything we wish for,” says McKenna. “And like Peter’s wish, it became a nightmare, and it required very, very talented people to help us not die at the end.”

In the final movie, many legacy characters — including Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson, Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy and Sally Field’s Aunt May — don’t appear. But the duo are reticent to discuss how those characters might have worked into the first draft of the movie.

“We went down different roads with different characters that just didn’t fit,” says McKenna. “We can’t get into the details of that because it might be the kind of thing where they’ll find a way to explore those ideas. So I’d hate to spoil anything, because I think we had a lot of fun.”

Suffice it to say, however, their early scripts had a lot of characters — too many to do justice. “The first draft, we bit off more than we could chew,” says Sommers. “Maybe some would argue that we still bit off more than we can chew.”

Speaking of biting, the screenwriters say that including Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote Venom in the film’s final battle was “definitely discussed.” The pair confirmed that Watts directed the post-credits tag on “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which showed Brock zapped into the MCU. But Brock was ultimately relegated to the “No Way Home” post-credits scene instead. As for how a character who had never met any Peter Parker, let alone Spider-Man, could be pulled into the MCU by a spell specifically drawing people who had to know Peter Parker was Spider-Man? “The idea is that the symbiote has knowledge of other universes. Buried in his brain is some knowledge of that connection,” McKenna said.
*  *  *
As McKenna and Sommers wrote, they came up with a handy nomenclature to differentiate between the three Peter Parkers: In honor of Sam Raimi, who directed all three Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” movies, Maguire’s Peter was called “Raimi-verse Peter” or “Raimi-verse Spider-Man” (depending on whether he had the mask on or not). Similarly, Garfield’s Peter was called “Webb-verse Peter” or “Webb-verse Spider-Man” for “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” director Marc Webb. For simplicity’s sake, Holland’s Peter was just called Peter. (When discussing the Peters with Variety, however, McKenna and Sommers also used the actors’ names.)
*  *  *
At first, they had planned a very different introduction for Maguire and Garfield’s Peters: They arrive just after the death of Peter’s Aunt May (more on that in a bit), and not by happenstance.

“They are brought by a Marvel character going, ‘Here are the saving graces and they’re going to help you through this,'” McKenna says (though he declines to say which character it was). “It was just more of a deus ex machina.”

And that’s how it stayed even as the film started production in the fall of 2020. By last Christmas, however, it was clear that they needed a much better way to bring in the other Peters.
*  *  *
Worn down by the punishing schedule, constant uncertainty and brand new COVID-19 protocols, the duo were terrified of screwing up the crucial moment in the whole movie. So they holed up together over Christmas and came up with what is now in the film: Ned (Batalon), messing around with Strange’s teleporting sling ring with MJ (Zendaya), accidentally conjures a portal to Garfield’s Peter Parker while wondering where Holland’s could be, causing all three to panic (delightfully) at the total weirdness of the situation.

“It was a beam of light in darkness,” says McKenna. “It was such a gift, particularly at that point in the writing process, to be writing for those two characters. It the darkest part of the year, the darkest part of production, the darkest part of the story development, and it was like, Oh! Now we get Tobey and Andrew.”
*  *  *
Another crucial discovery was allowing all three Peters to realize that they’d all been told variations on the immortal Spider-Man credo — “with great power there must also come great responsibility” — by the relative most dear to them, right before they died.
*  *  *
The scene also allowed McKenna and Sommers to reinforce that the other Peters were not just there to save the day. They could instead lean into what makes them unique: While Maguire’s Peter would be more settled into adulthood, Garfield’s would still be mourning the death of Gwen Stacy at the end of “Amazing Spider-Man 2.”

“We can really differentiate these two characters, establish that they’re in two very distinct parts of their own journeys in life,” McKenna says. “We could really lean into, for instance, Webb-verse Peter having troubles — he’s in a dark place in his own life.”
*  *  *
While Sommers and McKenna were still writing the script, the pandemic pulled another rug out from under them: “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which was initially supposed to open before “No Way Home,” was pushed to open after it.

“We were actually working off of things that were happening in ‘Doctor Strange 2,’ and trying to incorporate them into our script,” McKenna says. “When we started writing, [Strange] knows firsthand the dangers of screwing with these things. Then we changed it so he was a person who doesn’t know that much about the multiverse. But that makes it even more frightening, to start fooling around with these things, because it’s the fear of the unknown. Either way, he was the voice of reason going, ‘You don’t mess with the fate of an individual’ — and Peter Parker being naive enough to go, ‘Why not? Why can’t we save these people?'”
*  *  *
“We were at a point where we felt like there needed to be a loss, a sacrifice, that Peter needed to pay a real price for this decision to try to save the villains,” Sommers says. “I think it became pretty clear to a lot of us that losing Aunt May was the thing that would really drive home the point we were trying to make: making this the movie where Peter Parker experiences the loss that the other ones did in their first movies.”
*  *  *
“He was trying to do what May taught him and that made the sacrifice that much more difficult, because it blew up in his face and it got her killed,” McKenna says. “Then he started questioning that morality in a way that he never really questioned because he hasn’t been put to the test in that way.”
*  *  *
May’s death was a step in the filmmakers’ mission to strip everything away from Holland’s Peter and leave him, by the end of “No Way Home,” much closer to his true comic book origins: a scrappy kid with almost no resources beyond his intellect and superhuman abilities. That culminates with his decision to repair the widening rift in the multiverse by having Strange cast a spell that makes everyone, everywhere forget him as Peter Parker.

Since Holland’s Peter still exists in the MCU, his decision has a litany of wide-ranging — and persnickety — problems attached to it: Does this mean all records of him are gone too? Does he still have a social security number? Are the photos of MJ and Ned gone from his phone? And so on.
*  *  *
In truth, the filmmaking team talked at length about the implications of the anti-Peter spell and how the movie could address them. “We were like, do we do a ‘Back to the Future’ kind of thing where you see him fading out of photos?” Sommers says. “Does he still have a driver’s license or a passport? It just led to more questions.”

So they punted. “We decided, let’s try to do it in the most satisfying way and just focus on the emotion of it,” Sommers says. “And then if people have questions about some of those details that didn’t get answered here, we’ll answer them hopefully in another movie somewhere down the line.”

“Obviously, some sort of magical redaction has occurred,” McKenna adds. “At the end of all this, we didn’t want a lot of people trying to do magical math in their head.”

Pascal suggested looking to the 1978 Warren Beatty comedy “Heaven Can Wait” for a solution. “People had these experiences, but they start forgetting the person they knew, but they were still affected by the events that happened,” McKenna explained.

