Spider-Man: No Way Home Concept Art Shows Off Aunt May's Original MCU Death
One of the best things about "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is the way it gives viewers a heart-wrenching variation on one of the key tragedies of the mythos of Spider-Man. It happens when Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) says goodbye to Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in her final moments following an attack by a dimensionally displaced Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). Just before she dies, she gives Peter the advice that Spidey fans know is the foundation of his entire superheroic philosophy: "With great power comes great responsibility."
Concept artist Phil Saunders is one of the people who helps bring superhero stories like "No Way Home" to the big screen, and he recently took to Instagram to show a different take on how this vital sequence was originally conceived. In the movie, Peter and Aunt May share their sad farewell in the rubble of a building. Meanwhile, Saunders's concept art reveals that this scene was originally going to take place in an ambulance taking May to a hospital.
Presumably, the scene would remain much the same despite the change of setting. Still, the concept art does give fans of "No Way Home" a new look at how the scene would have looked had it been filmed as scripted and serves as a pretty emotional visual all on its own.
The art captures the powerful emotion of the sequence even in an alternate form
"In an earlier version of the script, this moment took place in an ambulance racing to the nearest hospital," shared "Spider-Man: No Way Home" concept artist Phil Saunders. "I always like to capture the emotion of a scene in my keyframes, so this was a wonderful shot to be assigned."
As you can see above, Saunders certainly seems to have captured a great deal of emotion here, particularly in his rendering of the face of Peter Parker (Tom Holland). It's a heartbreaking moment both in the movie and in this alternative concept art. One can only imagine how the scene might differ in a speeding ambulance as opposed to the more static setting that the filmmakers of "No Way Home" ended up going with. And if you're a devoted repeat viewer who still gets choked up no matter how many times you've watched the scene, this concept art might achieve a similar effect.