Andrew Garfield Can Rescue Sony’s Spider-Man Universe With One Announcement, And I Think It’s Way Past Time He Did It

Let the Amazing Spider-Man 2 revisionist history begin! This year, Sony has been bringing back every live-action Spider-Man movie to theaters, tracing back to Sam Raimi’s original film (and its pioneering costume) and building up to the legendary Spider-Man team up movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home. And each time a new one drops, fans of that chapter get vocal on social media about how the movie in question is “better than people remember,” and maybe even the best Spider-Man movie ever made.

That’s not correct. In fact, producer Matt Tolmach went so far as to admit to me in my official Spider-Man book With Great Power that they tried too hard to fit too much stuff into The Amazing Spider-Man 2, including multiple villains, aa subplot about Peter Parker’s parents, and the adaptation of the legendary comic book story “The Death of Gwen Stacy.” It was… a lot. It’s a big part of the reason why Spider-Man fans seemed ecstatic that Andrew Garfield received redemption for his Peter Parker in No Way Home.

And it’s exactly why now is the time to bring Garfield back for The Amazing Spider-Man 3.

What happened to The Amazing Spider-Man 3?

The short answer is that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 killed it. But really, it was far more complicated than that. Director Marc Webb rebooted the Spider-Man series for Sony following Sam Raimi’s trilogy, and did everything he could to distance himself and his movies from Raimi’s vision. He went darker, and more grounded. But then, in Amazing Spider-Man 2, he succumbed to the peer pressure of world building (a product of every studio wanting to mimic the Marvel Cinematic Universe). And even though ASM 2 made money, it didn’t make “enough,” and Sony notoriously agreed to share Spider-Man with Marvel.

That hasn’t stopped fans for campaigning for Andrew Garfield to get to make The Amazing Spider-Man 3, a demand that got more vocal following the actor’s return to the suit in No Way Home. During the publicity of that movie, it was made clear how much Garfield loves Spider-Man. As he said in my book, With Great Power, he grew up idolizing the character, and cherished the opportunity he got to live a childhood dream in the Webslinger’s world. He could look at Spider-Man: No Way Home as closure. Or… he can look at the success of these Spider-Man live-action reissues and return to the role.

Imagine Logan, but for Spider-Man.

Actors return to roles all of the time. Look at Hugh Jackman, who hung up his Wolverine claws after the proper sendoff in James Mangold’s Logan, only to put them back on this for summer’s Deadpool and Wolverine. Time will tell if that’s the right call, but I think the same approach can work for Andrew Garfield.

One of the subplots cut out of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the introduction of Garfield’s own Mary Jane Watson, to be played by Shailene Woodley. Naturally, Peter would have dealt with the grief of losing Gwen, a tragedy that he alludes to in his speech from No Way Home:

Now imagine casting Garfield and Woodley, two award-winning actors, and handing them a dramatic comic-book script that dig into the personal toil that comes with being Spider-Man (and the wife of Spider-Man). Lean into the passage of time, and how it affects the character now that Garfield and Woodley are older, and more experienced. Don’t make it as dependent on set pieces, but rather on emotional stakes. Make it the true finale that Garfield fans have been hoping for.

Sony has to get creative. Madame Web was a flop, and Kraven the Hunter keeps getting punted around the release schedule. Signing Nicolas Cage to play Spider-Man Noir in live action is a step. But Garfield fans want to see more of that hero on the big screen – particularly after his two movies just returned to theaters – and a reconfigured The Amazing Spider-Man 3, modeled after the more serious Logan, feels like the right path forward.