- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
Andrew Garfield said that his character saving MJ was part of the reason he wanted to be in the film.
Andrew Garfield is opening up about his much-praised return in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and the scene that convinced him to be part of the film.
"I will say the image of my catching [Zendaya's] MJ — that was really beautiful and it kind of sold me on the whole thing," Garfield said in a new interview with Variety.
Garfield, who played the character in Marc Webb's "Amazing Spider-Man" films released in 2012 and 2014, and Maguire, who starred as the web-slinger in Sam Raimi's trilogy from 2002 to 2007, reprised their roles in "No Way Home," out now.
The film, released in December 2021, marks Tom Holland's third standalone Spidey film and sixth appearance as the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
In "No Way Home," visitors from other universes appear in Holland's world after a spell cast by Benedict Cumberbatch's character, Doctor Strange, goes wrong.
Holland teams up with Maguire and Garfield's characters to develop cures and send the Spidey foes, including Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin/Norman Osborn and Jamie Foxx's Electro/Max Dillon, back to their universes.With Green Goblin leading the resistance against taking a cure, the Spider-Men suit up and fight the foes in the film's big battle scene.
During the fight, which takes place at the Statue of Liberty construction site, MJ stumbles and begins falling backward.
Holland's Spidey reaches for her, but just as their hands are inches apart, he's knocked out of the way by Green Goblin.
Garfield's character sees this happen and immediately springs into action, refusing to let this universe's Peter lose the woman he loves. Garfield's Spidey catches MJ and nails his landing, and in a heartfelt moment, the two ask each other if they're OK.
The moment was even more impactful because Garfield's superhero failed to save his love interest, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."
In "TASM," Spidey attached a web to Gwen to rescue her during his fight with Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn/Green Goblin. But he was too late and the impact of Gwen's fall caused her neck to snap, killing her instantly and mirroring her fate in the comics.
In his interview with Variety, Garfield opened up about the weight and significance of his web-slinger saving MJ.
"My Spider-Man got to save his younger brother's romantic relationship, potentially," Garfield said, referring to Holland's character. "And to heal the most traumatic moment of his own life through doing it for his younger brother. Making sure that he didn't have the same fate, there's something cosmically beautiful about that. It meant getting a second chance at saving Gwen."
He added: You know, the spirit that
"Spider-Man: No Way Home," also starring Marisa Tomei, and Jacob Batalon, is in theaters now.