Eternals star Lia McHugh reveals that she actually learned about Spider-Man: No Way Home's legacy cast appearances five months ahead of time. Released last November, Chloé Zhao's Eternals has proven to be an incredibly divisive MCU entry. After living on Earth for many hundreds of years, the immortal Eternals must come out of hiding and band together to defeat an evil force of beings known as Deviants. In the film, McHugh plays Sprite, the youngest of all the Eternals.

While Eternals has drawn a fair amount of criticism from critics and audiences alike, December's Spider-Man: No Way Home has proven to be a massive hit. Beloved by both audiences and reviewers, the film currently holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes audience score of any MCU movie, sitting at a lofty 98%. While the film's marketing revealed the return of a number of fan-favorite villains, fans speculated for months regarding whether Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would also be reprising their respective Spider-Man roles. Much to fans' delight, both Maguire and Garfield did show up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, playing a crucial role in the film's exciting climactic battle sequence.

Related: Sprite's best Future Is With Black Knight (Not Eternals 2)

In an exclusive Screen Rant interview, McHugh reveals that she actually knew about Maguire and Garfield's returns five months ahead of time. While at the premiere for Black Widow in June, McHugh explains that she asked a Marvel producer whether the two legacy Spider-Man actors would be returning in Spider-Man: No Way Home and, because she was under an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), the producer let her in on the secret. Check out McHugh's full comment below when asked about whether she saw No Way Home:

Exclusive:"Of course, I did. Yes. And I knew the big secret. I went to the Black Widow premiere, I asked one of the big producers because I'm under NDA and everything. I was like, 'Are all three of them in it?' And he just like, '(whispers) yeah.' But I didn't tell anyone. I did not. I kept my lips sealed. But I was very excited for the movie. I was looking forward to it."

Spider-Man No Way Home Tobey Maguire Andrew Garfield Tom Holland Together

While rumors may have circulated for months that both Maguire and Garfield would be returning in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel did an exceptional job at ensuring that the rumors remained unconfirmed. The non-disclosure agreements that Marvel actors sign clearly seem to be working effectively so far, because MCU films are always able to serve up surprises to audiences. Evidently, McHugh remained true to her word about keeping the top secret information to herself.

Although many fans may have suspected that both Maguire and Garfield would have brief cameo appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the actors ended up playing crucial roles across the entire third act of the movie. In addition to the final battle sequence, the two characters also acted as mentors to Tom Holland's Peter Parker, ultimately helping him to complete his character journey. While preserving the surprise of Maguire and Garfield's Spider-Man: No Way Home roles probably would have led to a more rewarding viewing experience, it's certainly understandable that McHugh would use her Eternals role to score some juicy spoilers for the movie ahead of time.

More: Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man: No Way Home Ending Was Sadder Than Tom Holland's

Eternals is now available on Digital and will be available on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD February 15.

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