Spider-Man fans have this argument any time there are more than five or six of us together in a room: Who is your favorite Spider-Man actor? Some love the way their favorite portrays Peter Parker. Others love the way their favorite looks in the suit. Me? I’m an Andrew Garfield guy. I think his passion for the character, for the source material, and for the fans elevates him. And if he had better material, he’d be remembered as the most iconic version of Spider-Man, no questions asked.
It is my opinion, however, that Andrew Garfield got the single most devastating scene in any of the Spider-Man movies to date, and that’s the death of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Believe me, I know all the complaints about the over-stuffed Amazing Spider-Man 2. Hell, I wrote an entire book detailing the issues that went into that production. But there’s no taking away the impact of the death of Gwen Stacy, a seminal moment from the comics that they nailed in ASM 2, thanks to the contributions of everyone involved. Just rewatch this sequence. It’s a world-shattering event.
Because of the overwhelming secrecy behind the contents of the scene, I never got the chance to ask Andrew Garfield about it during press days. So when he stopped by CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast to discuss his winning romantic new film We Live in Time opposite Florence Pugh, I had to redirect the conversation briefly to Gwen’s death, and his memories about filming that scene. And Garfield was gracious enough to share with us his insights into the unforgettable sequence.
As Garfield remembered it:
I read that script, and I read that scene, and I thought, ‘Okay, this is obviously a really important moment in the canon of the character. And I am excited that we are doing it.’ And then, like the nature of those scenes, when you read them on the page and they're far enough away from being filmed, you're like, ‘Hell yeah.’ And then as the time before filming gets smaller and smaller, you start to try to figure out a way of injuring yourself so you don't have to do it! Because there's so much pressure on it, and it matters so much. And all the demons start to come. Which is, ‘Oh no, I'm not able to do this. They're going to realize that they have to recast and it's too late because we've already shot one movie!’
There was no way that Andrew Garfield was being recast as Spider-Man at that point. He’d been the face of the franchise, having stepped in for Tobey Maguire after Sam Raimi ended his particular trilogy. And The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was meant to launch a new crop of films, including a Sinister Six movie.
Garfield wasn’t worried about the future plans of the Spider-Man franchise in the moment. He was concerned about getting this scene right. As he went on to tell ReelBlend:
I asked (director Marc Webb) for that close up to be shot first, so that I could come in fully loaded, so that we could capture the first, the spontaneous, most emotional response. I said, ‘What's the shot you're going to be most using for the emotion of the scene?’ And he said, ‘It's going to be this shot.’ I'm like, ‘Well, let's set that up and let's make sure that…’ Because obviously, there's also another tricky bit where, because Emma as Gwen has to have a harness on and has to be suspended at the top of that moment, I have to take the webbing off, but I have to unclip her. So there's a technical aspect as well.
Go back and rewatch the scene. It’s so brief, but you can see the moment where Garfield has to unlatch Stone from the webbing rig. There’s no way to avoid it. It’s the challenge of bringing comic-book reality to life on the screen. Once you master that, though, you are able to get down to the root of the scene. As Garfield tells ReelBlend:
All I want is the time and the space to allow the truth of the moment to happen, and for all of the preparation, that emotional preparation, to be able to serve that scene. I think we did about two takes of that close up. And I think they probably used most of the first take, to be honest.
I’m so thankful that Andrew Garfield took the time to share that memory of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with me, a rabid Spidey fan who legitimately thinks that is the best scene in any and all Spider-Man movies. Here’s the full interview with Garfield and his We Live In Time director John Crowley, on ReelBlend.
Will Andrew Garfield get another shot at playing Spider-Man? There are rumors, and I certainly have argued that he deserves to become the Spider-Man of whatever universe Sony is building. We’ll see what happens in years to come. In the meantime, please go see We Live In Time, as it’s in theaters, and it’s fantastic.
