Tobey Maguire replaces Tom Holland in sinful, deepfaked Spider-Man: Far From Home trailers

The Tobey Maguire diehards are a strong contingent of the Spider-Man cinematic fanbase, lasting since director Sam Raimi hung up his webslingers after 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Since then, Andrew Garfield tried to take up the mantle in the Amazing twofer, but Tom Holland ultimately came out on top as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Peter Parker (well, until Sony and Marvel had a little business spat).

But what if that never happened? What if there was a version of reality somewhere in the multiverse where Maguire maintained his role all the way to 2019? What if he managed to keep playing a high schooler until he was 44?

That’s what a new trailer asks, as it’s deepfaked the actor’s face over that of Holland in the trailers for Spider-Man: Far From Home. The tech, which uses machine learning to swap faces in everything from impression videos to much seedier and sinister places, has been used for both fun and evil so far on the internet. Here, the results are just ... mind-boggling.

Take a look ... if you dare:

Chilling. 

Aldo Jones’ six-minute YouTube video (well, two two-minute videos linked by an ad) is more eye-popping than the antics of a multiverse filled with Thanoses. He even deepfaked the passport photo. This is especially weird considering that Far From Home star Jake Gyllenhaal almost replaced Maguire in Spider-Man 2. If there was a way to test out new actors to see if they’d be good fits to take on the role of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, this may throw things up for debate. But it’s hard to deny that Maguire looks at home pulling that mask off. Maybe it’s time to rewatch the trilogy that made superhero movies a modern phenomenon.