Besides, it was more important to have the scene where Holland’s Peter encounters MJ while she’s working in her doughnut shop and decides to not try to win her back. “You want to have that doughnut scene be him making the last piece of the sacrifice,” McKenna says, adopting Peter’s inner-monologue: “I could tell them everything. I can try to get my friends back. But I’d be going right back to the place of endangering my loved ones by bringing them into my life. And I can’t have that.”

 

Edited December 30, 2021 by tv echo

[Guest]

19 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

The movie just made a billion dollars and change in less than two weeks in the middle of a global pandemic. Sony and Disney are going to back up however many dump trucks full of money are necessary to get him to sign on for more.

I tend to think you are right but people and companies don’t always make the smart decision or put the credit with the right people. If they don’t make a deal they wouldn’t be the first to think they could repeat their success without the others. This deals has a lot of moving parts and everyone involved is concerned about more than just the next Spider-Man movie. 

[swanpride]

As long as Sony's other movies make less than the ones they do with Marvel, I doubt that they will be THAT delusional. And Marvel is very much aware that with Tony and Steve being retired and T'Challa no longer being an option due to real life issues, Spider-man is the best draw they have. Hence them using him to advertise for Doctor Strange. 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, swanpride said:

As long as Sony's other movies make less than the ones they do with Marvel, I doubt that they will be THAT delusional. And Marvel is very much aware that with Tony and Steve being retired and T'Challa no longer being an option due to real life issues, Spider-man is the best draw they have. Hence them using him to advertise for Doctor Strange. 

The question is was T'Challa or Wakanda the big draw? In any case the real life issues of the Crown Princess actress has made many wonder about recasting more than one role.

In the end it is not delusions but rather can we get it all instead of sharing the wealth. Once upon a time Sony saved Marvel by buying Spider-Man is Disney interested in saving Sony?

[tv echo]

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: Tom Holland and Zendaya on the ‘Bittersweet' Ending
BY RACHEL PAIGE    December 30, 2021
https://www.marvel.com/articles/movies/spider-man-no-way-home-tom-holland-zendaya-bittersweet-ending 

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Two weeks before the release of No Way Home, Marvel.com talked to stars Tom Holland and Zendaya via video chat for a spoiler-filled discussion, including the film’s morose ending. Talking about the film as a whole for the first time, the two let their guard down and confess they’re sad about the ending, too.

“I actually hate we're in these interviews like, 'This movie's so fun!’” Zendaya explains. “I cried throughout the whole movie. And the first thing I said when we finished was, ‘This is awfully sad.’"

“It’s brutal,” Holland adds. “It's tough. It's bittersweet.”

“Is it though? Because it's very much just bitter,” Zendaya quips. “Like I'm not getting the sweet part.”

Elaborating further, Holland explains that Peter’s “starting a new chapter. And he's cleared his name. He's free of all that stuff. And the people that he loves—”

Before Zendaya cuts him off to remind him, technically, at the end of the movie, “He's lost everyone he loves.”

Holland then adds, “The people that he loves are safe, and they're alive.”

Zendaya reminds him that considering the world they live in is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “They're never safe!”

“It’s very sad, the ending,” Holland retorts.
*  *  *
“I’m sorry,” Zendaya is quick to add, before noting she wanted Peter and MJ “to go to college [together].”

“I wanted them to have a happy ending,” Holland adds. But, he knows that’s just not in the cards for these two. “We're still here, we're feeling good. We're proud of the movie. It would have been so nice for them to go to college, and just swing off into the sunset. Unfortunately, this is the way it is.”

Wrapping up the interview, it suddenly dawns on Zendaya, “There's going to be a lot of really upset little kids that are going to be like, [mimics wailing].” 

Still looking on the positive side, Holland adds, “We may be teaching young kids a lesson they might not be ready for. But, [at least the movie’s] entertaining.”

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by tv echo

[Morrigan2575]

14 hours ago, Dani said:

I tend to think you are right but people and companies don’t always make the smart decision or put the credit with the right people. If they don’t make a deal they wouldn’t be the first to think they could repeat their success without the others. This deals has a lot of moving parts and everyone involved is concerned about more than just the next Spider-Man movie. 

Honestly, I think Tom is more of a problem. There's going to come a time where he doesn't want to play Peter/Spider-Man, no matter how much money/fame it brings. I do think he'll re-sign with Marvel/Song, I don't think it will be another 7-movie deal but, who knows?

 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, swanpride said:

As long as Sony's other movies make less than the ones they do with Marvel, I doubt that they will be THAT delusional. And Marvel is very much aware that with Tony and Steve being retired and T'Challa no longer being an option due to real life issues, Spider-man is the best draw they have. Hence them using him to advertise for Doctor Strange. 

I wish I had that much faith. The wrong person in charge will cause momentarily stupid and arrogant decisions. Just look at what WB is doing with DC. Purlmutter is another perfect example. Fortunately, Iger was smart enough to realize Fiege was right. Chapek has already made some really stupid decisions. I am sure Marvel knows what a big draw they have in Spider-Man but it’s not like they don’t have a lot of other draws. I have no doubt they want to make a deal but that doesn’t mean one of the other parties won’t demand to much. It’s a balancing act between all the involved parties. One pushes to much or if goals don’t align the whole thing falls apart. 

17 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Honestly, I think Tom is more of a problem. There's going to come a time where he doesn't want to play Peter/Spider-Man, no matter how much money/fame it brings. I do think he'll re-sign with Marvel/Song, I don't think it will be another 7-movie deal but, who knows?

 

I agree. Tom is basically in a similar position to RDJ post Ultron. He filmed 6 MCU movies in 6 years. He went straight from filming Uncharted, which he said “absolutely broke” him into filming No Way Home. I would be surprised he if doesn’t make some kind of deal but it seems like he’s much closer to being ready to move on than he was post Far From Home. 

[tv echo]

Behind the scenes of the biggest effects in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
Ian Failes     January 1, 2022
https://beforesandafters.com/2022/01/01/behind-the-scenes-of-the-biggest-effects-in-spider-man-no-way-home/ 

