Andrew Garfield revealed exactly which scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home encouraged him to return as Peter Parker after seven years away from the role.
When discussing the possibility of his return, Garfield was shown some images to explain the plot planned for his version of the iconic web-slinger. Garfield recalled there was one image in particular that stood out and led to him signing on for the movie. "The main image that they pitched me was catching Zendaya, catching MJ," he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "That was the first page I saw and I was kind of like, 'There's no way of not doing this,' because that's profound. That's a profound moment, like an older brother saving his little brother from his same fate across the universe. If that portal hadn't been opened up and my Peter Parker hadn't been there at that moment, it's arguable that he would have had the same fate."
The fate that Garfield refers to is Gwen Stacy's fatal fall in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The symmetry of this and what was about to happen to Tom Holland's love interest in No Way Home made a mark on Garfield. "You suddenly get into this incredible cosmic, meant-to-be destined moment where I get to heal the worst trauma in my life while simultaneously saving my little brother from having to experience that same trauma," Garfield explained. "Suddenly you're in very mythic territory, and it's just profoundly beautiful."
Prior to No Way Home, Garfield played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, released in 2012 and 2014. Garfield revealed that being asked back for No Way Home was a complete surprise. "I wasn't expecting to ever have a conversation again about potentially playing Peter Parker," Garfield said "I felt very excited to just to be a fan again."
Rumors of the inclusion of both Garfield and fellow Spidey Tobey Maguire in No Way Home persisted right up until the movie was released and Garfield had to repeatedly deny that he was involved. Having to lie about his role was "rather stressful but also weirdly enjoyable," Garfield said. He elaborated further, saying there were "moments where I was like, 'God, I hate lying.' I don't like to lie and I'm not a good liar, but I kept framing it as a game. And I kept imagining myself purely as a fan of that character, which is not hard to do."
Spider-Man: No Way Home is available in theaters now.
Source: Happy Sad Confused