When Sony Pictures first announced a new Spider-Man reboot, it came somewhat abruptly on the heels of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 falling apart in development, but we had at least seen a full trilogy of Raimi’s vision for the webslinger. However, that second reboot ended even more abruptly, with no sense of satisfaction from the garbled mythology that Sony’s braintrust of writers and director Marc Webb had attempted to tackle. Which is somewhat of a shame, because even though both Amazing Spider-Man films were a mixed bag, most everyone agreed that star Andrew Garfield was a terrific Peter Parker.
Sony opted to remove the conclusion to Parker’s Amazing Spider-Man backstory during post-production of that film and instead decided tease out his origins (and his father’s secrets) in a full trilogy. But they made significant post-production alterations to Amazing Spider-Man 2 as well, going so far as to shoot concluding scenes in which Parker’s father turns up alive following Gwen Stacy’s death before removing them entirely. The studio no doubt planned to delve into Peter’s backstory further in The Amazing Spider-Man 3, but the third film never came to pass as Sony opted to reboot yet again, this time with the help of Marvel Studios.
And while some felt bad for Garfield that his tenure as Peter Parker was cut short, the guy was doing fine—he just wrapped the starring role in Martin Scorsese’s passion project Silence, so as a performer I think he’s gonna be alright. However, those curious to hear Garfield’s thoughts on hanging up the Spidey suit may find a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight of particular interest, as Garfield says he’s happy to remain a fan of the character—and nothing more:
“I’m just really excited to be a fan again as opposed to bearing the weight of it.”
Garfield also provided brief thoughts on fellow Brit Tom Holland taking over the starring role:
“Tom Holland is a really, really great actor. He’s this incredibly powerful, sensitive, wonderful young actor—and a dancer, so his body is the right [type].”
Holland will make his first appearance as Spidey in Captain America: Civil War before leading his own standalone film, produced by both Sony and Marvel, with Jon Watts (Cop Car) directing and Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley (Horrible Bosses) writing the script. That film is slated for release on July 28, 2017.
As for Garfield, he’s next set to star in Mel Gibson’s first directorial effort since Apocalypto, a World War II drama called Hacksaw Ridge. Filming begins this fall.
