MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home to follow…
The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield has finally addressed his triumphant return to the world of web-slinging in the MCU’s latest adventure, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Speaking with Variety, the actor has discussed the “traumatic moment” that drew him back to the role. The last audiences saw Garfield’s iteration of the Marvel superhero, he had tragically failed to save the love of his life, Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy, from plunging to her death, and it was this attempt at a second chance that tempted Garfield to once again don the spandex suit.
“We were shooting for two weeks, Tobey and I, but I think we managed to achieve something that is not just showing up and going, “Hi! Bye!” My Spider-Man got to save his younger brother’s romantic relationship, potentially. And to heal the most traumatic moment of his own life through doing it for his younger brother. Making sure that he didn’t have the same fate, there’s something cosmically beautiful about that. It meant getting a second chance at saving Gwen [Stacy, Garfield’s love interest in “The Amazing Spider-Man” played by Emma Stone]. You know, the spirit that Zendaya brings to MJ is so heartfelt and pure and loving, and Emma brought that similar unique spirit to Gwen.”
The idea of Garfield’s Spider-Man rescuing Zendaya’s MJ is one that was posited by fans some time ago, but despite this, it still results in one of Spider-Man: No Way Home’s most heartwarming, and heartbreaking, scenes. Audiences held their breath as MJ tumbled, reaching out for help just as Gwen Stacy did in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Suddenly, Garfield’s Peter Parker leaps into action, catching MJ and asking if she is alright, with the actor selling every moment of the deeply layered levels of emotion at the core of this “heartfelt” sequence.
Despite the potential finality of Andrew Garfield’s comeback, this may not be the last time audiences see the actor as Spider-Man, with some wondering whether he will be added to Sony’s upcoming Marvel outing, Morbius, while the actor himself has stated that he would be open to returning for The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
The writers behind Spider-Man: No Way Home, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, have previously discussed the idea of bringing back Andrew Garfield, revealing that they had always imagined his Peter Parker ending up in a dark place following his failure to save Gwen. “The last time you saw Andrew Garfield, it was the death of Gwen, and that must have sent him down a dark spiral, maybe he never got out of,” McKenna said of the character’s return. “Where did he go? Maybe a really dark place. We wanted to be true to the characters in those movies. Really having conversations about specifying where they are, without giving away too much. Not coming in, spilling all the beans. ‘Tobey’s Peter is running Peter Parker Industries!’ You just wanted to have little hints of that without it being all this exposition as fan service.”
Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: No Way Home star stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, and Marisa Tomei. The movie finds Peter Parker and Doctor Strange accidentally unleashing the multiverse, bringing several heroes and villains from prior franchises into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.