Spider-Man: No Way Home's Script Was Constantly Being Rewritten During Filming

Honestly, where's Doctor Strange when you need him? Peter Parker may have required his services to rewrite reality and make it so that nobody could remember the identity of Spider-Man in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (this, uh, doesn't appear to work out as planned), but imagine how useful it would be if a studio could ask the Sorcerer Supreme to conjure up fully-written movie scripts in the blink of an eye. Granted, we can't be entirely sure about the quality of Stephen Strange's storytelling instincts, so maybe this is for the best.

Marvel Studios has weathered any number of storms thrown its way, from creative differences among directing talent to pandemic-altered timeframes to personal tragedies compounded by ignorance and stubbornness. But one problem that the MCU still struggles with on occasion would seem to be when it comes to figuring out the script. According to star Tom Holland himself, "No Way Home" was unable to avoid these issues as well.

Once again, Tom Holland is probably saying too much ... but at least it's not spoilers this time around? In a profile with GQ, the young actor opened up about all sorts of topics, but naturally the conversation turns to "Spider-Man." Somewhat surprisingly (or not?), Holland is extremely candid about the state that "No Way Home" founds itself in throughout its earliest days of production. Apparently, questions still remained over whether multiple important actors would sign officially sign on the dotted line, which inevitably had massive ripple effects on the story. As Holland puts it, "Some people were trying to figure out whether they wanted to do it, and we needed all of them or none."

This uncertainty carried through to filming, where script rewrites became a daily occurrence. "You could ask the director, 'What happens in act three?' And his response would be, 'I'm still trying to figure it out.'" Even when it finally came time to shoot the major climactic moment of the film, Holland found that he couldn't deliver his lines with any sense of conviction. 

"I kept stopping and being like, 'I'm so sorry, I just don't believe what I'm saying.'

We sat down, we went through it, and we came up with a new idea. Then we pitched it to the writers, they rewrote it, and it works great."

Stories like this are a dime a dozen, even from productions that would go on to become wildly successful and critically acclaimed. So let's not claim that the sky is falling just yet. Ideally, all the moving parts would have been properly settled beforehand and script issues ironed out at the drafting phase, but both "No Way Home" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" saw their release schedules completely flipped due to the pandemic. With the casting issues hanging over the head of "No Way Home" and the "Doctor Strange" sequel dealing with a directorial change, both creative teams were forced to deal with an even more tense production schedule. Hopefully, all this effort will pay off in the end. If not, there's a ready-made narrative to blame for any potential disappointments on the horizon.

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" arrives in theaters on December 17, 2021.