Even if you're not a Spider-Man fan, you'll likely have heard rumours that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were reprising their roles for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Since it was first reported back in December 2020, their supposed return has been speculated so much that it essentially became a fact – despite there actually being no confirmation from Sony, Marvel Studios or the actors involved.
In fact, everybody involved was insistent that Maguire and Garfield wouldn't be back as Peter Parker in the new movie. Garfield called a leaked set photo a fake, while Holland said in February 2021 that "they will not be appearing in this film".
That didn't stop the rumours though, with the likes of Holland and Garfield forced to repeatedly state that there would only be one Peter in No Way Home. Still though, fans thought that the second trailer, released in November 2021, was tricking fans by editing out the other two stars.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has now swung into cinemas so we finally have the definitive answer to the endless rumours. If you really don't want to know one way or the other, don't read on past the photo.
Some reviews had already spoiled it, but yes, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield do reprise their roles as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in No Way Home – and it's every bit as glorious as you'd have hoped.
Doctor Strange's spell to make everybody forget Peter is Spider-Man goes wrong when Peter can't stop messing with it. Instead of making everybody forget, it starts to pull in everybody who knows Peter is Spider-Man from any universe.
Strange contains it, but not before a few slip through the cracks, including returning villains like the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Doc Ock (Alfred Molina).
However, it's revealed that it also includes Spider-Man from other universes because, obviously, they know Peter is Spider-Man. (Sadly, it doesn't include Spider-Ham like Into the Spider-Verse did.)
After the MCU's Peter traps Doctor Strange in the mirror dimension by stealing his sling ring, he gives it to Ned (Jacob Batalon) for safekeeping. Later on, when Ned and MJ (Zendaya) are worried about Peter, a portal starts to open when they talk about wanting to see him.
But the Peter who walks through isn't Tom Holland's version, but Andrew Garfield's Peter and then when Ned repeats the trick, they meet Tobey Maguire's Peter. The alternate Spideys then team up with the MCU's version to help him in his fight against the villains who they've battled before.
One rumour that didn't turn out to be true is that Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone would be back as Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy, respectively. They're spoken about by their respective Peters, but neither of them makes an appearance.
It turns out that while the villains are brought into the MCU universe earlier in their timeline, the two Peters come across after the events of their movies. So Gwen is already dead in The Amazing Spider-Man world and Mary Jane clearly had better things to do.
While that might be a disappointment to Spider-Man fans, the trio offer up plenty of fan service moments to make up for it. Will they be back in Spider-Man 4? Probably not as they return to their own universes, but you never know...
Spider-Man: No Way Home is out now in cinemas.
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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [Blu-ray] [2018] [Region Free]
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
