22 photos that show how ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ looks without visual effects

Tom Holland’s Peter Parker went to the Sanctum Sanctorum to ask for Doctor Strange’s help after the teen’s superhero identity was publicly revealed.

First, he encountered Wong, the new Sorcerer Supreme, who emerged from a portal.

While filming scenes involving magic portals, the actors walked through a large frame that had light bars attached to the perimeter.

The ordinary lights were transformed into mystical doorways using VFX.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s sorcerer arrived shortly after Wong to see what Peter wanted.

The team-up made sense since both characters are based in New York. Peter lives in Queens and the Sanctum Sanctorum is located at 177A Bleecker Street in Manhattan.

Wires were attached to Cumberbatch to make it look like he was floating as he descended the staircase.

The wires were digitally removed for the final version of “No Way Home.” Epsom salts were also used in place of real snow at the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Doctor Strange cast a spell to make everyone forget Peter is Spider-Man, but the plan went awry.

This was due to Peter tampering with the magic mid-cast, by asking for people closest to him to be omitted from the spell.

The runes and glowing elements in the Ancient Chamber were the results of VFX.

In “NWH,” Doctor Strange said that some of the walls were “thousands of years old.” In reality, the room was constructed specifically for this movie.

After Doctor Strange cast the spell, he and Peter immediately realized something was wrong.

The room started to shake and crack as Peter and Strange’s feet were lifted off the floor.

To make it look like the two characters were floating, Holland and Cumberbatch were attached to wires.

The wires were then pulled back to show the effect of the unstable environment.

The first visitor from the multiverse that Holland’s character encountered was Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock.

Molina portrayed Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock in Sam Raimi’s 2004 “Spider-Man” sequel starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinger.

Doc Ock’s tentacles were entirely CGI and Holland wore a motion-capture suit for the bridge fight.

The mo-cap suit allowed the VFX team to track Holland’s movements and digitally add his Iron Spider costume.

At one point, Doc Ock smashed Spider-Man against the cement infrastructure.

One of Doc Ock’s tentacles kept the superhero in place.

To film that moment, Holland was strapped to an overhead structure on the set.

According to Variety, the bridge scene was one of the first sequences filmed and it required more than 500 shots.

Doc Ock suspended Spider-Man upside down, with one tentacle wrapped around his body.

Moments later, Peter revealed his face and Doc Ock realized that this was not the version of the character that was his nemesis in “Spider-Man 2.”

Holland, in his mo-cap suit, was hung upside down and anchored by wires.

Holland and Molina filmed the scene in a room covered in blue screens, that way the scenery could be digitally added.

After Peter stole Doctor Strange’s mystical cube, a chase scene ensued.

The cube was used to contain Doctor Strange’s spell.

At one point during the scuffle, Peter got separated from his physical form but was still able to control the movements of his physical body.

In reality, the magical cube was just a hollow, bright-green box.

The bright-green color allowed the object to get the VFX treatment in post-production.

As Doctor Strange tried to retrieve the box, he and Peter entered the Mirror Dimension.

Being in the Mirror Dimension allowed the two characters to continue fighting, without being seen by any bystanders or unintentionally hurting people in NYC.

Cumberbatch and Holland didn’t actually stand on top of a train.

Instead, they stood on a structure that was designed to look like the roof of a train.

Doctor Strange used his magic to alter the Mirror Dimension and open portals.

Peter used his knowledge of geometry to outsmart Doctor Strange and escape with the box.

The Mirror Dimension and Strange’s magical abilities were created using VFX.

Cumberbatch has been portraying Dr. Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) since 2016’s “Doctor Strange.”

When Peter realized that Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn/Green Goblin had been evil the whole time, they started fighting in Happy Hogan’s condo.

The action sequence involved the two actors violently flinging each other through glass walls and floors of the apartment building.

No actual condos were damaged in the filming of the scene.

Dafoe and Holland executed some of the action choreography in a room lined with blue screens on the outside.

In the hallway, Spider-Man jumped on Goblin and punched his face.

