Following its mid-December premiere,Spider-Man: No Way Homehas continued to shatter records as it soars to new heights at the box office. To make this possible, the film includes countless memorable scenes, one of which was altered severely due to COVID-19.
Aside from featuring the huge returns of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, many ofSpider-Man: No Way Home’s stars had been introduced to the MCU before. Ned, MJ, Happy Hogan, and Aunt May all had huge pieces toPeter’s story inSpider-Man: No Way Home, including his development by the end of the film.
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Spider-Man: No Way Homewriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna sat down with Gold Derby to discuss the film and some of its massive surprises. Near the end of the interview, Sommers detailed the trouble they had during post-production to get one of the most crucial scenes of the film right.Aunt May (played by Marisa Tomei)dies at a crucial moment in the film that sets Tom Holland’s Peter up for a massive change to decide what kind of hero he wants to be. Sommers reveals that the way the scene unfolds on screen isn’t the manner they had always planned. “It was also tricky production-wise because we had different ideas for where the scene could take place,” Sommers said. “But because of COVID, we had one idea that it was gonna be inside an ambulance. We had a whole version that was constructed around that, but that was not practical for shooting during COVID.”
In the film, May dies after she and Peter have successfully cured Doc Ock of his villainous roots. With plans to do so withthe other Spider-Man villainsbefore sending them back to their respective universes, Green Goblin has other ideas. His antics lead to the heartbreaking scene where May attempts to ease Peter’s mind that no matter what, they had done the right thing in helping the villains. She also utters a crucial line that all Spider-Man fans are familiar with. “We had decided at some point in the process that that was the scene where she was gonna say ‘with great power’,” Sommers said. As it’s later noted in the film by Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men, this was a line said by both Uncle Ben’s on the day they died.
Tomei made her debut in the MCU in 2016 alongside Holland inCaptain America: Civil War. The two were approached by Tony Stark, who sought Peter’s help in reigning in his fellow Avengers. May and Tony would have their fair share of issues over the course of Peter’s MCU journey, as both mentored Peter with their own values taking precedent.
Sommers emphasized that it was important for him and McKenna to get the emotion of the scene just right. Given the reaction fans have had to the scene and film as a whole, it would seem that they succeeded in setting Peter up for a huge character shift. The Peter Parker that appears atthe beginning ofSpider-Man: No Way Homeis certainly not the Peter that remains by the end. Now equipped with an entirely different set of responsibilities, the possibilities for Peter’s future are endless.
Spider-Man: No Way Homeis now in theaters.
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