Batalon even joked about this, pointing out that Jamie Foxx’s appearance in the video was, itself, something of a spoiler—after all, No Way Home’s most surprising conceit is that it weaves every previous attempt at a Spider-Man cinematic universe into one movie.
Not only are the real spoilers for No Way Home more exciting than the multiverse allowing for all these old villains to come together, but they’ve got retrospective power.
While Maguire’s return might be the movie’s most anticipated, Garfield has the most to make up for—he’s the one who really needs a second chance, and the movie seems to know it.
While Maguire’s Peter Parker was a dorky, hopeless romantic obsessed with his lifelong crush Mary-Jane , Garfield’s was a moody, snarky high school student living comfortably in Queens, mourning the loss of his parents and pining for the affections of Gwen Stacy, played by the actor’s real-life girlfriend Emma Stone.
The Amazing Spider-Man movies were critical and commercial downturns for the franchise, and their failure—plans for a third movie and subsequent spinoffs were canceled after the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperformed—effectively barred Garfield from taking another stab at Peter Parker, a role the actor had considered a childhood dream.
This guy is an Oscar-nominated actor, benefitting from a lockdown-era resurgence in love for his role in The Social Network and currently coming off of critical acclaim for Tick, Tick … Boom! If there’s anyone wearing the Spidey suit who can undoubtedly act the hell out of a part, it’s Garfield.
Coming back to web-sling around the city and help administer evil-curing antidotes to his multiverse-traveling old villains gives him a unique, moving arc in this movie: Garfield’s Peter once again avails himself to the role of Spider-Man after an admission of losing focus, and grants himself a sense of absolution for what he sees as his greatest sin.
As he swings laps around Electro and Lizard, his foe from the first Amazing Spider-Man, Peter becomes rejuvenated and light in the air, clearly loving every minute back in the web-slinging swing of things.
But the movie’s best surprise in the end isn’t so much that lifelong fans got the chance to see such an unprecedented crossover take place: It’s that it managed to give not just a character, but an actor another chance to make a great mark on one of the best roles in superhero stories.