Spider-Man: No Way Home | 2021

▶ Since No Way Home was filmed during the pandemic and since it’s so FX heavy, what with three Spider-Men, five villains and Doctor Strange, that there’s more filming at the Trilith Studios (formerly Pinewood Atlanta Studios) in Atlanta, Georgia, than most Marvel productions.

As a result, many scenes were shot with blue screen, and the New York footage added digitally – location spotting just keeps getting harder. ⏏

Following on from Far From Home, The Daily Bugle broadcasts Mysterio’s revelation of Spider-Man’s secret identity.

▶ Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is with MJ (Zendaya) are among the crowd  by the entrance to 34th-Penn Street subway station in New York, at West 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue, when the story appears on a giant screen in front of Penn Station. ⏏

His cover blown, Peter scoops up MJ and they’re soon swinging through Manhattan, above Times Square ending up atop the Queensboro Bridge alongside the Roosevelt Island Tramway – a bit of a call-out to the climax of Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man, with Tobey Maguire.

▶ Diving into the depths of the subway, they emerge over in Queens in front of ‘Delmar’s Deli’. This stood on the inevitable Peachtree Street, Atlanta, in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Now it's moved to where it's supposed to be – Queens. It's Bliss Bakery, 4622 Queens Boulevard, Sunnyside at 47th Street. It's a quick walk to Peter Parker’s apartment on 43rd Street, though south of the IRT Flushing Line elevated railway. ⏏

▶ Cast in the role of villain and besieged by the press, Peter is spirited away along with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) to a safe place – Happy Hogan’s condo on the Long Island City waterfront.

That’s as specific as it gets. Don’t let the number ‘5700’ on the door in the film fool you. The aerial shot of the explosions, as the block is attacked later, shows it’s on Center Boulevard between 48th and 49th Avenues – but that’s actually a school. ⏏

▶ The surrounding geography is recognizable, though, including the famous illuminated ‘Pepsi-Cola’ sign which you can see at Gantry Plaza State Park. Visible from Manhattan, across the East River, the sign was originally installed in 1940 atop Pepsi-Cola's bottling factory which stood nearby. ⏏

▶ The long shot of Peter’s ‘Midtown School of Science’ is Franklin K Lane High School, 999 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, as it was in Spider-Man: Homecoming. On its roof, or a facsimile, Peter, MJ and Ned (Jacob Batalon) dream of their admission to MIT. ⏏

Scenes in the school were filmed at two separate Atlanta schools – causing a bit of a fuss since both schools were closed to students during the Covid lockdown. A $50,000 incentive managed to ease the doors open.

▶ Henry W Grady High School, 929 Charles Allen Drive NE, was used for interiors – as it had been in Homecoming. It seems that Henry W Grady was a white supremacist and, in 2016, the school was renamed. Believe it or not, its new name is now Midtown High School. ⏏

▶ The other school used is Frederick Douglass High School, 225 Hamilton E Holmes Drive NW, Atlanta. That name seems safe enough – Douglass was a former slave who became an abolitionist. ⏏

▶ The MIT dreams of the three students, though, are shattered after they open letters of rejection at the bakery where MJ is working. This is the Peter Pan Donut and Pastry Shop, 727 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which has stood here since the 1950s. Inevitably the interior was recreated in the studio. ⏏

▶ Feeling guilt that the revelation of his identity has blighted his friends’ careers, Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) at the Manhattan mansion, the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Supposedly ‘177 Bleecker Street’, this is, as it was in Doctor Strange, a digitally-created frontage covering a disappointingly blank wall at the junction of West 12th and West 4th Streets in the West Village, New York. ⏏

When the drastic spell intended to wipe memories gets corrupted, Strange is exasperated to discover that Peter hasn’t even considered the obvious first option of appealing the rejections.

▶ So Peter zooms off to catch MIT’s Vice Chancellor, who happens to be on her way to the airport, catching up with her in traffic on Interstate 95.

The bridge on which the traffic is stalled is the Alexander Hamilton Bridge spanning the Harlem River and linking Washington Heights to the Bronx, so it’s not clear which airport the Vice Chancellor was driving to.

But it does look spectacular, with its eight lanes and swirl of on ramps, standing alongside the arched Washington Bridge. ⏏

The huge action sequence as Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) appears from a parallel universe is so convincing, it’s hard to believe most of it was filmed in Atlanta, the background being added using blue-screen technology.

▶ On to ‘Feast’, the shelter kitchen where Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) appeals for help from Aunt May. This is clearly a facility attached to a church – in this case, the Atlanta First United Methodist Church, 360 Peachtree Street NW. In real life, it’s the Midtown Assistance Center, a real food distribution centre at 30 Porter Place NE, alongside the church. Let's hope it received a substantial location fee from the production company. ⏏

The climax takes place on the scaffolding-shrouded ‘Statue of Liberty’ and, yes, this is yet another mix of studio set in Atlanta, augmented with CGI.

Finally, it’s back to Brooklyn's Peter Pan bakery for the poignant coda.

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