This is Andrew Garfield, taking the high road. After signing on to play Spider-Man for a rejuvenated series of web-slinging movies at Sony, Garfield likely expected to play Peter Parker and his alter ego for more than two movies. And yet, that’s not how things worked out. Despite his movies making money, Garfield and his director, Marc Webb, were replaced in favor of a new set of voices, and the actor’s finally speaking out about how he feels in the wake of his post-Spidey career.
Andrew Garfield was walking a red carpet at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Annual Grants Banquet when he was asked by ET how he feels to be done with Spider-Man – a hero he adored – after two films. Instead of lashing out, Garfield replied with the diplomatic statement:
I’m just really excited to just be a fan again, as opposed to bearing the weight of it."
Which is heartbreaking to hear, in a sense, because no one was more excited about Andrew Garfield being chosen to play Spider-Man on screen than Andrew Garfield was. Remember when he showed up in Hall H of San Diego Comic-Con to thank the fans for allowing him to live out this childhood dream?
Ugh, that passion and enthusiasm. How did things go so wrong? Garfield adored Spider-Man. Still adores him, I’m sure. But when he talks about the "weight" of it, we’re just reminded about how shouldering the expectations of a superhero franchise can break an actor’s spirit, and it’s discouraging. Garfield and Webb rolled the dice on fans following along with a big-picture story they wanted to tell involving Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper) and OsCorp… but an unfinished storyline connecting to Peter’s parents threw many audience members off, and the villains in the Webb movies failed to develop. After The Amazing Spider-Man 2, everyone on the team was handed his or her walking papers.
As for Tom Holland, the new Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield can’t say enough good things – once again taking the high road. He tells ET:
Tom Holland is a really, really great actor. He was in this movie The Impossible, and he was just this incredibly powerful, sensitive, just wonderful young actor. And [he's] a dancer, so his body’s the right [form]."
And like that, Andrew Garfield’s book on playing the amazing Spider-Man has come to a close. He’ll be in the theater in July 2017, watching the new Spider-Man as a fan… albeit, a fan who knows what it feels like to wear that classic costume, if only for a little while.
