It’s surprising that it took this long before we got any official stills or images from the film featuring all three Spider-Man together. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a powerhouse at the box office, and it’s likely that everyone who wanted to see it, already has. Yet, Sony never offered an official look at its full cast. Hell, we never even got special posters highlighting the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in their respective roles. Luckily, high-quality looks at the final were released as part of an interview with visual effects supervisor Chris Waegner over at before & afters.
Waegner highlights that he has quite the history with the Spider-Man franchise, as he worked on quite a few of them during his tenure at Imageworks. So, he naturally was able to bring that passion and realize each one of the character’s unique aspects to life. They had to rebuild a lot of their assets for the film, as the old assets were no longer viable due to how far technology has come. Plus, Tobey and Andrew aren’t the same age when they previously played the characters, which also became a key factor.
They also had to work on some previous villains making their grand return in the film. In a way, it would seem like modern technology would’ve made work easier on bringing these characters to life once again. A big part is their approach to Sandman, who already was pushing boundaries back during the release of Spider-Man 3. Waegner highlights that they were able to optimize their approach, such as making him feel more like a sand storm if the story or moment required it.
In the interview, he also praised the practical work that was done to support their CG work, as the Liberty island was recreated with a practical set. A lot of the scaffolding featured in the sequence was real and also helped their team to realize their vision, as they worked on the finale. Plus, the set choice offers a lot of reference material to utilize and work from to bring the effects-heavy aspects to life in a much easier way. He does highlight that it was quite the undertaking for their Modeling and Environments team.
Source: befores & afters
