Chris Pine Reacts to Spider-Verse’s Peter Parker Not Being in No Way Home

Actor Chris Pine has opened up about having not been one of the Spider-Man actors to return in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The Tom Holland-led No Way Home was 2021’s biggest hit, and the third standalone Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It follows Holland’s titular web-slinger as he contends with characters from previous cinematic Spider-Man universes after Doctor Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) spell opens the multiverse. Among these returning Spider-Man movie characters were the two previous live-action iterations of the character. Both Tobey Maguire (who originally starred in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy) and Andrew Garfield (star of The Amazing Spider-Man series) returned to don their Spidey costumes once again.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is not the only film in the last decade to explore the idea of a Spider-Man multiverse. 2018 saw the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, an animated film which also centred around Spider-People from different universes teaming up against evil. All told, Into the Spider-Verse featured seven Spider-Creatures from different universes who are integral to its plot. Upon its release, Into the Spider-Verse was a major success (foreshadowing the success of the multiverse plot in the MCU), and even wound up winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Alongside Chris Pine’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Into the Spider-Verse also included iterations of the character voiced by Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Jake Johnson (Peter B. Parker), Nicolas Cage (Spider-Man Noir), and John Mulaney (Spider-Ham), and Oscar Isaac (Spider-Man 2099).

In a recent interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Pine discussed his feelings on not being asked to reprise his role in No Way Home. According to Pine, he didn’t mind at all. While referring to Holland, Maguire and Garfield as the film’s main Spider-Men, Pine stated “that’s a full team already.” The actor went on to mention that, with the trio making such a fine Spidey team, he would “happily miss out on that.” 

One could argue that Pine has an excuse for not returning as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, as he holds a unique record as the only iteration of Parker to die on screen. Pine’s interpretation of Parker dies early on in Into the Spider-Verse, and sets the film’s protagonist, Miles Morales, on his journey. However, No Way Home has also proved that it has no trouble resurrecting characters who have died in alternate universes. For example, both Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock made appearances in the MCU film, despite both dying in Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Perhaps this leaves the door open for Pine’s character to make an MCU appearance in the future.

With that said, it does not seem at the moment that Pine has any plans to make an MCU cameo as another Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Pine is currently returning to the Star Trek universe for another stint as Captain Kirk, and is not set to appear in Into the Spider-Verse’s upcoming and long-awaited sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One). With the MCU moving on to explore the multiverse in other films such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans of Pine’s Peter Parker will likely have to be satisfied with watchingSpider-Man: No Way Home and imagining what could have been.

Source: Yahoo! Entertainment