- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Spider-Man: No Way Home," now in theaters.
- There's a major moment in which Andrew Garfield's Spidey, not
Tom Holland 's, saves MJ as she falls.
Tom Holland low-key spoiled one of the biggest moments in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" prior to the Marvel
In the movie, Peter Parker (Holland) asks Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that will make the world forget he's Spider-Man. But the plan goes awry and as a result, characters from the multiverse suddenly appear — namely villains from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man franchises.
Ever since the official trailer for "NWH" was released in November, fans have been holding on to a theory about MJ (Zendaya). During one particular moment, she was seen falling backward from a construction site as Holland's web-slinger leaped forward, extending his hand to try and catch her.
People thought that the scene was reminiscent of Gwen Stacy's (Emma Stone) heartbreaking death scene in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," which occurred during a fight between Garfield's Spidey and Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan).
After a web attached to Gwen got cut, she began falling and Garfield's character scrambled to save her. One of his webs did attach to her, but he was too late and the impact of Gwen's fall snapped her neck, killing her in the same way as her comic-book counterpart.
Gwen's fall was used in the trailer for "TASM 2," so when fans saw MJ going through a similar situation in the trailer for "NWH," they suspected that something significant would happen.
Because of rampant rumors of Maguire and Garfield's involvement in "NWH," people theorized that Garfield's version of the web-slinger would appear in the film and rescue MJ — saving her life and also redeeming himself after "TASM 2."
When Holland and Zendaya participated in an interview with BBC Radio One's film critic Ali Plumb, as part of the "NWH" press tour, they were shown a portion of a video that was filmed of them reacting to the second trailer for the film.
At one point in the video, Zendaya and costar Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds) began cheering and praising their stunt work. They were reacting to a moment in the trailer that showed a shot of Ned hanging on for dear life and a glimpse of Holland's Spider-Man jumping to catch MJ as she fell backward from the Statue of Liberty construction.
When asked to explain that reaction in the interview, Zendaya said that she and Batalon were "excited" that they finally got to be able to do stunts.
"That's what was going through my mind, is how sick we looked," she said.
Holland then chimed in and said that "none of the stunts are supposed to be dangerous, but that was quite a scary stunt, what you guys did there."
"Yeah, it was fun," Zendaya said.
"It was really fun," Holland replied. "Well, I wasn't there. It looked really fun."
In response, Zendaya said pretending to fall while filming is "very unnatural."
It's not uncommon for actors to not actually shoot a particular scene together, even if the final, edited version of the movie makes it seem that way. But Holland mentioning that he "wasn't there" when Zendaya was filming that scene was suspicious, and fans picked up on it — especially given the actor's reputation for spilling spoilers.
Of course, people who have seen "NWH" know that the fan theory was actually correct.
Garfield and Maguire's versions of Peter Parker/Spider-Man enter Holland's universe after Ned opens portals using Doctor Strange's sling ring.
The three Spider-Men team up to create cures for the villains before sending them back to their universes. MJ falls during a battle against the villains at the Statue of Liberty construction.
Holland's Spidey reaches for her, but just as their hands are inches apart, he's knocked out of the way by Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin.
Garfield's character sees this and immediately springs into action, refusing to let this universe's Peter lose the woman he loves on his watch. To his, and the audience's, relief, Garfield's Spidey catches MJ and nails his landing.
After he asks her if she's OK, she nods and asks him the same question. The look on his face suggests that the moment was emotional for him, especially after he told the other Spider-Men earlier in the movie that Gwen was his MJ and he could never forgive himself for not saving her.
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" is now in theaters. Read Insider's review here.