Spider-Man: No Way Home co-writer explains how the pandemic changed a major death scene

(Image credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios)

A major death in Spider-Man: No Way Home would have played out differently if not for the pandemic, the film's co-writer Erik Sommers has explained. Huge spoilers ahead!

When Tom Holland's Peter Parker gathers the multiversal villains together in the hopes of curing them, it's revealed that Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin is the big bad of the movie, and he and Spidey immediately clash. In the fight, Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is hurt in what turns out to be a fatal injury.

Sommers talked to Gold Derby about the challenge of getting Aunt May's death right – and spoke about some logistical problems that changed the moment.

"It was also tricky production-wise, because we had different ideas for where the scene could take place, but because of Covid [we couldn't]," he said. "We had one idea that maybe it was going to be inside an ambulance, and we had a whole version that was constructed around that, but that was not practical for shooting during Covid. That's the kind of thing that happens. So then we had to move the scene, physically, to another place while trying to keep all the other elements working, and we had to make adjustments. That's the kind of thing that happens in production."

He added: "I'm glad it affected people the way we wanted, that it resonated, because it's so important to Peter's story, and to his journey, so I'm glad that people feel that it worked."

It's unclear when we'll next see any version of Peter Parker again, with Holland saying he doesn't know his MCU future, and fans calling for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4. Marvel will next dive into the multiverse with the upcoming Doctor Strange 2, AKA Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which arrives this May 6 and is directed by Raimi.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.