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With Spider-Man: No Way Home, not only was production visual effects supervisor Kelly Port tasked with overseeing a dazzling array of complex VFX sequences—moments like the Mirrorverse, a freeway battle between Spider-Man and Doc Ock, a fight atop the Statue of Liberty involving several super-heroes, and many more—Port also had to navigate the fact that of course a number of beloved characters previously crafted with the aid of visual effects would be returning to the screen in some form or another.
* *  *
b&a: First up, I wanted to say I really loved the transitions between live action actors and CG swinging digi-doubles, especially at the beginning where Peter and MJ are swinging around trying to get away from the spotlight. Was there anything new you felt you were doing there with those kinds of shots?
Kelly Port: Well, it’s really just attention to the detail of it all. For example, when they first come out of the manhole cover and walk and then kind of run and then jump, normally, we would need a digi-double when we can’t use the live action anymore. But in order to blend seamlessly into that CG digi-double for both MJ and Peter, sometimes we would need to get into the live action part of it earlier. So, they’re actually digi-doubles quite a bit sooner, I think, than you would think. We’ll have to change their cadence a little bit before the jump up to get the right weight. We are actually changing some of the animation leading up into it.
*  *  *
b&a: Obviously, someone like Tom Holland, he’s there without his mask and with mask sometimes. Does that mean you’d scan him in normal clothing, and then on-set suit as well?
Kelly Port: Yeah, we did. That’s another thing we could take advantage of; we would scan him and get high-resolution textures, polarized, non-polarized, you name it, in every single iteration of that costume, too. So with and without mask. We also scanned stunt doubles, because oftentimes you need to body track them and they have a slightly different body. So, if we’re tracking somebody who’s a stunt performer, we would need to swap out the Spidey for that guy’s scan, just to track it better. If it was using a slightly different body, it wouldn’t track.
*  *  *
b&a: When it came time to feature Tobey and Andrew and Tom’s Spider-Men together in scenes, I’m really curious about whether you did feel there needed to be very different looks to their suits to match their films, but also different behaviors and movement, like particular poses or anything? I felt like there were and it was really nice to see those subtle differences.
Kelly Port: Well, we did. And in fact, the suits are different. In the end battle, there’s a lot of passing and things like that. Editorially, we did everything we could to just make sure that it was as clear as possible, whether through handovers, meaning you saw more than one Spidey in a frame handing something off and tossing something to somebody else, so that you know who’s who for the most part, in addition to what the different suits look like.
*  *  *
And, as you mentioned, stylistically, they each have their own kind of iconic poses. This is especially the case where after the sandstorm and regrouping, you get that amazing theme music where even the scores are intertwined. You get some of the Danny Elfman stuff in there, and it’s really, really cool, because each have their own themes.

When all three jumping onto the top of the statue head, backlit by the moon, you get those iconic poses as well in the air. We just took great pains to even get their running styles and the gaits and their iconic poses in the air and their swinging styles, things like that. We had a few animators, both at Imageworks and DD and I think a few other places, where a lot of those artists and animators had worked on those previous films, so it was fun to get their firsthand experience on that, too. We had animators animating Doc Ock walking who had done the original Doc Ock walking. So that was cool. Imageworks handled that end-sequence on the Statue of Liberty, with Cinesite doing the shield fight with Green Goblin.

b&a: Even the suits themselves, did they match the suits from those Tobey films and Andrew films?
Kelly Port: Well, we based our digital suits on what our costume department made. And I think for the most part, they based them on the original suits. However, there could be a little bit of variation in them. The fact that Tobey and Andrew came from a slightly later timeline, they’re older, so time has passed, and they’ve lived their lives and probably have changed their suits or augmented them a little bit.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Spider-Man: No Way Home Crushes Box Office for Third Consecutive Weekend with $52M
BY KEVIN BURWICK    January 2, 2022
https://movieweb.com/spider-man-no-way-home-crushes-weekend-box-office/ 

Quote

Spider-Man: No Way Home had no problem keeping its number one spot at the box office this weekend. The latest installment from Marvel Studios and Sony featuring Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, along with some help in unexpected places, earned $52.7 million in its third weekend in theaters. Spider-Man: No Way Home cruised past the $1 billion global mark last week, making it the indisputable king of the 2021 pandemic box office. The pandemic has been ramping up again, with cases on the rise, adding to some unpredictability at movie theaters.

In addition to taking the 2021 top spot, Spider-Man: No Way Home has now surpassed $1.37 billion, which makes it the twelfth largest global movie in box office history. To date, the highly anticipated sequel has $609.8 million domestically and it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The sequel is on track to take down the global eight and nine slots in the coming weeks, Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($620 million) and The Avengers ($623 million), respectively. No other blockbuster released in the pandemic era has come close to touching Spider-Man: No Way Home.

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Tom Holland and Zendaya on Love and Loss in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
BY RACHEL PAIGE   January 4, 2022
https://www.marvel.com/articles/movies/tom-holland-zendaya-spider-man-no-way-home-love-loss 

Quote

Calling it a role reversal, star Tom Holland comments that it’s actually MJ who has a more positive outlook towards things as the events of the movie unfold. Zendaya agrees, noting that, “Peter helps to melt MJ a little bit, and break the shell that she's had to build in order to protect herself from the world. She doesn't have many people she feels that she can trust and rely on, and Peter has now become one of those people. And she doesn't want to lose him.”

Through it all, MJ is there to “pick up the pieces and keep reminding him who he is, and what he cares about.”

“She doesn't want to lose this person that really has allowed her to feel more and more like herself, and more and more confident in who she is, and loves her exactly for all the quirks and things that make her who she is. Because he's going through so much, she now takes on his positivity that maybe he's losing a little bit. He takes on a more negative nihilistic outlook.”
*  *  *
‘Peter Parker is Spider-Man,’ Peter and MJ have to say goodbye, even though Zendaya adds, “they don’t want to.”
*  *  *
“The relationship between Peter and May throughout these films has been really integral to the heart and soul of the story,” Holland explains. “This scene kind of seemingly comes out of the blue, like no one expects this to happen. It's going to be really, really hard hitting for people [seeing the] movie.”

“[May’s] a great role model,” Zendaya continues. “She's raised a lovely young man, and she's done it on her own. She doesn't get the credit she deserves.”

Noting that typically Spider-Man has a male figure guiding him through life — including Tony Stark and Quentin Beck, previously —  Zendaya explains, “It's important to acknowledge May in the respect that everybody is like, ‘Oh, he always has to have a mentor,’ All these father figures and all this stuff. But May has raised him. Shoutout to May!”

“She’s an incredible role model, shoutout to May,” Holland jumps in.
*  *  *
“Honestly, being Spider-Man has changed my life. It's been incredible. The roller coaster from the moment I got on to the moment we've got off has just been absolutely amazing. This film really is a celebration of three generations of cinema. I was delighted to kind of be at the helm and be the captain of the ship, which was awesome. It's been incredible. It's honestly been the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Edited January 6, 2022 by tv echo

[angora]

FINALLY saw it. I figured I shouldn't try before seeing family over the holidays, and afterwards, it still took a week to get a showing with few enough people that I felt comfortable attending. With wind chill, the temperature today feels like -26, so I'm guessing that had a little to do with it!

I've dodging spoilers left and right for the last three weeks, but even though a lot of the big stuff was just confirmations of rumors, it was still great to go in and not KNOW they were going to be there. I squeed at Matt's appearance, and as soon as Ned opened that first portal and we saw the Spider-Man in the distance, I was holding my breath in anticipation and it didn't even matter that I was already like 98% sure that Tobey and Andrew were gonna be in it.

