Months before Spider-Man: No Way Home opens, fans are eager to learn any of the secrets on set.
As it turns out, that goes for the actors as according to Angourie Rice, who plays Betty Brant, even some of the actors are being kept in the dark to the latest twist on the Spider-Man saga.
Who is Betty Brant?
One of Spider-Man’s oldest supporting characters, Betty Brant, debuted in the fourth issue of Amazing Spider-Man in 1963.
The long-suffering secretary to J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle, Betty was Peter Parker’s first crush. They briefly dated before his responsibilities as Spider-Man got in the way.
Betty eventually married reporter Ned Leeds and was driven to a breakdown when he was killed investigating the Hobgoblin (and briefly framed as the super-villain).
Betty later dated Flash Thompson, who briefly became a new host for the alien symbiote Venom. She’s also had to deal with Ned returning from the dead.
Betty recently returned from a long absence in Europe with the surprising revelation she’s pregnant with the identity of the father unknown.
A then-unknown Elizabeth Banks played the character in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy.
Betty and the MCU
Spider-Man: Homecoming had Betty played by Rice as one of Peter’s classmates who often handles the daily news reports for the school.
Far From Home revealed that Betty (like Peter, Ned Leeds, and MJ) was a victim of “the Blip,” returning five years later and having to repeat high school. She and Ned also dated.
Speaking to Collider on her HBO series Mare of Easttown, Rice stated that she couldn’t share details for the latest Spider-Man film due to Marvel’s stringent measures to ensure nothing leaks.
“The way that like Marvel protects the story is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s so secret. Shooting Spider-Man was like getting to go to a really cool theme park, but you couldn’t tell anyone because it’s the world’s most secret theme park. That was tricky.”
“The good thing about the second film was that I had my mother and my sister there with me, the whole time, so they were in on it and I could talk to them about anything because they were there. They are super secretive about everything. After being a part of it and seeing how people speculate from photos online and single lines in previous films, the fans of Marvel do some really great guesswork, for sure, so I understand.”.
The need for secrecy is obvious as Tom Holland has become infamous for accidentally giving away major plot points of movies in interviews.
It’s needed more for this anticipated sequel with the long-standing rumors it will involve the use of alternate realities. Alfred Molina is already confirmed to be reprising his role as Doctor Octopus from the Raimi films.
As Rice’s words prove, Marvel is working to ensure any surprises don’t leak for what could be Spider-Man’s biggest movie yet.
Spider-Man: No Way Home premieres December 17.