Andrew Garfield Laments How Corporate Interests Led To A “Heartbreaking” Experience In ‘Spider-Man’ Films

We’ve had three major iterations of Spider-Man on the big screen, with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland representing their own versions of the character, respectively. Maguire often gets credit for being the first. Holland gets credit for perhaps having the best ‘Spider-Man’ films. Garfield’s run tends to be criticized the most. But for the latter, the critics aren’t what made his tenure as Peter Parker “heartbreaking.” It was the corporate interests.

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Speaking to The Guardian, Andrew Garfield talked about his experience in the two “Amazing Spider-Man” films. And instead of talking about how fans and critics seem to have issues with those features, he talked about how, as an actor, playing a superhero went from being an exciting prospect to somehow opening his eyes to the issues of big business.

“I went from being a naive boy to growing up,” Garfield explained about his “Amazing Spider-Man” run. “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 continued, “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.”

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Obviously, the issue of Spider-Man comes up quite a bit for Garfield nowadays, as it is heavily rumored (though he often denies it) that the actor will show up as the hero once more in the forthcoming “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Unfortunately, in talking about his less-than-ideal run as the hero, it’s clear that there are still some scars on the actor. With that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see if he ever does take the plunge and join a beloved franchise like that ever again. Perhaps, his experience has turned him against the idea? We’ll find out.

Garfield will next be seen in the upcoming Netflix film, “tick, tick, Boom!” which arrives in select theaters on November 12 before hitting the streamer on November 19.