Marvel: these two actors of Spider-Man No Way Home break a record<

Since its theatrical release in December 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home has continued to set record after record, whether with fans or critics. But the one we are going to talk about today is a little special, since it installs two actors in the Guinness Book of Records for a reason... a little absurd.

Spider-Man: those under 20 can't know

The Spider-Man license is very lucrative. In 2002, the film starring Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe was the first movie to hit $100 million in a single weekend at the box office and gross over $820 million worldwide in total. Two decades later, Maguire and Dafoe once again donned their iconic Spider-Man and Green Goblin suits for Spider-Man: No Way Home, and once again shattered new records, especially in terms of exploitation. We talked about it in more detail in this article. The film was eagerly awaited and won the hearts of nostalgics by offering to follow the three Spider-Man known to the cinema as well as all their respective villains in a welcome Proust madeleine festival.

And yet, returning to Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe did not expect to appear in the Guinness Book of Records for a somewhat absurd reason: the two stars broke the record of the actor with the longest career as a Marvel character in cinema. Their official time is 19 years and 225 days. The previous title was held by Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, who played Wolverine and Professor Xavier respectively since 2000 with the 1st X-Men movie, then in 2017 with Logan. Or 17 years of good and loyal service for the actors of the X-Men saga who are now classified in the archives.

No Way Home: an unlikely record

Of course, this record is questionable. It only takes into account the longevity and not the regularity of screen presence of the actors. Otherwise, it's a safe bet that Wolverine will keep his place, even if the actor who has been seen the most times in films from the Marvel universe is... Stan Lee himself! And it's not surprising either, given the impressive number of cameos he has to his credit and the one he could have done in the last film. Maguire and Dafoe were the triggers for what made the MCU what it is today, and to see them present in No Way Home is to see a virtuous cycle come to an end. It is also necessary to highlight the media hype around their presence -or not- in the film which made it possible to generate enthusiasm around this one.

Those familiar with Marvel's history know that the movie that lifted the company out of misery was the first Iron Man. But without the sale of the rights to Spider-Man to Sony, and the production of the excellent Spider-Man trilogy, the craze for the superhero film would not be the same today. Thanks to them, Marvel was able to turn the corner and offer a new wave of very popular and modern superhero films that led to the creation of the MCU, and the multiverse, to finally bring together all the actors of the previous Spider-Man movies. The scene in No Way Home where Tobey, Garfield and Holland hold each other by the shoulders and thank each other is all the stronger because it's not only the actors who express all their love for those who played Spider-Man before and after them , but it's also a way for Marvel and Sony to thank each other.