Tom Holland says fighting classic villains in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ was surreal

Prior to Spider-Man: No Way Home, nobody believed that the Raimiverse villains would ever return to the big screen. After all, not only was that particular strand of the Marvel universe long-dead, but we saw those characters die on-screen.

But we hadn’t reckoned with Marvel’s willingness to engage in multiversal shenanigans. Now, apparently thanks to Doctor Strange making an oopsie with his spell, they’re back and causing havoc in the MCU. Seeing them in action is going to be a trip, and Tom Holland has talked about how crazy it was to be interacting with them.

In an interview with ComicBookMovie, he said:

“Walking on set, playing this character, we’re here with Spider-Man: No Way Home, and I’m established and I know what I’m doing. All of a sudden, I’m thrown this curveball of fighting villains from the Raimi Universe.

It was crazy. I mean, I had so many ‘pinch me’ moments where I’d be standing there looking at Alfred doing scenes with him and I really had to kind of take myself out of it and kind of focus as an actor rather than a fan because I was freaking out inside.”

Holland later went on to specify his scenes with Dafoe as a true highlight. I rewatched Spider-Man to prep for No Way Home and Dafoe is a fantastic villain (though his performance is slightly hampered by the goblin mask). Here’s how Holland described it:

“It was incredible. It was a dream come true. Firstly getting to fight against the Green Goblin and then secondly that Green Goblin getting to be Willem Dafoe was amazing. It was honestly incredible. Like I said before, [there were] so many pinch me moments. He would say things he had said in the previous movies and everyone would get chills down the back of their spines. It was awesome. It really was incredible and I couldn’t dream of a better version.”

Next week the dust should have settled on the film’s plot and we can begin to hear from the stars what they thought of other appearances and story developments – not to mention the hints as to the MCU’s future and the events of next year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

But all that can wait. Spider-Man: No Way Home is now a few days away and I’m still unspoiled. Let’s hope it stays that way until my butt is in that cinema seat!