Andrew Garfield wears Everything Everywhere All at Once hot dog hands to promote a movie he doesn't star in. The A24 multiverse action film was directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who collectively go by Daniels, and premiered at South by Southwest on March 11 to enthusiastic reviews from critics. The distributor expanded its initially limited release to theaters nationwide on April 8, and Everything Everywhere All at Once's box office has so far proven it a rare specialty hit.
Daniels' movie stars Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn, an unhappy Chinese-American woman who owns a laundromat with her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), which is being audited by the IRS. At the meeting with the auditor, however, her mundane life is interrupted by Alpha Waymond, a version of her husband from an alternate universe, who reveals to her that the multiverse is under attack and at risk of collapse. Of all the universes he has scouted, he declares this very Evelyn is the only one who can save them, and what follows is a thrillingly original and surprisingly emotional action-adventure-drama. Everything Everywhere All at Once has inspired some ecstatic responses from audiences, and it seems that movie stars are no exception. In a photo shared by Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays the IRS auditor Deirdre in the film, Spider-Man: No Way Home's Garfield is shown wearing hot dog hands, a reference to one of the movie's more distant universes in which this became the dominant form of human evolution. Curtis points out that an actor promoting a project he doesn't feature in can only be a sign of just how much he loved watching it.
A viral shot of Garfield and Tobey Maguire watching Everything Everywhere together in a crowded movie theater, which Spider-Man fans excitedly embraced as a sign of their real-life friendship. It appears that screening had quite the impact on Garfield, as Curtis rightly points out that an actor taking steps to promote a project they aren't in (and have no MCU-esque franchise connections to) is not very common. Given that No Way Home also revolved around the same storytelling device, this collaboration emerges as a fun moment of multiversal solidarity. While Garfield's act of promotion has the potential for controversy, given that the Daniels turned down directing Loki season 1 to make their own multiverse movie, this is likely to be received positively by everyone involved. As a non-IP, (deeply) idiosyncratic arthouse project, Everything Everywhere All at Once faces an uphill battle to find an audience, and both critical reviews and word-of-mouth have been powering it forward. Garfield stepping in to share his own enthusiasm can only help the movie gain traction, and as a stunningly creative work that offers a uniquely enjoyable theatrical experience, it deserves any form of support that will encourage hesitant viewers to seek it out on the big screen.