After Tobey Maguire impressed the audience as Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, it was time to bring in a new face for the superhero. Sony found its next Spider-Man in Andrew Garfield who had done roles in films like The Social Network, Lions for Lambs, and so on. Unfortunately, the audience did not appreciate Andrew Garfield’s run as Spider-Man as much as Tobey Maguire’s.
The sudden end to his Spider-Man role left Andrew Garfield feeling absolutely “heartbroken.” This was not what he wanted for his character – a character that he had been dressing up as since he was three years old. Luckily, the actor got a re-do thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he was able to mend his broken heart a little.
During an Actors on Actors interview with Amy Adams for Variety, Garfield reflected on his time on TASM and how the reality of the story and character not always being on “top of the priority list” left him heartbroken.
“I found that really, really tricky. I signed up to serve the story and to serve this incredible character that I’ve been dressing as since I was three, and then it gets compromised and it breaks your heart. I got heartbroken a little bit.”
As you can see below, Garfield was not lying about dressing up as Spider-Man from a young age. Here he is rocking a handmade felt costume made by his mother:
Tom Holland’s No Way Home was very well-received by both critics and fans and it grossed over $1.9 billion worldwide, bringing the Spider-Man franchise total to a whopping 8.9 billion. Garfield’s performance was praised immensely as people could see the change and maturity in his portrayal this time around that they couldn’t see in TASM. It was a classic case of right person, wrong time.
Despite his disappointment with how major blockbusters usually work, Garfield has made it crystal clear that he had an amazing, beautiful time on the sets of TASM. Talking to Variety in a different interview, Garfield recalled how doing the films paid off in the sense that he got to meet his co-star Emma Stone. Garfield and Stone went on to have a four-year-long relationship after meeting each other on the set of TASM. He also stated that he loved working with Sally Field and Amy Pascal.
“It was only beautiful. I got to meet Emma and work with her and Sally Field. I had karma with Amy Pascal, who was a mother figure, and we would fight, but ultimately, we loved each other on a deep level. We tries to meet as much in the middle as we could in terms of why I wanted to do this role, and what her needs were as the head of the studio.”
While Garfield is not a big fan of how things work in major productions, it sure looks like he has nothing but love for his time on TASM and his co-workers. We hope we get to see more of Garfield’s Spider-Man in the future!
You can stream The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 on Disney+ and Spider-Man: No Way Home is available to stream on Starz.