The three Spider-Men were just everything. Obviously, Andrew saving MJ was epic, but I loved every minute of them together. The morbid curiosity over Tobey's natural web-shooting. Tobey getting Andrew to call himself "amazing." Andrew cleaning cobwebs off the ceiling and later saying, "Sorry, lola," to Ned's grandma. Tobey looking like a cool youth pastor. Neither Tobey or Andrew knowing who the Avengers were (it killed me how excitedly Andrew asked Tom if he was in a band, like that was cooler than any of them being superheroes.) Tobey's conversation with Otto. Andrew being sympathetic to Max's disappointment that he wasn't Black. "With great power comes great responsibility." The beautiful hug at the end! This was the right kind of fan service: backed up by the story (instead of just being shoehorned in) and, even more importantly, done with love. These weren't just cheap callbacks to manipulate fans, the people who made this movie genuinely care about all three live-action franchises.

And none of that should sell Tom short, who was marvelous as always. Tobey and Andrew are integral to the story, but it's still Tom's movie and feels like it. His scenes with pretty much everyone were great, from MJ to the villains to the other Peters to Doctor Strange. I've always loved him in the role, and he really goes for broke here.

I thought the villains were well-used. The movie felt a bit like Civil War to me, in that some characters' roles were obviously larger than others but I didn't really come away feeling like anyone got short-changed. It felt right that Green Goblin and Doc Ock got the lion's share of the story attention. Both Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina were excellent. They looked good, too--older than they did in Tobey's era but not drastically so, and I didn't think either of them had that odd digital-de-aging sheen. I liked the gradual way the villain story unfolded, with the slow reveals of which ones were from the same universe and the gradual realization that all of them were about to die.

The ending is the one black mark on the movie for me, specifically that Peter didn't tell MJ and Ned the truth. He promised!! I get that he decided it would be selfish to endanger them again when their lives were back on track, but it wasn't right to make that decision for them. Before their memories were erased, they both clearly wanted him to tell them. With Aunt May's death, I was more saddened, but with this, I was more angered.

On the whole, though, I loved it. Great mix of lovely nostalgia and meaningful storytelling, funny and heartfelt, and it was great seeing everyone again. I'm especially gratified to see Andrew Garfield getting his flowers. The Amazing Spider-Man movies had story issues, but I always thought he was excellent in the role, and seeing him here feels like some overdue recognition.

[tv echo]

Andrew Garfield Finally Spills About ‘Spider-Man’ Return and Future — and the ‘Gift’ of ‘Tick, Tick Boom!’ (EXCLUSIVE)
By Matt Donnelly    Jan 6, 2022
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/andrew-garfield-spider-man-no-way-home-1235148458/ 

Quote

Starting simple, why did you say “yes” to “No Way Home”?
I wasn’t expecting to ever have a conversation again about potentially playing Peter Parker. I felt very excited to just to be a fan again. But I got this call from Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige and Jon Watts with this idea. It was immediately undeniable. It sounded incredibly fun, incredibly spiritual — trippy and thematically interesting. On a base level, as a Spider-Man fan, just the idea of seeing three Spider-Men in the same frame was enough.

The pitch was really, really enticing. They said, “You played this character in your way and what would you want to explore if you had an opportunity? If you were dumped into this other universe and faced with this younger you and this older you, how will you respond?”

We talked a lot about mentorship. We talked a lot about brotherhood and about what it is to be the older brother, younger brother and the middle brother. There’s also a thing of seeing someone you love walking down a path that you’ve already walked down, and you know it doesn’t lead the place where you ultimately meant to go.

That character is isolated in his emotional experience and physical experience. But what happens when that aloneness gets blasted open, and you come to realize that you’ve never been alone and there are other brothers going through the exact same thing? That’s a big spiritual journey to go on, man. And then we just milked out all the fun that we could possibly have.

You and Tobey Maguire really did this. This wasn’t a green screen set up in your driveway. And they have a profound impact on Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
We were shooting for two weeks, Tobey and I, but I think we managed to achieve something that is not just showing up and going, “Hi! Bye!” My Spider-Man got to save his younger brother’s romantic relationship, potentially. And to heal the most traumatic moment of his own life through doing it for his younger brother. Making sure that he didn’t have the same fate, there’s something cosmically beautiful about that. It meant getting a second chance at saving Gwen [Stacy, Garfield’s love interest in “The Amazing Spider-Man” played by Emma Stone].

You know, the spirit that Zendaya brings to MJ is so heartfelt and pure and loving, and Emma brought that similar unique spirit to Gwen.

Talk about your time with your fellow Spider-Men, what did you share off-screen? Compare notes about spandex and fans?
I think the first time we were all in the suit together, it was hilarious because it’s like just three ordinary dudes who were just actors just hanging out. But then also, you just become a fan and say, “Oh my god we’re all together in the suits and we’re doing the pointing thing!” There was talk about going to the bathroom and, you know, padding around the package. We talked about what worked for each of us. Tom was jealous because I have little zippers in my suit that I can get my hands out of very easily. To work his phone, he had to use his nose because he couldn’t access his hands. We would have deeper conversations, too, and talk about our experiences with the character. And to have Amy Pascal there, who has seen through nine movies, including “Spider-Verse.” It was a revelatory experience for her, realizing how much life and time she’d given to this character. That was beautiful and profound.

There’s a line I improvised in the movie, looking at [Maguire and Holland] and I tell them I love them. That was just me loving them.
*  *  *
A lot of the conversation about this movie has been about a sort of redemption for your Spider-Man. Narratively, commercially. How does that feel?
I am so grateful. I’m just really, really grateful that I got to tie up some loose ends for the Peter that I was playing. I love that character and I’m grateful that I got to work with these incredible actors, this incredible director, and Marvel in conjunction with Sony. It was joyful, and a feeling of closure for me. There was so many unanswered questions for my Peter, where we left it. I got to step back in and get some healing for him. And also really supporting [Holland’s] Peter, and honoring his character completing that trilogy, not distracting or detracting from it.

Would you be open to coming back to the character?
I mean, yes, definitely open to something if it felt right. Peter and Spider-Man, those characters are all about service, to the greater good and the many. He’s a working-class boy from Queens that knows struggle and loss and is deeply empathetic. I would try to borrow Peter Parker’s ethical framework in that, if there was an opportunity to step back in and tell more of that story, I would have to feel very sure and certain in myself.

