Marvel Pres. Confirms Unexpected MCU Movie Paved the Way For 'No Way Home' - Inside the Magic

Of all of the movies — standalone and ensemble alike — in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Avengers franchise, Captain America: Civil War (2016) is a fan favorite, despite some criticism that it is not really a Captain America film.

Related: Tom Holland Shares Shock at Discovering He Was “No Longer In the MCU”

The Avengers Civil War began over Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Steve Rogers/Captain America’s (Chris Evans) opposing opinions regarding entering into the Sokovia Accords.

The film saw appearances by a number of popular MCU characters, including Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Wanda Maximoff,/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who were all captured and imprisoned on the Raft.

Related: Andrew Garfield ALMOST Confirms ‘Spider-Man’ Cameo in ‘No Way Home’

Meanwhile, Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) was forcibly sent home, while James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) became the victim of friendly fire after Vision (Paul Bettany) shoots him by accident.

Amid all of this drama, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) goes into hiding to avoid being arrested, a storyline that was further explored in her solo origin story movie, Black Widow (2021).

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Now, Marvel President Kevin Feige has spoken out about how having all of these characters at his disposal while creating Civil War paved the way for the highly anticipated upcoming film, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which will round out the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy.

In a video interview [below], Feige shared:

“I think that going back to [Captain America] Civil War, sort of having an idea for a movie that is based entirely on what actors and what characters that we can get to work together and shoot on a single day. When that worked, it gave us the ambition for movies like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. I would include No Way Home into that level of ambition for sure.”

The Marvel boss also indicated that the success of these ensemble films gave his studio the confidence to move forward with something as ambitious as the “Spider-verse”, which will see Sony Pictures characters like Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Jamie Foxx’s Electro make their MCU debuts.

Related: ‘No Way Home’ Soundtrack Leaks, Seemingly Confirms HUGE ‘Spider-Man’ Rumor

As one recent article noted:

Having so many different characters available and the crowd reaction to it all really captured the public’s attention. From there, Feige and other decision-makers at Marvel realized that they could really get wild with the team dynamics. Both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame cranked the dial up to 11. But, No Way Home presents an even wilder prospect, bringing in characters that audiences love from that Sony Spider-Man universe. It makes you wonder what other massive plans are in store.

Related: Zendaya Spills That Filming ‘Spider-Man’ Was “Difficult” For Boyfriend Tom Holland

No Way Home hits theaters on December 17, 2021.

More on Spider-Man: No Way Home

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Joining Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), the official description of Spider-Man: No Way Home reads:

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

Related: New Captain Marvel Actress Speaks Out After the MCU Replaced Brie Larson

Holland and Zendaya (MJ) are joined by Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Stephen Strange), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus) in the film.

Are you excited to see No Way Home?