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A video leaked from ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and there’s proof it’s real

Published Oct 6th, 2021 11:59AM EDT
No Way Home Video
Image: Sony and Marvel

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Like it or not, Spider-Man: No Way Home is the biggest thing happening in movies this year. The upcoming film is easily one of the highlights of MCU Phase 4, something we didn’t necessarily expect back in summer 2019 when Sony and Marvel announced it. Not only that, but No Way Home will easily become the most exciting Spider-Man film ever made. That’s all thanks to the big universe Marvel created and Sony’s desire to replicate it. The ongoing stream of No Way Home leaks drove up the excitement all year long. Most of them confirmed the worst-kept No Way Home secret, culminating with a video of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man.

The video leak is part of a string of related leaks that dropped online after Sony released the first No Way Home trailer. Some disputed the clip’s authenticity, and one person tried to convince people the video was a deepfake. That person later admitted they faked the evidence. We already explained why the video is real. But now, we have an even better explanation for you. This time, the evidence comes from real visual effects experts.

The No Way Home video leak

As a reminder, we saw plenty of alleged Spider-Man images after the first trailer. One showed what appeared to be Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in Spidey suits. They were talking on the top of some scaffolding, surrounded by a blue background. Another image gave us a close-up of Garfield.

Typically, we’d all stop talking about these leaked images soon after they’ve dropped. That’s because they’re never confirmed. But this time around, Sony did something else. Something foolish. It had the leaked images removed from social media sites using copyright claims. You can still find all of them if you know where to look, so Sony hasn’t achieved its goal. But that’s not the worst part. By issued take-down notices using copyright claims, Sony’s lawyers confirmed the photos are genuine.

When the Garfield video dropped, we already knew the previous No Way Home images were genuine thanks to Sony. And we knew that the still images Sony wanted to delete from the internet matched the Garfield video. That made us realize the images are probably just screen grabs from someone with access to the raw footage. So, the video was obviously real.

Obviously, we were still speculating at the time. But all this evidence combined was enough to prove the authenticity of these leaks. The Garfield video is very much real, and it can only come from No Way Home.

As for Garfield, he was hardly able to convincingly deny the leaked images.

Experts say the video is authentic

The VFX experts at Corridor Crew released a clip on YouTube earlier this week where they discussed the Garfield video. They also prove the video is from No Way Home rather than being a deepfake.

Video experts looked at the footage and determined that the clip is real and that it is probably new. The Garfield in this video doesn’t match the younger Garfield from The Amazing Spider-Man movies. That means this must be new footage. And if it is, it can only be from No Way Home. The video seems to have been shot professionally, as is the case with movie productions like No Way Home.

The YouTubers also explained why the clip isn’t a deepfake, as some Spider-Man fans believe. Or, if it were a deepfake, it would be the most sophisticated fake ever created. There’s practically no chance anyone could have had access to such detailed Garfield content to train AI to deliver such a detailed digitalization of Garfield’s face.

Available below, the Corridor Crew video got more than 1.6 million views in a couple of days. That’s not a surprising figure considering the tremendous interest around No Way Home. Also, the Corridor Crew channel has 5.11 million subscribers and more than 1.04 billion views. That’s to say these guys probably know what they’re doing.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.