Spider-Man: No Way Home Video Shows How Andrew Garfield's Intro Got Filmed
By Klein Felt    January 6, 2022
https://thedirect.com/article/spider-man-no-way-home-andrew-garfield-video-intro

Quote

Ashley Morgan, who served as an assistant to director Jon Watts on Spider-Man: No Way Home, shared behind-the-scenes footage of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's introduction scene in the recent MCU film. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Spider-Man: No Way Home Releases First Posters for Oscars Campaign
By Savannah Sanders     Jan 3, 2022
https://thedirect.com/article/spider-man-no-way-home-oscars-campaign-posters

Quote

On the heels of Sony revealing its 4-point strategy to secure nominations for Spider-Man: No Way Home, two new Oscar campaign ads for the Tom Holland-led juggernaut have been shared via @mavricksmovies.

The first "For Your Consideration" banner shows highlights Tom Holland as the struggling web-slinger and states that the studios are pushing for all categories including Best Picture. 

...
The second poster highlights Tom Holland's Spidey sharing a tender goodbye with Zendaya's MJ towards the end of the film.

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Writers on Why the Third Act Required Fine-Tuning Throughout Production
Drew Taylor | January 7, 2022
https://www.thewrap.com/spider-man-no-way-home-writers-third-act-development/
 

[ursula]

On 11/17/2021 at 8:19 AM, blackwing said:

I don't mind that MJ isn't white or a redhead, but I don't understand why her name is Michelle Jones and not Mary Jane Watson.  Why not give her the name from the comics?

Because when Marvel first announced that Zendaya had been cast to play Mary Jane, racists lost their collective sh-t. The execs then backtracked and claimed she was cast to play "Michelle". Hence why her name has been released piecemeal like Easter eggs. We don't know her initials until the end of Homecoming, her name is literally a spoiler. Then we assume her last name is Jones, until No Way Home clarifies that it's actually Watson. It was done to spoon-feed the concept to racists that female Love Interests can also be Black.

And even with that, there are still fans that are waiting for the "real Mary Jane" (because somehow the idea that this Peter Parker will have two love interests that go by "MJ" isn't ridiculous), or are hoping that this will be Zendaya's last appearance in the MCU so that Peter can move on to: Gwen Stacy or Felicia Hardy or any other LI. (With the wishful hope, of course, that this new LI will be played by a white girl... 🙄 Hence, why there's no speculation that Laura Harrier will return to the MCU). 

 

[Spartan Girl]

36 minutes ago, ursula said:

Because when Marvel first announced that Zendaya had been cast to play Mary Jane, racists lost their collective sh-t. The execs then backtracked and claimed she was cast to play "Michelle". Hence why her name has been released piecemeal like Easter eggs. We don't know her initials until the end of Homecoming, her name is literally a spoiler. Then we assume her last name is Jones, until No Way Home clarifies that it's actually Watson. It was done to spoon-feed the concept to racists that female Love Interests can also be Black.

And even with that, there are still fans that are waiting for the "real Mary Jane" (because somehow the idea that this Peter Parker will have two love interests that go by "MJ" isn't ridiculous), or are hoping that this will be Zendaya's last appearance in the MCU so that Peter can move on to: Gwen Stacy or Felicia Hardy or any other LI. (With the wishful hope, of course, that this new LI will be played by a white girl... 🙄 Hence, why there's no speculation that Laura Harrier will return to the MCU). 

 

I hope to God that Zendaya will come back in the new movies. Because if MCU caves to the racists like they did with the Steggy fans, it’ll be unforgivable.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, ursula said:

Because when Marvel first announced that Zendaya had been cast to play Mary Jane, racists lost their collective sh-t. The execs then backtracked and claimed she was cast to play "Michelle".

They never announced that she playing MJ. The initial story of her being cast was always that she was playing a character named Michelle. The initial reports were that she wouldn’t be Peter’s love interest. Her actually being the MCU’s MJ was intended to the surprise reveal at the end of homecoming. 

The racists absolutely lost their minds over Zendaya but I suspect the name change was probably more about the rights. In the first movie most of the Sony characters do not have their full comic names. You never hear them in the movie and the are credited with first names only. Ned and Michelle were both described as original characters. Ned, Betty and the others only got their comic surnames in the second movie and by that point MJ was already established as Michelle. 

58 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I hope to God that Zendaya will come back in the new movies. Because if MCU caves to the racists like they did with the Steggy fans, it’ll be unforgivable.

I think any chance of them giving in disappeared was they confirmed in No Way Home that she is MJ Watson. I feel like that was a clear message to those who hoped Peter would meet his “real MJ.” She is his MJ. If she doesn’t come back it will probably be because she doesn’t want to or over rights issues. 

[Lantern7]

Saw this weeks ago. Kept meaning to post. Is it weird to like this and still think of it as Fan Service: The Movie? Ad that's without factoring in any Easter eggs that went over my head that I'm too lazy to look up . . . like whether any of the incoming villains in the climax could be identified.

Are there any Doctor Who fans reading this? It's so hard not to think of "The Three Doctors" and/or "The Day Of The Doctor" watching Tom, Andrew and Tobey bounce off each other. In my mind, the geekiness of the series seeps into the movie.

(JJJ's Broadcast Channel)

Jameson: Holy smokes! We got Spider-Man on the air! Remember, he's a threat AND a menace, AND he killed Quentin Beck!

Spider-Tom: (appearing in window next to Jameson's) This is Peter Parker, a.k.a Spider-Man.

Spider-Andrew: (popping in another window) Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man.

Spider-Tobey: (appearing in yet another window) Peter Parker . . . just Spider-Man.

Jameson: THREE SPIDER-MEN?!? I didn't know how well off I was with just the one!

Spider-Tobey: Holy cow! He looks like my guy back home! (looking directly at Andrew's window because he's awesome like that) Did you have a J. Jonah?

Spider-Andrew: Yeah, but I didn't see him. Or hear him. Is it weird that this guy looks and sounds EXACTLY I'd expect?

Jameson: (foaming at the mouth)

I'm not sure if I can say anything that hasn't been said already. When FFH ended, I imagined some sort of fugitive-type movie, with Peter on the run along with Adrian Toomes. I'm guessing that those in charge got a whiff of Into the Spider-Verse, anticipated how huge it would become, and decided to bring in the other two franchises from this century. It sounds cynical, but it works. Dr. Connors and Flint Marko didn't have to be shoved into the story, but it worked. I don't think we needed a redemption story with Norman Osbourne . . . but fuck it, if you can get Willem Dafoe, you gotta go it. Let him play both sides of the good/evil axis and pray no one remembers DaneGoblin.

The ending was good, in the sense that I felt Peter's school life was too good . . . in the sense that most canon stories start him as the genius bookworm who's outside the popular circles. Making everyone around him as bright as him in a high-grade school felt . . . weird. Not that off-putting . . . but now we got Peter solo. No friends, limited money, and a homemade Spider suit that wasn't amped up by Tony Stark.

