Marvel boss Kevin Feige may seem like an intimidating figure, being the steward of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but even he got butterflies when he approached Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield to ask them if they would want to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, according to a new featurette.
The short video was released by Sony Tuesday in order to celebrate the digital release of the blockbuster behemoth. A previous behind-the-scenes clip also showed how Maguire, Garfield, and current MCU Spider-Man Tom Holland recreated that famous meme together.
Feige explained that due to so many different iterations of the Spider-Man character over the years, it was important for him to craft a pitch to the actors that was “doing something that is worthy of their time and of their energy and stepping back into this role.”
“I had butterflies in those meetings with Tobey and Andrew, hoping that they would sign up,” Feige said.
The epic threequel not only put a neat bowtie for Holland’s Peter Parker origins, but served as a loving coda for both Maguire and Garfield’s renditions of the character. And audiences seemed to absolutely love it, since it now ranks as the third highest grossing movie of all time, domestically, at more than $792 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
This likely isn’t the first time Feige has crossed paths with Maguire and Garfield, either. According to his IMDB page, Feige served as executive producer for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy in the 2000s — starring Maguire — and the Garfield-starring reboot of the franchise, 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
You can purchase a digital copy of Spider-Man: No Way Home today, with a Blu-ray and DVD release expected for April 12.