How the secret stars of Spider-Man: No Way Home helped shape their characters

MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Consider yourself warned. After a lot of rumours, the marketing for the much-anticipated Spider-Man sequel began to reveal that the film would feature a few returning characters from past Spider-Man films, including Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin, and Jamie Foxx as Electro. While speaking with THR, Spider-Man: No Way Home writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers revealed just how all the secret stars of the film helped to shape the story. Remember, spoilers.

If you’re still with us, you’ll know that Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, and Electro weren’t the only secret characters in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film also found Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as their respective Spider-Men, and Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers said that the pair gave a lot of input regarding what their characters have been up to since the last time we saw them.

They had great ideas that really elevated everything we were going for and added layers and an arc and we really actually started honing into the idea that these two guys were really helping Tom’s Peter on his journey to becoming who he ends up becoming. There’s a crucial, moral moment that they help him get through in the climax of the movie. So much of that was brought by Tobey and Andrew’s ideas and shaping of what they thought their characters could bring to this story.

McKenna continued: “Tobey wanted to be very minimal about how much you know. Very, very minimal. Andrew really loved the idea of he’s still tortured over what happened in Amazing Spider-Man 2 and where that left him, and how they could bring that to Tom. ‘We can empathize with you. We do know what you are going through. If anyone in the world knows what you’re going through, it’s us.’ But also, ‘We can be beacons.’ Tobey especially has come through that darkness. We thought it was cool that Andrew’s Peter was still in the midst of that darkness. They weren’t just here to go, ‘Two awesome Jedi knight heroes who show up and are going to help you take down the bad guys.’ They are going through their own things.” It wasn’t just the returning Spider-Men who had something to say about their characters, as both Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina added their own thoughts to McKenna and Sommers’ script.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will find Peter Parker (Tom Holland) turning to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help when he’s unmasked and is no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a superhero. After some magical meddling, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man. Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray and let us know what you thought of the film as well.