Nearly a year after Spider-Man: No Way Home, Andrew Garfield has reflected on how it felt to abandon The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
Prior to last year's MCU outing, the last time Garfield had embodied the iconic superhero was for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. As most know, it flopped in almost every regard; critics, fans, and box office, to name a few.
While it's not great to hope that any movie fails, in this case, it did lead to the webhead becoming part of the MCU. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was quick to jump at the opportunity to convince Sony to share the character, and, as the world knows, he was successful.
But how does Garfield feel about what could have been?
Garfield on Abandoning Amazing Spider-Man 3
In an interview with GQ, Andrew Garfield commented on what it felt like for Sony to abandon The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and have his journey cut short as the webhead
Garfield admitted that "there was an undone feeling," something he had to work at resolving on his own:
"I don’t know if I had an expectation of doing more. I was very open to it being whatever it was meant to be. But there was an undone feeling. Like, What was that experience about? And how do I close that circle in my living room on my own? And I was doing that – and then it was like that classic thing, when you’re getting over a relationship, and you’re first starting to really feel free and untethered from that thing – the person knows to call the hour after the first good night’s sleep you’ve had."
The actor shared how being a part of Spider-Man: No Way Home "was really just kind of beautiful," and it helped that the pressure "was all on Tom's shoulders:"
"But doing [No Way Home] was really just kind of beautiful. I got to treat it like a short film about Spider-Man with buddies. The pressure was off of me. It was all on Tom’s shoulders. Like, it’s his trilogy. And me and Tobey were there to provide support and have as good a time as possible, actually, and be as inventive, imaginative, and kind of dumb as possible. Y’know, between the three of us, I was like, Oh shit, this is going to be interesting. You have three people who feel real ownership over this character. But it was really, like, brotherhood first, I think. And I think that comes through in what we shot."
Garfield pointed out how leading the franchise himself was different, as he had "to carry a Spider-Man movie [alone]," whereas Tom Holland has all the "larger Marvel machinery" to back him up:
"…which was a very different job, for each of you. Tom Holland still has to carry these films, but they’re part of the larger Marvel machinery, which means on some level they’re too big to fail. You walked in there, after Tobey Maguire, and had to carry a Spider-Man movie by yourself. With no guarantee that you’d get to do it again."
He went on to say that leading the Amazing series "was a lot to take on," and how, at the end of the day, he'd be content if he "[could] do theatre for the rest of [his] life:"
"But still young, though. I feel that about myself as a 26-year-old. I’m like, Fuck, that was a lot to take on. It’s a shit-tonne to take on. And I wanted to take it on. I was ready. I was so up for it. It didn’t feel heavy. But I think there were elements that felt very... I sensed danger for myself, in terms of fame and exposure. Even as I took [The Amazing Spider-Man] on, I was like, I wanna make sure I get to do Angels in America and Death of a Salesman in a few years’ time. I wanna be a theatre actor first, because that feels evergreen. If I can do theatre for the rest of my life to an audience of 50 people a night, I know that my life is going to be satisfying. That’s not me being glib – I really know that. If everything else fell away, we weren’t able to eat here [he gestures to the breeze-swept dining room, the ocean view beyond] I’d rent an apartment in London, and I can do theatre."
What Could Have Been
Generally speaking, after The Amazing Spider-Man 2, there wasn't all that much desire to see the series continue. After all, it wasn't received very highly.
But, post-No Way Home the world seems to have had a change of heart. There have been fan petitions to get a third Amazing film into development, something Tom Holland himself supports.
Garfield himself was "really humbled" by the recent support from fans and even noted how the thought of his Spidey potentially going up against Tom Hardy's Venom is "a cool idea."
Recently it was rumored that Garfield may be reprising his role alongside Tobey Maguire for a cameo appearance in either the animated Across the Spider-Verse or the third film Beyond the Spider-Verse. Then, of course, there are plenty of whispers regarding the actor's involvement in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars project.
Hopefully, Garfield's return to the red and blue tights will be sooner rather than later.
Across the Spider-Verse hits theaters on June 2, 2023.
