Aside from whether or not the film includes cameos from previous live-action Spider-Men, nearly all of the buzz surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home has been generated by the return of several big-bads from the franchise’s 20-year history. Jamie Foxx, Alfred Molina, and Willem Dafoe are all coming back as villains who terrorized either Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield in earlier films. But if Sony had stuck to its guns, audiences wouldn’t have learned about their roles until opening night.
While speaking with Yahoo, Tom Holland shared some insight into the studio’s original marketing strategy for No Way Home. As he tells it, Sony briefly considered switching up the ad campaign to throw people off the scent.
“The initial plan was to make the film seem like a civil war between [Spider-Man] and Doctor Strange,” revealed Holland. “And they were going to keep everything a secret, and that is impossible.”
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It definitely looks as though Peter Parker and Doctor Strange will clash when No Way Home hits theaters this week. But it’s hard to imagine the studio trying to sell the movie on that one plot point alone. Besides, having the villains show up in the film’s trailers and TV spots likely influenced its record-breaking advance ticket sales. So it’s probably for the best that Sony had a change of heart.
Preview screenings for Spider-Man: No Way Home will begin on Thursday before the movie officially opens on December 17.
Do you think Sony and Marvel could have effectively marketed the film without showing any of the villains? Give us your opinion in the comment section below!
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