Andrew Garfield Says Playing Spider-Man Broke His Heart

Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man doesn’t get nearly as much love as Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland. Perhaps that’s because his time as the Web-Slinger was cut short after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperformed and Sony began cozying up to Marvel Studios.

Even so, if the constant rumors about Maguire and Garfield sliding back into their Spidey suits for Spider-Man: No Way Home prove accurate, he may get one final time to shine.

Now, in a new interview with The Guardian, Garfield has said his time as Spider-Man revealed the true nature of Hollywood to him. After staying tight-lipped on his involvement in No Way Home, he was asked for his overall reflections on his years as the hero:

“I got my heart broken a little bit … I went from being a naive boy to growing up. How could I ever imagine that it was going to be a pure experience? There are millions of dollars at stake and that’s what guides the ship. It was a big awakening and it hurt.”

He went on to say that the joyful experience of being Spider-Man is at odds with the demands of money-men:

“Comic-Con in San Diego is full of grown men and women still in touch with that pure thing the character meant to them. [But] you add in market forces and test groups and suddenly the focus is less on the soul of it and more on ensuring we make as much money as possible. And I found that – find that – heartbreaking in all matters of the culture. Money is the thing that has corrupted all of us and led to the terrible ecological collapse that we are all about to die under.”

Garfield clarified he was kidding a little about the last part, but the general sentiment is true. And, from what we know about Sony’s failed plans to mimic the MCU with a Garfield-centric Spider-verse, he’s right. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn’t a terrible movie, but it’s burdened with needless subplots about Peter Parker’s parents and the formation of the Sinister Six, not to mention that Sony was already set on a bewildering amount of spinoffs.

Garfield was signed up for two direct sequels, though all this work ended up in the trash as Sony flailed about looking for someone to blame for the disappointment of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

I’m hopeful that come December, we’ll see Garfield’s Spidey swinging through the streets of New York alongside Maguire and Holland. Judging by his comments, it’d be nice for him to go out on a high and get some kind of resolution to his Spider-Man story.

Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theaters on December 17, 2021.