Spider-Men assemble! Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield opened up about the “powerful” experience of seeing each other in their Spider-Man suits during a virtual interview.
“[Spider-Man: No Way Home] really is a celebration of three generations of cinema,” Holland, 25, told Deadline‘s Pete Hammond in an interview published on Wednesday, January 26. The Cherry star continued by explaining that he got “emotional” when he thought about the fact that he was acting opposite his fellow web slingers.
“[I would] go, ‘Wow, look at my life. Look what’s happened to me. I’m working with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield and we’re telling this story,'” Holland recalled. “And I would get emotional at kind of how proud I was of the situation that we were in and what we were doing and that I really believed in what we were doing.”
Maguire, 46, who played the role of Peter Parker from 2002 to 2007, added that he was “grateful” to be a part of the Spider-Man “brotherhood.” He explained, “It was just so rich, emotional. … I would have moments where that [feeling] would hit me.” The Great Gatsby star felt that it was a “beautiful” way to honor all the history of the Spider-Man franchise. “It was pretty wild to witness the immensity of all of this history coming together.”
The significance of seeing all three Spider-Man actors onscreen together isn’t lost on the trio. “I watched the movie with Tobey for the first time, and I was in pieces,” Garfield, 38, revealed. Holland, for his part, confessed: “One of my favorite things to do at the minute is to go online and watch fans’ reactions to [Maguire and Garfield] coming in.”
The Billy Elliot alum also revealed that many of the audiences’ favorite moments — including their recreation of an iconic Spider-Man meme — were improvised by Garfield and Maguire.
“It was so collaborative, it was so playful,” Holland said of his first rehearsals with the older actors. “From [Garfield] cracking Tobey’s back to you coming up with the idea of pointing at us, it was all just stuff we came up with on the day. It was just a lot of fun to be able to play with three guys in Spider-Man suits.”
All in all, working opposite Maguire and Garfield has made it easier for Holland to possibly move on from the superhero franchise one day. “This film for me was as special as an experience could ever be. Sharing the screen with these guys. Playing Spider-Man could be quite an alienating experience because, we’re the only three blokes who have done it,” the Uncharted actor explained. “It’s been such a wonderful experience, of which I have such amazing memories.”
He continued, “I know I love this character, and I know that I am not ready to say goodbye. But if it’s time for me to say goodbye, then I will do so proudly, knowing that I’ve achieved everything I wanted to with this character, and sharing it with these boys will be forever one of the most special experiences of my career.”
