Official Spider-Man No Way Home stills and concept art released

Eagle-eyed fans should recall that the actual scene is notably different from what was shown in the Spider-Man: No Way Home teasers and trailers. These had only shown Tom Holland's Spider-Man (in his Iron Spider suit), instead of Tobey Maguire's and Andrew Garfield's versions landing first.

Another key shot revealed was the epic showdown between the three Spider-Men and the trio of Electro, Sandman, and The Lizard. Again, the teasers and trailers only showed one Spider-Man leaping toward the villains, whereas the final film had all three Spider-Men diving into action.

It is interesting to note that Spider-Man: No Way Home did not take advantage of marketing the appearance of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield during the course of the promotional period. In fact, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures went to great lengths to hide any leaks, including convincing the actors to deny their casting and participation. Andrew Garfield even had to lie to his Amazing Spider-Man co-star, Emma Stone (who played Gwen Stacy).

Unused Mysterio vs. Doctor Strange and other concept art Another set of newly revealed official images from Spider-Man: No Way Home comes from Andrew Reeder. Reeder is a veteran concept designer and digital artist who has worked on various MCU projects. Included in his resume are Captain America: Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Avengers: Infinity War.

Reeder also worked on Spider-Man: No Way Home and one particular piece shows a curious inclusion of the super-villain Mysterio. The concept art has the bowl helmet-wearing bad guy (played by Jake Gyllenhaal in 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home) flying near the Statue of Liberty. But instead of Spider-Man, the concept art has Quentin Beck battling Doctor Strange!

Apparently, this was one of the scrapped ideas that was being thrown by the production in developing the third MCU Spider-Man film. In an interview, Spider-Man: No Way Home scribe Chris Mckenna shared how the overall plot for the film changed over time:

When we started breaking the story and even started writing the script, we followed Doctor Strange 2 in the timeline… during pre-production, things got pushed and changed. We were supposed to start shooting in July of 2020 and it became November of 2020, our release date got pushed from July 2021 to December 2021 – there were a lot of things flipping around. Mckenna continued with explaining that the original plans were to have the third Spider-Man film occur after the events of Doctor Strange 2: Originally we were writing this where Strange was gonna be involved but it was after the events of Doctor Strange 2, and so where is he where is his head, and so that's something that we were kicking around. And then now it seems to be more of like, Oh this actually gets him interested in pursuing the multiverse as a concept. Of course, the version of Spider-Man: No Way Home that came to be did not include Mysterio. The delays due to the pandemic may have contributed to the changes, as well as the more multiversal keystone event that the film would play for the MCU Phase Four. Early rumored and speculated plots for the next film after Spider-Man: Far From Home actually had Kraven The Hunter as the main antagonist, with Mysterio possibly returning (having faked his death).

However, fans did point out that the film seems to have had one man down. Only five of the Spidey rogues gallery appeared, unless one counts the cameo of Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock aka Venom in one of the end credits scenes.

An updated official synopsis of Spider-Man: No Way Home has also been released for theaters screening the film, which is more descriptive of the plot: For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero's identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange's help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who've ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse. Would the film have been better with Mysterio being an active part of the story? He would certainly have brought another wrinkle to the plot. But if he did appear, the villains would have been a proper Sinister Six. Regardless of Mysterio being dropped from the movie's plot, that clearly did not hurt its commercial success. Spider-Man: No Way Home is already in the billion dollar club of highest grossing movies of all time.

Spider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Rhys Ifans, Thomas Haden Church, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Also starring Toni Revolori, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, J.B. Smoove, Hannibal Buress, Benedict Wong, and J.K. Simmons.

Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently available in theaters worldwide, with an upcoming digital release on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu on February 28, 2022.