That was the current Venom in the mid-credits scene? I'm not sorry I didn't go see Let There Be Carnage. Watching in the theater, I actually thought it was the Topher Grace version.

Not quite upset that the after-credits stuff was basically a trailer for Doctor Strange's new movie. Okay, I am a bit salty that a lot of the Disney shows will get their stuff jammed in there, but I can live with it. Is Multiverse of Madness the next MCU movie?

Oh, and Alfred Molina was awesome. It helped that he was the most redemptive of the villains. Gotta love Otto irritated AF about his tentacles getting controlled.

[angora]

7 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Are there any Doctor Who fans reading this? It's so hard not to think of "The Three Doctors" and/or "The Day Of The Doctor" watching Tom, Andrew and Tobey bounce off each other. In my mind, the geekiness of the series seeps into the movie.

I was absolutely thinking of multi-Doctor specials. Granted, when more than one regeneration of the Doctor get together, they usually spend a lot of their time squabbling (Two and Three, love it!), whereas here, it was all love, mutual support, and light teasing. Tobey gently scolding Andrew for all the "negative self-talk" was so sweet, and while there was some initial confusion over who was Peter 1/2/3, they didn't really bicker at all over the order.

But between the multiple Spider-Men and the "coming together to correct past regrets" thing, I was especially reminded of "The Day of the Doctor." As they were dividing and conquering over trying to "cure" the villains, I heard Matt Smith in my head saying, "This time, there's three of us."

[tv echo]

No Way Home Concept Art Shows Doctor Strange 2 Hero's Original MCU Intro
BY COOPER HOOD     Jan 8, 2022
https://screenrant.com/spiderman-no-way-home-america-chavez-concept-art/

Quote

Concept art for Spider-Man: No Way Home shows the movie originally included America Chavez, who will debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Due to COVID-19, Marvel Studios was forced to reshuffle the Phase 4 Marvel Cinematic Universe slate many times. This resulted in changing the connections between various projects, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange 2. The delays meant Benedict Cumberbatch's sorcerer helped Tom Holland's web-slinger before his multiverse-fueled solo sequel instead of after.
*  *  *
Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home has been out in theaters for a few weeks, concept art from the movie done by various artists is starting to flood the internet. This includes another piece from artist Maciej Kuciara, who deleted the original tweet containing the surprising artwork. The Spider-Man: No Way Home concept art reveals America Chavez originally was in the movie. She's featured in a scene between Peter Parker, MJ, Ned, and other classmates at a bumper car rink. The art noticeably doesn't feature Xochitl Gomez as the basis for America Chavez, as Isabela Moner is the actress imagined in the role instead. Check it out below:

Edited January 9, 2022 by tv echo

[ursula]

17 hours ago, Dani said:

They never announced that she playing MJ. The initial story of her being cast was always that she was playing a character named Michelle. The initial reports were that she wouldn’t be Peter’s love interest.

This was actually one of the initial reports about Zendaya's casting. It wasn't a formal announcement but based off this, Zendaya received a lot of racist backlash. Later, Feige made a formal announcement that she was playing Michelle which eased off some of the hate.

It's been years obviously, and a lot of media revising history. But Zendaya being known to play MJ and getting racist hate/backlash for it happened before Homecoming started shooting. 

17 hours ago, Dani said:

I suspect the name change was probably more about the rights.

Obviously, we'll never know for sure, but it's suspect that she's still not called Watson until the third movie. Jones isn't a conventional middle name. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by ursula

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, ursula said:

This was actually one of the initial reports about Zendaya's casting. It wasn't a formal announcement but based off this, Zendaya received a lot of racist backlash, and then Feige and Zendaya herself later clarified that she was playing Michelle.

Later, Feige made a formal announcement that she was playing Michelle which eased off some of the hate.

It's been years obviously, and a lot of media revising history. But Zendaya being known to play MJ and getting racist hate/backlash for it happened before Homecoming started shooting. 

Deadline announced she was playing a character named Michelle three months before that. The later reports were a leak of the ending twist that she was actually playing MJ (which is technically true) which got interpreted as her playing Mary Jane Watson rather than Michelle Jones. That absolutely got racist backlash and official clarification but she was always announced as playing Michelle.

They started filming a month and a half before that Wrap report with the MJ leak. There is no reason to think making her Michelle was reactive although it probably was somewhat preemptive given the reaction couldn’t have been a surprise. 

23 minutes ago, ursula said:

Obviously, we'll never know for sure, but it's suspect that she's still not called Watson until the third movie. Jones isn't a conventional middle name. 

I don’t think that’s supposed to be her middle name but a double last name hinting at issues with her father. 

[Raja]

Just now, Dani said:

Deadline announced she was playing a character named Michelle three months before that. The later reports were a leak of the ending twist that she was actually playing MJ (which is technically true) which got interpreted as her playing Mary Jane Watson rather than Michelle Jones. That absolutely got racist backlash and official clarification but she was always announced as playing Michelle.

They started filming a month and a half before that Wrap report with the MJ leak. There is no reason to think making her Michelle was reactive although it probably was somewhat preemptive given the reaction couldn’t have been a surprise. 

I don’t think that’s supposed to be her middle name but a double last name hinting at issues with her father. 

I agree Jones-Watson not Michelle-Jones the question always asked when folks use three names in our culture.

[Trini]

41 minutes ago, Dani said:

Deadline announced she was playing a character named Michelle three months before that. The later reports were a leak of the ending twist that she was actually playing MJ (which is technically true) which got interpreted as her playing Mary Jane Watson rather than Michelle Jones. That absolutely got racist backlash and official clarification but she was always announced as playing Michelle.

And that was probably the correct interpretation; because I don't believe that Disney casted their own rising star to play "Michelle"--who just happens to have to same initials as Mary Jane-- in a Spider-Man movie. If they couldn't use the full "Mary Jane Watson", that's a separate issue, but to me it's clear that's who she was supposed to be. 'Michelle Jones' still seems like backtracking.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Trini said:

And that was probably the correct interpretation; because I don't believe that Disney casted their own rising star to play "Michelle"--who just happens to have to same initials as Mary Jane-- in a Spider-Man movie. If they couldn't use the full "Mary Jane Watson", that's a separate issue, but to me it's clear that's who she was supposed to be. 'Michelle Jones' still seems like backtracking.

I’m not really following. She was always going to be their MJ just with a slightly different name probably for several reasons. Just like Liz was definitely their version of Liz Allan even she wasn’t named that in the movie. They slightly side-stepped with nearly every Sony controlled character in some way. The connections were still made. If it wasn’t for the name you wouldn’t look at Homecomings Ned and think of Ned Leeds. The same is true for MJ. The only difference is that racist suck and desperately clung to an illogical belief that she wasn't the real MJ. If it was backtracking they never would have given her the nickname MJ. 

