Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man: No Way Home return was a highlight of the 2021 sequel, and here’s how his comeback fixed the actor’s biggest regret.
Andrew Garfield’s return in Spider-Man: No Way Home helped fix his biggest regret about playing the role. When Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 was canceled during development, Sony wasted little time rebooting the character with The Amazing Spider-Man. While this 2012 superhero movie retold Spider-Man’s origin, it also promised to explore the “untold” story behind his creation. Andrew Garfield inherited Peter Parker/Spider-Man from Tobey Maguire, and his performance was deemed the highlight of a flawed blockbuster.
Garfield and co-star Emma Stone returned for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which saw the web-slinger facing off against three villains and at a personal crossroads. Alongside Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 – which had a bad version of Venom – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is considered one of the weakest big screen outings for the hero. There are too many subplots, characters and mixing of tones for the sequel to keep track of, and the elements that don’t work often distract from the things that do. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have been a hit, but its critical reception and word-of-mouth made it clear the series was in trouble. Rather than attempt to fix those issues with a planned third movie or spin-off, Sony reached an agreement to introduce Spider-Man in the MCU instead.
Few could fault this decision, given the success and praise that greeted the Tom Holland-fronted Spider-Man adventures. Whatever the flaws of The Amazing Spider-Man movie duology, Garfield’s committed and emotional work as Peter Parker/Spider-Man was never a problem. In a 2015 interview with Zaki’s Corner, Garfield reflected on his complicated time with The Amazing Spider-Man movies, noting that he had elevated the role too high beyond what he could ever achieve. Garfield also stated “I never felt like I was able to do enough. And I couldn’t rescue those films…even though I didn’t sleep.” In Garfield’s eyes, he regretted “… I couldn’t make them as deep and soulful and…life-giving as I could ever dream.”
How Spider-Man: No Way Home Helped Fix A Garfield Regret
Garfield also learned the hard way that movies the size of The Amazing Spider-Man are ultimately about making as much money as possible for their studios, which obviously impacts the purity of telling a story. While the actor could never make those movies as “soulful” as he wanted, Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man: No Way Home appearance actually allowed him to fix some of those regrets. In the latter sequel, Garfield gets to give a more soulful turn, reflecting on how Gwen Stacy’s death made his Spider-Man bitter and angry and forming a brotherly bond with his fellow Spider-Men.
In addition to that, Garfield’s Spider-Man is the one who saves Zendaya’s MJ from falling to her death, and in doing so, earns some measure of closure of the moment that most haunted him. That’s arguably the most emotional scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and it feels like Andrew Garfield got to exorcise many of his Amazing Spider-Man regrets and go deeper into the character. If fans get their desire for Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man 3, maybe he can explore those layers even further.
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