Development and director
Jon Watts in 2016 During production on the film
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), two sequels were being planned by
Marvel Studios and
Sony Pictures. The next month, Holland described it as "the most ambitious standalone superhero" film, and again denied the rumors that Maguire and Garfield would appear. At the end of February, the film's title was revealed to be
Spider-Man: No Way Home, continuing the naming convention of the past two films of featuring "home" in the title. Filming took place at
Midtown High School from March 19 to 21. The
Atlanta Public Schools system had stopped allowing buildings in the district for use as filming locations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but gave this film an exception since both the Frederick Douglass and Midtown schools were previously used as filming locations in
Homecoming.
Hannibal Buress was revealed to be reprising his role as gym teacher Coach Wilson, with Buress releasing a
music video in August 2021 revealing that he had filmed scenes in Atlanta. Holland said
No Way Home had more "visceral" fight sequences than the previous two films, with more hand-to-hand combat. Filming
wrapped on March 26, 2021.
Post-production In April 2021, Molina confirmed that he was appearing in the film, explaining that he had been told not to talk about his role in the film during production but he realized that his appearance had been widely rumored and reported on. Later that month,
J. B. Smoove revealed that he was returning as
Julius Dell from
Far From Home, while Cox stated that he was not involved with the film. In early May, Garfield denied that he had been asked to appear in the film, but later said "never say never", while
Angourie Rice was revealed to be returning as
Betty Brant in the film, reprising her role from previous MCU media. Later that month, Stone denied her involvement in the film. Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President
Sanford Panitch acknowledged in May 2021 that there had been confusion and frustration from fans regarding the relationship between the SSU and the MCU but stated that there was a plan to clarify this. He believed it was already "getting a little more clear for people [as to] where we're headed" at that time and added that the release of
No Way Home would reveal more of this plan. Vary commented that the apparent introduction of multiverse elements in
No Way Home could be what would allow Holland to appear in both the MCU and the SSU. The official trailer for
No Way Home confirmed the involvements of
Jon Favreau as
Harold "Happy" Hogan and
Benedict Wong as
Wong, reprising their roles from past MCU films, as well as
J. K. Simmons as
J. Jonah Jameson from
Far From Home (Simmons previously played a different version of the character in the Raimi trilogy as well). It was also confirmed that the characters Electro and Green Goblin would appear in the film, with the implication that this incarnation of Green Goblin would be
Willem Dafoe's version from the Raimi films. In September 2021, Garfield again denied he was in the film, saying, "No matter what I say... it's either going to be really disappointing for people or it's going to be really exciting". Garfield later described his denials as "rather stressful but also weirdly enjoyable". In early October 2021, many commentators expected
Tom Hardy to reprise his roles as
Eddie Brock and
Venom from the SSU films
Venom (2018) and
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), after the
Let There Be Carnage mid-credits scene showed the characters being transported from their universe (the SSU) to the MCU. Feige said there was a lot of coordination between the
Let There Be Carnage and
No Way Home teams to create the scene, which was directed by Watts during the production of
No Way Home. Hardy ultimately appeared as Brock in the film's mid-credits scene, though there had been discussions about integrating him into the film's final battle, as well as bonding Holland's Peter to a
symbiote. Later that month,
Empires issue on
No Way Home stated that the film would include the returns of Doctor Octopus, Electro, Dafoe's Green Goblin,
Thomas Haden Church's
Flint Marko / Sandman from Raimi's film
Spider-Man 3 (2007) and
Rhys Ifans's
Curt Connors / Lizard from Webb's film
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Church's role in the film was originally meant to be larger, counting with a subplot of his own about Sandman's relationship with his daughter Penny (who was previously portrayed by
Perla Haney-Jardine), but the COVID-19 pandemic and the script being rewritten led to his role's reduction, only providing scratch dialogue and some motion-capture at a
San Antonio,
Texas parking lot. Watts said these were still unconfirmed rumors and was in "no hurry to confirm or deny appearances" of the characters, while Feige said the rumors were fun for fans but audiences should not expect them all to come true. At the beginning of November,
Jorge Lendeborg Jr. revealed that he would be reprising his role as
Jason Ionello from
Homecoming and
Far From Home in a similar role to those films that would have "very little to do with the core" story. By the middle of the month, additional photography had been completed for the film. Pascal described
No Way Home as "the culmination of the
Homecoming trilogy", and
Arian Moayed revealed that he had a role in the film, playing
Department of Damage Control (DODC) agent
Cleary. At that time, Dunst confirmed that she would not appear in the film, but also stated that she would "never say no" to reprising her role as Mary Jane Watson. Also in November 2021, the film's second trailer confirmed the involvements of Dafoe, Church, and Ifans.
Paul Giamatti's
Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino from
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and
Jake Gyllenhaal's
Quentin Beck / Mysterio from
Far From Home were also considered for inclusion, with McKenna and Sommers playing with the idea of a
Sinister Six forming; Rhino, Mysterio, and the Sinister Six ultimately did not appear in the film, though
archival footage of Gyllenhaal as Beck from
Far From Home was used in
No Way Home. In mid-December,
Martin Starr was confirmed to be appearing as
Roger Harrington in the film, reprising his role from previous MCU media. A teaser trailer for
Multiverse of Madness was included at the end of the film as a post-credits scene, before being released online shortly after
No Way Homes theatrical release.
Jeffrey Ford and Leigh Folsom Boyd served as the film's editors. The visual effects were provided by
Cinesite, Clear Angle Studios, Crafty Apes,
Digital Domain, Folks VFX,
Framestore,
Luma Pictures, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies, Mr. X, Perception, Secret Lab,
Sony Pictures Imageworks, and SSVFX. Concepts considered but ultimately not used in the film include: Holland's Peter meeting Jameson in the latter's apartment; a cameo appearance by the version of
Peter Parker / Spider-Man from
Insomniac Games's ''
Marvel's Spider-Man'' video game series; Doctor Octopus donning a comics-accurate green and yellow costume; a more comics-accurate look for the Lizard; Green Goblin adding parts of
Iron Man's armor to his own; and Ned riding the
Goblin Glider in a homage to his
Hobgoblin persona in the comics. The scene of Holland's Peter's first confrontation with the Green Goblin in Hogan's apartment went through several different iterations, including one that featured
Michael Keaton's
Adrian Toomes / Vulture from
Homecoming, and another in which the Goblin bombs Hogan's apartment with May still inside, presumably killing her differently than how it was depicted in the final cut of the film. == Music ==