Goblin just laughed maniacally as Spider-Man beat him.

One cameraperson stood nearby the actors to capture close-ups of Dafoe’s reaction during the moment.

To keep the shot steady, the crew member rested the camera on a ladder.

Goblin hopped on his glider and warned Peter that “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Shortly after Goblin escaped, Aunt May died.

Dafoe’s glider was just a board that was mounted to a piece of filming equipment.

In multiple interviews, Dafoe said that he insisted on doing as many stunts as he could in “NWH.”

After the destruction at Happy’s condo, Peter stood on a rooftop and watched J. Jonah Jameson villainize Spider-Man on the news.

Peter watched the news play on a large screen in Times Square.

Holland filmed the scene on a set, not in Times Square.

The broadcast of Jameson was added digitally, thanks to the use of the blue screen in front of Holland.

Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s versions of Peter Parker/Spider-Man first met Holland’s character on the roof of the Midtown School of Science and Technology.

The older Spider-Men comforted Holland’s Peter after the death of Aunt May.

Midtown High’s rooftop was recreated in a studio.

The actual school that was used for exteriors of Midtown High is called Franklin K. Lane High School and is located in Brooklyn, NY.

After the Spider-Men developed cures for the villains from the multiverse, Holland’s Peter lured them to the Statue of Liberty.

The famous monument was mid-renovation and surrounded by scaffolding.

A replica of Lady Liberty’s crown was created for Holland to stand on.

The rest of the scenery was digitally added, since “NWH” was predominantly filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jamie Foxx’s Max Dillon/Electro loved his new look and abilities in Holland’s universe.

Foxx first portrayed the disgruntled Oscorp electrician in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” Garfield’s second Spidey movie that was released in 2014.

Obviously, Foxx didn’t hover in the sky.

The electricity that emanated from his body was also digitally added.

All the Spider-Men assembled and struck their best superhero poses atop the Statue of Liberty crown.

Maguire and Garfield’s involvement in “NWH” was long-rumored for months, but still thrilling for fans. Audiences especially loved Garfield’s heartfelt performance.

Maguire, Holland, and Garfield filmed the iconic shot in a studio.

In the bonus features for the digital release of “NWH,” Holland said that shot was “one of the hardest Spider-Man landings I’ve ever done because the crown was just so uneven and in the Spider-Man suit, you can’t see anything and I was really trying to land in the most iconic Spider-Man pose.”

Maguire reprised his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man nearly 20 years after he made his debut as the character.

In the bonus features, Maguire said that he was immediately blown away by Holland’s talent, generosity, and vulnerability in the first scene they filmed together.

One shot of Maguire swinging with his webs required the assistance of three people wearing blue suits.

Wearing blue head-to-toe suits made it easy to digitally remove the crew members in post-production.

Garfield’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man rescued Zendaya’s MJ in one of the film’s most emotional scenes.

Garfield told Variety that the idea of his character saving MJ, after he failed to reach Gwen Stacy in time in “TASM 2,” kind of sold him on reprising his role.

Garfield and Zendaya safely filmed the scene on a set.

Holland low-key spoiled the moment during the “NWH” press tour when he told BBC Radio One’s film critic Ali Plumb that he “wasn’t there” when Zendaya filmed the scene.

Filled with rage, Holland’s Spider-Man nearly stabbed Goblin with his glider.

Maguire’s character acted quickly to intervene and stop him.

The scene looks much less dramatic when you realize it was filmed in a room covered in blue screens.

In an interview with Collider, Holland said that he and Dafoe exerted a lot of energy for the fight scenes and “collapsed to the floor.”

As more visitors from the multiverse began breaking through, Peter asked Doctor Strange to cast a new spell that would make the world forget who he is.

Most of the silhouettes were difficult to see clearly, but fans spotted Kraven the Hunter and Scorpion trying to enter Holland’s universe.

To film the interactions between Peter and Doctor Strange, Holland perched on an oversized replica of the top of Lady Liberty’s torch.

Meanwhile, Cumberbatch was attached to wires and suspended in the air.