Andrew Garfield Explains “Fibbing” About His Return in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Andrew Garfield tells the truth about “fibbing” to keep his Spider-Man return a secret in Spider-Man: No Way Home. In a new interview with The Jess Cagle Show on SiriusXM, Garfield opens up about the “ethical dilemma” he faced to avoid spilling and spoiling the Internet’s worst kept secret: No Way Home was bringing the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) and the Amazing Spider-Man (Garfield) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Garfield repeatedly denied his rumored return both publicly and privately, and the actor even confessed to lying to his Amazing Spider-Man co-star Emma Stone. 

“It was definitely a kind of ethical dilemma to a certain degree. But then I kind of realized that it wasn’t, in a way. Because who doesn’t want — ultimately, deep down — who doesn’t want a surprise party?” Garfield said on The Jess Cagle Show. “In order to organize a surprise party, there has to be some fibbing. I’ll say ‘fibbing’ rather than lying because that feels more socially acceptable.” 

Comparing keeping the secret to a game of Werewolf or Mafia, Garfield explained, “For me, it was just playing a game knowing that the end of the game would be a celebration. Knowing that if I could play the game to the best of my ability, it would give everyone the best opportunity to have an incredibly enhanced, joyful, fun experience when they go to a theater.”

Asked about an alleged leaked set video on The Tonight Show, Garfield said the video snippet was “Photoshop.” Appearing on TODAY in November, Garfield again denied the rumors and said he’s “not in the film.” 

RELATED STORY: Watch: Every Time Andrew Garfield Lied About His Return in Spider-Man: No Way Home

“That felt like the kind of thing I was willing to sacrifice my integrity for,” Garfield added with a laugh, admitting the frequent fibbing and constant denials “was stressful.” 

“Anyone who’s played Werewolf knows, at the beginning of the game when you look at the card and if you’re the werewolf, you know the next two hours are going to be incredibly intense and stressful because you’re going to try to not be seen as a liar,” he said. “It’s so, so painful (laughs). But it was a wonderful thing to be able to [pull off]. Who gets to play a massive game of Werewolf with the entire Internet?” 

Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, and Benedict Cumberbatch, Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing exclusively in theaters and will soon be available to own on digital.