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VFX Supervisor Reveals Lizard and Sandman Actors Didn't Actually Return for Spider-Man: No Way Home


Spider-Man: No Way Home pulled off a crossover that any Marvel fan never thought would happen on the big screens, from the impressive three-generation Peter Parker reunion to the former Spider-Man villains' return. No Way Home marks the return of Alfred Molina's Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx's Electro, and Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin antagonizing Spider-Man once again. However, two former villains were also spotted in No Way Home; Lizard and Sandman, but weren't present in any promotional material for the film. According to VFX Supervisor Kelly Port, the two actors didn't actually return to film any sequence.

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In a recent interview with Corridor Digital, Kelly Port broke down how they managed to bring Sandman and Lizard back to life, even if the actors didn't appear on the set.

"We didn't really have access to Rhys Ifans or Thomas Hayden Church, so we actually ended up using footage from the previous films and manipulating it. So Rhys Ifans, when he's healing, we actually used an outtake and that was shot on film, scanned at high resolution, tracked, body tracked, everything. So ultimately, it ended up being a lot of that CG, especially for Thomas Hayden Church when he's transforming. We had to manipulate it to get him into the scene lighting-wise, and all sorts of things like that," Port explained.

While this is a piece of bad news for Sandman and Lizard fans, let's admit that we didn't completely notice at all that the actors weren't present there. Thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home's VFX team who certainly pulled off a tremendous effort in bringing us a complete villain roster that includes both Lizard and Sandman, and it definitely paid off.

This might also be the reason why Thomas Haden Church and Rhys Ifans weren't spotted in any promotional features from No Way Home. Despite that, fans would love to see Sandman and Lizard in the future of the Spider-Verse, especially now that Sony and Marvel are seemingly crafting a bigger Spider-Man universe that could give prominent roles to the two villains in the future Spider-Man related projects.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is now available for digital streaming on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K.

Also Read: Taika Waititi Pokes Fun at Thor: Love and Thunder Poster With New Release Date

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