Marvel Cut A Spider-Man Vs Doctor Strange Fight In A Very Different Movie Universe

A lot happens in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," so it comes as no surprise just how much didn't make its way into the movie that saw the three legendary wall-crawlers finally cross paths. One such alternate event we could've seen, according to concept designer Phil Saunders, was Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) battle across realities rather than having Tom Holland's webslinger beat him with geometry. As revealed in some very interesting concept art, there was a point when the two were going to fight across previous "Spider-Man" movies, beginning with Sam Raimi's original classic from 2002.

Posting the designs on Artstation, Saunders revealed, "One early idea for Spidey and Dr. Strange's chase through the multiverse was to have them battle over the source of the spell (in this early version the Book of Vishanti) through scenes from the previous movies." This would mean the MCU's Spidey and Stephen turning up at pivotal moments across Spider-Man's cinematic appearances, only a little off-kilter. "We were given a couple of days to play with that idea, taking screen caps from the movies and painting in Spidey and Doc. I liked the idea of taking the familiar shots and shifting the gravity and POV so that the characters would be in a completely different orientation than the action," he continued.

As revealed in these exciting bits of art, Saunders initially set the master of the mystic arts and the beloved web-head brawling in Peter 2's (Tobey Maguire) wrestling match that sees him go up against Bonesaw, as well as one of the heated encounters that that Peter later has with his landlord, Mr. Ditkovich (Elya Baskin), in "Spider-Man 2." These weren't the only trips the two would take either. Presumably going at the same pace as the Doc goes during his journey across dimensions in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," they would also stumble through "The Amazing Spider-Man" installments.

Besides shots of what looks to be Peter 2's battle with Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), there are also shots from Andrew Garfield's stint as Spidey, most noticeably his failed rescue mission to save Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Who knows? Had they kept it in, things might've changed, and the two could've helped stop another significant snap in comic book history. However, the game might've been given away too soon regarding the cameos; plus, that heart-wrenching save of M.J. by Peter 3 (Andrew Garfield) might not have happened either. That's a "what if" we could do without.