[Raja]

3 minutes ago, Dani said:

I’m not really following. She was always going to be their MJ just with a slightly different name probably for several reasons. Just like Liz was definitely their version of Liz Allan even she wasn’t named that in the movie. They slightly side-stepped with nearly every Sony controlled character in some way. The connections were still made. If it wasn’t for the name you wouldn’t look at Homecomings Ned and think of Ned Leeds. The same is true for MJ. The only difference is that racist suck and desperately clung to an illogical belief that she wasn't the real MJ. If it was backtracking they never would have given her the nickname MJ. 

I think Sony controls all of them. They just used the characters in the other two series. If my comics history is correct MJ takes a step back and then Gwen Stacy emerges as the first love and MJ returns after that heartbreak.

[Spartan Girl]

Regardless of the name change, you cannot deny that the MCU MJ had was more like the comic book version than the Raimi version ever was. She had all of MJ’s sass, strength, support, and smarts (because they both knew Peter’s secret identity all along). Clearly the father issues are there, as well as difficulty in getting close to people.

All the Raimi version kept was her wanting to be an actress and the fact she lived next door. That’s. About. It.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

I think Sony controls all of them. They just used the characters in the other two series. If my comics history is correct MJ takes a step back and then Gwen Stacy emerges as the first love and MJ returns after that heartbreak.

I meant versus the Marvel controlled characters (like Happy, Tony and Pepper) or the original characters. They clearly made changes to diversify Peter’s world and avoid the characters used in the previous movies. To me the changes to MJ are in line with that rather than a concession to racists. 

Edited January 10, 2022 by Guest

[Tenshinhan]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

All the Raimi version kept was her wanting to be an actress and the fact she lived next door. That’s. About. It.

The Raimi version also had the father issues and the difficulty getting close to people.

I blame Raimi and the writers for MJ being what she was in those films.  Dunst could have played a better MJ but the script just wasn't there.  Overall, the Raimi films had a weak understanding of all of the Spider-Man characters.  Raimi pretty much just went his own way with them.

[Spartan Girl]

8 hours ago, Tenshinhan said:

The Raimi version also had the father issues and the difficulty getting close to people.

True but it really didn’t really humanize her the same way. I too blame Raimi and the writers. All they did was make her a source of angst that constantly had to be rescued.

[tv echo]

Andrew Garfield Says Lying About ‘Spider-Man’ Role Was ‘Weirdly Enjoyable’
Steve Pond   January 9, 2022
https://www.thewrap.com/andrew-garfield-spider-man-no-way-home-lying/  

Quote

“It was stressful, I’m not gonna lie,” he told TheWrap this week during an interview about another of his films, “tick, tick…BOOM!” for an upcoming awards magazine. “It was rather stressful but also weirdly enjoyable.”

Garfield compared the experience to playing the party game in which some people in a group are assigned to be werewolves but must hide that identity from their friends. “It was like this massive game of Werewolf that I was playing with journalists and with people guessing, and it was very fun,” he said.

“There were moments where I was like, ‘God, I hate lying.’ I don’t like to lie and I’m not a good liar, but I kept framing it as a game. And I kept imagining myself purely as a fan of that character, which is not hard to do.

“I placed myself in that position of, Well, what would I want to know? Would I want to be toyed with? Would I want to be lied to? Would I want to be kept on my toes guessing? Would I want to discover it when I went to the theater? Would I want to be guessing, guessing, guessing?”

The answer to those questions, he said, was clear. “I would want the actor to do an incredibly good job at convincing me he wasn’t in it. And then I would want to lose my mind in the theater when my instinct was proven right. That’s what I would want.”

And that’s why, during interviews about “tick, tick…BOOM!” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” he kept insisting that the rumors about scenes with all three of the franchise’s Spideys were false, that it sounded like a fun idea to return to the role he’d played in 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” and its 2014 sequel, but he hadn’t gotten a call about it.

“Like anyone who’s played the game Werewolf knows, if you are the werewolf your heart kind of sinks because you know you have a stressful couple of hours ahead of you,” he said. “You’re gonna have to lie to your friends’ faces and try to convince them that you are not the bad guy in the game.” He shrugged. “But it was thrilling, actually.”

He was so immersed in the game, he said, that it upset him when it appeared as if leaks from the film’s set could spoil the surprise. “I worked so hard to keep it secret that I was in Atlanta shooting,” he said. “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.’

“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?”

A laugh. “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.”

ETA: Andrew Garfield won the 2022 Golden Globe for Best Actor - Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy for his performance in Netflix's Tick, Tick...BOOM! (source)
 

Edited January 10, 2022 by tv echo

[Morrigan2575]

I have a very limited knowledge of MJ and Spider-Man, mostly the 90s animated show and some comics here and there. Ironically, I think Rami MJ was something i encountered in a Deadpool comic, a 4th wall breaking adventure where Deadpool travels back in time to the late 60s and, through other comics from that time (Spider-Man, Luke Cage & Iron Fist etc).

In that comic (which they actually used a 60s comic as the basis, while Deadpool observes/interacts), MJ was written as a sort of airhead/party girl, who was sweet and, kind but, also a bit self centered.  

[cambridgeguy]

Raimi MJ was a horrible person - she left her fiance (who seemed to be a decent, supportive guy) at the altar and didn't even have the guts to face him.   Then in the third movie she and Peter just seemed miserable together.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, cambridgeguy said:

Raimi MJ was a horrible person - she left her fiance (who seemed to be a decent, supportive guy) at the altar and didn't even have the guts to face him.   Then in the third movie she and Peter just seemed miserable together.

She treated Peter like his sole purpose in life was to be her ego boost. And she wasted no time macking on Harry behind Peter’s back when things started to get rocky—not to mention folding to Harry’s threats like a house of cards. So much for that “I want to face the risks with you” speech she gave Peter at the end of the second movie.

The MCU MJ definitely has more self-awareness and gumption.

[tv echo]

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Won’t Be In Contention At BAFTA Film Awards
By Tom Grater   January 10, 2022
https://deadline.com/2022/01/spider-man-no-way-home-fails-qualify-bafta-film-awards-1234907310/ 

Quote

EXCLUSIVE: Sony’s superhero pic Spider-Man: No Way Home will not be collecting any prizes at the 2022 BAFTAs, Deadline can reveal.

It is understood that Sony did not upload the film to BAFTA’s online streaming platform, BAFTA View, in time for it to qualify for eligibility criteria. The news has been communicated to BAFTA members.

We hear the studio and awards body attempted to strike an exemption but were unable to agree on a solution. Currently, if a voting BAFTA member clicks “play” on the film’s individual page, a two-minute trailer runs rather than the full screener.

