Spider-Man: No Way Home Director Had a “Therapy Session” With All Three Peter Parkers Before Filming

Three entire generations of Spider-Man came together for Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, an instant fan-favorite that hasn’t stopped setting box office records. Tom Holland was joined in his third MCU Spidey film by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the two actors that starred in the web-slinger’s previous franchises, and the results were electric. The three Peter Parkers had instant chemistry on-screen, which might have had something to do with the “Spider-Man therapy session” director Jon Watts put together before they filmed their first scene together.

While speaking to Variety about the challenges of No Way Home, Watts explained that he wanted all of the stars to be on the same page about what each of their characters meant to the bigger picture. After speaking with the three Peter Parkers individually (as well as Zendaya and Jacob Batalon), Watts brought them all into an open conversation where they could talk about what these characters meant to them.

“We sat on folding chairs in a circle and went through the script together,” Watts said. “I had talked to everyone separately, but to have everyone together to talk about the story, how the pieces fit together and what Spider-Man meant to them – that was exciting for me. We had the only three actors to ever play Spider-Man in a film, and each had been through so much, on and off screen. It was like a Spider-Man therapy session.”

“Because we had done that work ahead of time, when filming that first scene with everyone, it was great to take a step back and see the crew watching, like they were watching the movie,” the director continued. “You’re capturing something more than a scene from a movie; you’re watching a once-in-a-lifetime event.”

Each of the three Peters found themselves in a very different place in No Way Home, each having had a vastly different experience as Spider-Man. This could have caused some chaos when all of them were put into the same room, but Watts’ therapy session seems to have done the trick. Everyone was working on a common goal while also finding a way to explore their individual character a bit further. The end result was the best of both worlds.

Were you glad to see all three Spider-Men on screen together in No Way Home? Let us know in the comments!