Deleted 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Scene Completely Changes Peter Parker's MCU Legacy

It’s been nearly two years since Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) brought three generations of Peter Parker together onscreen for one of the most unforgettable crossover events in franchise history. But even though Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield’s MCU team-up has long passed, new details are just now coming to light, with a never-before-seen excerpt from the superhero flick changing the three Peter Parkers’ MCU legacy forever.

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Although Phase Four can best be defined as a trial-and-error period for the MCU, with blockbusters like Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) falling flat with audiences, there are a few gems from this highly-divisive time in Marvel history. For one, Simu Liu’s franchise debut as the titular hero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) fared generally well with viewers, while the Disney+ Loki and WandaVision shows undeniably drew millions of new subscribers to the streaming service.

But it’s pretty much universally agreed upon that the third installment in Tom Holland’s Homecoming trilogy, Spider-Man: No Way Home, holds the crown for the best MCU Phase Four project. The long-awaited team-up flick fully maximized the Multiverse concept, following Holland’s Earth-199999 Peter Parker as he and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) attempt to clean up a spell gone drastically wrong after figures from all corners of the MCU accidentally portal into this alternate dimension.

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Supervillains like Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Jamie Foxx’s Electro, and Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius all reprised their roles for the MCU flick, with their respective Peter Parkers following suit: Tobey Maguire from Sam Rami’s early 2000s Spider-Man, and Andrew Garfield’s take on the web-slinging crime solver from Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies.

After portal-hopping into Earth-199999 thanks to a certain sorcerer’s Sling Ring, Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker appears in Ned’s (Jacob Batalon) living room, where he’s met with understandable shock and confusion from him and Zendaya’s MJ. Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker follows closely behind, with both Spider-Man’s Spidey senses telling them something’s up in this dimension.

However, according to never-before-seen concept art featured in The Spider-Man: No Way Home – The Art of the Movie book, Maguire and Garfield’s MCU entrances originally looked much different and didn’t involve Ned and MJ in that Sling Ring portal sequence at all. In the new illustrations, a scene that never made it into the movie’s final cut shows Doctor Strange behind one of his iconic portals, with Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men in front.

In this alternate timeline, Strange would have been the person bringing Peter’s Variants into the picture instead of MJ and Ned, using his magic to portal in the Spider-Men from their respective universes.

Still, some things didn’t change, as the three Spider-Men seem to always end up conversing on a rooftop in every version of the film, with the two wiser and more experienced Spider-Men seemingly consoling Peter Parker after the death of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). This is where the trio ended up meeting in the threequel—something that carried over from the concept art.

It’s interesting to see that instead of MJ and Ned portalling these Peter Parkers into their reality by accident, Doctor Strange might’ve brought them into the fold on purpose, implying that the sorcerer was aware of and familiar with other dimensions’ Spider-Men. This could’ve changed their fates forever, confirming even more interconnectedness between the MCU and Sony’s Spider-Man universe than initially thought.

However, instead of having to explain how Doctor Strange might’ve known and hand-picked these two friendly neighborhood Spider-Men specifically, filmmakers made the wise choice regarding their grand entrance, adding in just the right sprinkle of laughter among the heavy sadness in the air as Holland’s Peter Parker grieves the sudden loss of his aunt.

Hopefully, we can expect to see this trio of Spider-Men reunited on the big screen in the near future, with Garfield recently expressing interest in returning to the MCU. 2026’s Avengers: Secret Wars could deliver on this as Marvel continues pumping out content as part of their “Multiverse Saga,” or perhaps the fourth Holland-led Spidey flick could bring the three Peter Parks back together again—if or when it ever leaves production limbo.

What do you think of this Spider-Man: No Way Home concept art? Do you think Doctor Strange should’ve deliberately plucked these Peter Parkers from the Multiverse, or are you happy with the final cut? Let us know in the comments below.