BAFTA has penned the following statement on its viewing platform:

“Spider-Man: No Way Home did not meet the eligibility criteria for the EE British Academy Film Awards 2022 and therefore did not qualify for entry. As outlined in our rulebook, all films must be made available to voting members on BAFTA View prior to Round One voting closing to ensure fairness and parity for all titles and the film was not made available by the distributor.”

Voting Round One closed on January 3, the cut-off point for films to be uploaded online. One potential theory here is that Sony is sticking hard to its theatrical-only window for the pic and wouldn’t budge to allow it to be streamable on BAFTA’s private platform over piracy fears. Deadline has reached out to Sony for clarification.

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by tv echo

[Shannon L.]

8 minutes ago, tv echo said:

Voting Round One closed on January 3, the cut-off point for films to be uploaded online. One potential theory here is that Sony is sticking hard to its theatrical-only window for the pic and wouldn’t budge to allow it to be streamable on BAFTA’s private platform over piracy fears. Deadline has reached out to Sony for clarification.

I don't know that the rules are for the other awards, but if this is true, Sony will have to get over it fast if they think they could get some nominations.  To expect voting members to go out and watch your movie, especially when Covid is still an issue, when other movies make their movie available one way or another to watch at home, isn't exactly a good idea. (And yes, I'm aware of how few members watch all the movies anyway, but still...)

[tv echo]

Spider-Man: No Way Home won 3 Golden Tomato Awards (in the categories of Best Movies 2021, Best Wide Release Movies 2021 and Best Comic Book Movies 2021)...

23rd Annual Golden Tomato Awards: The Best Reviewed Movies & TV Shows of 2021
Rotten Tomatoes    January 12, 2022
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/rt-hub/golden-tomato-awards-2021/

Quote

The movie and TV rankings represent the most up-to-date Tomatometer scores as of December 31, 2021.

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Edited January 15, 2022 by tv echo

[Lantern7]

Willem DaFoe will host SNL on January 29.

[tv echo]

Newest Spider-Man: No Way Home Poster Shatters the Marvel Multiverse
By CAMERON BONOMOLO - January 20, 2022
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/spider-man-no-way-home-new-poster-international-marvel-multiverse/

Quote

See the new Japanese poster from Sony Pictures Releasing International below. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by tv echo

[ursula]

MJ and Ned should be as big, if not bigger than Strange in that poster. This movie really established them and Peter as a trio like Harry, Hermione and Ron. The only way I'll be cool with a new trilogy of S-M movies is if the focus remains on these three. 

[tv echo]

Movie spoilers (of course)...

Spider-Man: No Way Home Script Confirms Thor: Ragnarok Easter Egg
By Richard Nebens   Jan 26, 2022
https://thedirect.com/article/spider-man-no-way-home-thor-ragnarok-easter-egg 

Quote

Deadline provided access to the full and complete final cut screenplay for Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is currently playing in theaters. One moment included an Easter Egg from 2017's Thor: Ragnarok.

On page 42, the action and dialogue detail the end of Doctor Strange's spell that's supposed to make the entire world forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

As Peter and Strange are lifted to their feet, the script notes that Strange's apprentices upstairs are reaching for a shaking relic that "falls apart" as the spell reaches its most chaotic point.

The script specifically notes that this is the same artifact that Chris Hemsworth's Thor knocked over upon meeting Doctor Strange in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, causing it to fall apart.

"UPSTAIRS, ON THE APPRENTICES: One of them reaches for a shaking relic (the same one Thor knocked over in RAGNAROK). Too late. It falls apart."

Spider-Man: No Way Home Script Reveals Maguire & Garfield’s MCU Names
BY ANA DUMARAOG    JANUARY 25, 2022
https://screenrant.com/spiderman-no-way-home-maguire-garfield-mcu-names/ 

Quote

Given enough time has passed since Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters, the film's script has now been released through Deadline. Aside from fans being able to relive the blockbuster's biggest moments by reading it, the script also reveals Maguire and Garfield's names in the MCU, which happen to be "Raimi-Verse" and "Webb-Verse" Spider-Man/Peter Parker. It's worth noting that in the film, they were simply referred to as their actual names. To differentiate, Holland was called "Peter 1," Maguire was "Peter 2," and Garfield was "Peter 3."

 

Edited January 26, 2022 by tv echo

[Guest]

Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire & Andrew Garfield Reunite To Talk Playing Spider-Man And Why ‘No Way Home’ Was Such An Emotional Experience

 

[AES13]

17 hours ago, Dani said:

Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire & Andrew Garfield Reunite To Talk Playing Spider-Man And Why ‘No Way Home’ Was Such An Emotional Experience

 

That was great, Dani, thanks!

[wingster55]

On 1/22/2022 at 7:45 PM, ursula said:

MJ and Ned should be as big, if not bigger than Strange in that poster. This movie really established them and Peter as a trio like Harry, Hermione and Ron. The only way I'll be cool with a new trilogy of S-M movies is if the focus remains on these three. 

This is one of the few problems I had with the movie. Ned and MJ barely interacted with each other in the previous two movies but we’re now supposed to buy them as a tight knit trio? 

[tv echo]

 

[ursula]

On 1/26/2022 at 7:51 AM, tv echo said:

To differentiate, Holland was called "Peter 1," Maguire was "Peter 2," and Garfield was "Peter 3."

I wish they had gone with Old Peter, Tall Peter and Boy Peter. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

14 hours ago, wingster55 said:

This is one of the few problems I had with the movie. Ned and MJ barely interacted with each other in the previous two movies but we’re now supposed to buy them as a tight knit trio? 

 

I get that being Friends of Spider-Man in their crisis situation insta-bonded Ned/MJ, just as MJ/Peter's relationship got fast-tracked from "I like you/you like me/let's date" to "It's you and me against the literal world" in a day. 

What I don't understand is how their friendship still exists when the memory of how they got bonded has been erased. Or at least how it won't eventually drive them crazy that they became good friends in Senior Year but don't remember how that happened. 

 

That said, I think the first movie in an effort to make MJ this big twist, dropped the ball on her character. It would have been better if they had established her as a former friend of Ned and Peter i.e. if they once had been a trio of friends when they were younger, but Michelle broke off from them when they got to high school. The movies also hint at some back-story that made Michelle closed off and anti-social before, but there's no explanation for it. 

It's a big disservice to her character compared to the other LIs. Gwen Stacy was in 2 movies but we still learned a great deal about her family, her personality and her goals in her life. Say what you want about the writing for Dunst's Mary Jane Watson, but her character's angsty backstory and ambitions were completely defined out in the first hour of the first S-M movie. Meanwhile it took us to the third movie to even know that MJ's last name was Watson, not Jones.