For years, fans have wondered what happened to Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and if the actor could ever return to his wall-crawling role.
After appearing in his two Amazing Spider-Man movies in 2012 and 2014, Garfield's take on Marvel's wall-crawler disappeared from the public eye, looking to be the end of the actor's Spider-Man tenure.
He then shocked the world, popping up alongside Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland's versions of Spidey in Spider-Man: No Way Home. This led fans to wonder if the actor would ever don the web shooters ever again.
Sony's Failed Amazing Spider-Man 3
Heading into 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a third and fourth mainline film starring Andrew Garfield was on the books at Sony Pictures. The title was expected to be released in 2016 (via Collider) with franchise director Marc Webb set to return as director.
This third Amazing Spider-Man film (which was eventually delayed to 2018) was just a small part of Sony Pictures' Spidey slate at the time with Aunt May and Sinister Six spin-off movies having been planned as well.
However, all that was ultimately scrapped as a result of the controversial Sony hack of 2014. Wall Street Journal reporting revealed that emails between Sony Pictures producer Amy Pascal and various executives at Marvel Studios were leaked, with fan outcry causing the Spider-Man license to be shared between Sony and Marvel.
Previous conversations had been had with Sony intent on having Garfield's Spidey appear as a part of the MCU's Avengers, but those went nowhere (per Screen Rant).
It was in this second round of talks that Sony ended up reaching an agreement to share the on-screen rights to Marvel's web-slinging hero, leading to the rebooted MCU-based Tom Holland Spider-Man trilogy.
Holland's casting ended the hopes that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (in its initially conceived form) would ever happen.
Potential for More From Andrew Garfield
After The Amazing Spider-Man 3 (TASM 3) was canceled, it seemed highly unlikely fans would ever see Andrew Garfield back as Peter Parker in any form as the franchise had seemingly moved on.
However, the speculation machine kicked back into high gear in late 2021 when Andrew Garfield appeared in Marvel Studios' Spider-Man: No Way Home.
This Mutliversal cameo from the actor sent fans into a flurry, with many wondering if this was the first hint at Garfield's full-fledged web-slinging return.
Since Garfield's last web-headed appearance, Sony Pictures had developed a whole new on-screen Spider-Man universe, aptly named the Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSMU).
This interconnected web of Spidey films (including Venom, Venom 2, and Morbius) exists outside the MCU and currently has no known in-universe Spider-Man. Because of this, some have pondered that perhaps Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man universe and the SSMU are one and the same, and the actor could appear in an Amazing Spider-Man 3 set in said universe.
Garfield has not helped this rampant speculation. After the film hit theaters, the actor told fans that No Way Home "changed [the] life" of his Peter Parker, leaving him "re-inspired" as a hero:
"It's changed his life. He's going back knowing that he has brothers. He's going back in re-inspired to follow his destiny, his calling - the purpose of his life. By catching MJ, he got to make up for a terrible tragedy that he tried to avoid in his world."
Renewed efforts for a third Amazing Spider-Man film have not been made official by Sony Pictures, but current MCU Spider-Man Tom Holland said Garfield has his "full support" if the studio wanted to pursue TASM 3:
"I think what was so wonderful was how Andrew was able to kind of make amends with the character and the studio, you know, to kind of win the general public back. That scene where he saved Zendaya, the fan reactions in the theater was so spectacular. So should Sony decide to do that, they would have my full support, and obviously, so would Andrew."
Again, nothing official has come out about the actor coming back for a third movie, but that has not stopped fans from dreaming aloud about another film.
Andrew Garfield Joins the Avengers
The place Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man feels most likely to appear next is in either Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Avengers: Secret Wars.
Avengers 5 and 6 are seemingly set to tackle the Marvel Multiverse story of all Marvel Multiverse stories, with rumors pointing to many legacy characters appearing on-screen all at once.
In Secret Wars, specifically, it has been reported that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige wants to recreate the iconic portals moment from Avengers: Endgame but with all sorts of heroes from across the brand's storied on-screen history
This could mean that names like Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker would likely be on that list.
While not confirmation, a deleted scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Garfield's take on the hero telling Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland's characters that they should "do this again." This easily could have been the first tease of the trio of heroes palling up again in Avengers 5 or 6.
Recent reports indicated Feige may have spoken to Garfield about an appearance in Secret Wars prior to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, but Marvel Studios has yet to announce anything officially.
Both Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man films can be streamed now on Disney+.
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