Spider-Man: Far From Home – Stortford scenes will be used in Blu-ray short
The new Spider-Man movie is released at UK cinemas this week – but it won't feature scenes shot in Bishop's Stortford last summer.
Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts confirmed in a recent interview that two scenes filmed on location in the town centre a year ago this week have not made the big screen – but they will feature on the Blu-ray disc of the movie.
Stortford was buzzing with anticipation and rumour on Monday and Tuesday, July 2 and 3, 2018, as production units took over the then disused railway station car park and began to set up filming sites at the redundant former post office in South Street and News & Booze convenience store in North Street.
They were the first two days of shooting on the blockbuster and star Tom Holland reportedly made the trip to Stortford by train for filming that Monday morning as hundreds of fascinated shoppers, workers and schoolchildren gathered in the streets.
The 23-year-old Londoner returns as Peter Parker, aka crime-fighting web-slinger Spider-man, after first donning the tight-fitting red and blue superhero outfit in summer 2017’s Spider-man: Homecoming.
In the sequel, Peter and his high school friends are on a trip to Europe when he is recruited by Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to face elemental threats from another dimension.
But both Stortford locations, which involved Peter getting his passport and buying a European travel plug respectively, will not be in cinemas.
Watts said: "Yeah, both of those are actually part of the same montage which is 'Peter's To-Do List'. It's all the things he has to do before he goes on the trip, which are going to Delmar's to get a dual headphone adaptor and one of those European travel plugs, he has to go to a pawn shop to sell his Star Wars toys to get money for the trip, he has to pick up his passport and he has to take down this giant crime syndicate."
But as with the previous Marvel Studios production, Avengers: Endgame, they will be brought back to life at the last minute in the Blu-ray release as part of a stand-alone short film.
Watts said: "That's just the to-do list for someone like him, but that will be its own little short film that we're going to put on the Blu-ray. There are some good deleted scenes."
Filming also took place last summer at Stansted Airport and east London. Studio work occurred at Leavesden Studios near Watford, where Venice was recreated on one of the studio's backlots. The Czech Republic, Italy and the New York metropolitan area were also used.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is on pre-release at Empire in Stortford from Tuesday to Thursday (July 2-4), with general release on Friday (July 5).
There are eight screenings a day, at 11.00, 12.00, 2.00, 3.00, 5.00, 6.00, 8.00 and 8.45. The certificate is 12A and the film's running time is 2 hours 9 minutes.