Spider-Man 3 Can Prove Andrew Garfield Was A Great Spider-Man

Andrew Garfield appearing in Spider-Man 3 can finally give him the credit he's due, because he was a great Spider-Man. Garfield inherited the role of the web-slinger from Tobey Maguire and rebooted the phenomenally successful Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi. Directed by Mark Webb, Garfield headlined 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man and 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Yet, despite doing well at the box office, Garfield's films aren't well-regarded by fans, which colored how his tenure as Spider-Man is perceived.

The Amazing Spider-Man suffered right out of the gate because it was regarded as an unnecessary rehash of Peter Parker's origin story, just with some new twists borrowed from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics published by Marvel. Fans were expecting Spider-Man 4, directed by Sam Raimi, which would bring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's saga to a better conclusion than the maligned Spider-Man 3. But instead, Sony opted for a full reboot in The Amazing Spider-Man that took cues from Christopher Nolan's gritty The Dark Knight. For The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony and Webb took a garish, more cartoony route with Jamie Foxx's Electro, but the studio also wanted to use the sequel to build out its Sinister Six movie and create a Spider-Man shared universe to rival Marvel Studios. But when that failed, Sony went directly to Marvel for a second Spider-Man reboot, integrating Tom Holland's new Spidey into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Lost in that entire corporate mess, and a pair of underwhelming movies, was Andrew Garfield, a self-professed lifelong Spider-Man fan who heroically delivered a unique take on both Peter Parker and the wall-crawler that intriguingly stood apart from Maguire's version. Garfield's Peter was an even more damaged soul than Maguire's; the orphan heart-wrenchingly felt the loss of his parents, although Peter later discovered that his dead father's experiments are the source of his Spider-powers. In keeping with the reboot's darkness, Garfield's Parker was grungy, awkward, and alienated. But as Spider-Man, Peter found the true hero within and let it loose, although his actions sometimes led to tragedy. Still, Garfield was charming in the role. Further, because of his height and slim build, Garfield looked much more like Spider-Man while wearing his costume. He had the angular physique of the classic comic book wall-crawler, and Garfield went the extra mile by doing yoga and taking gymnastics to bring a convincing physicality as the Amazing Spider-Man.

Andrew Garfield with a kid dressed as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Although Garfield's original, darker-hued Spider-suit (designed by Cirque du Soleil) drew mixed reviews, his costume in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was perfect and arguably better than what Maguire wore. Moreso, Garfield properly displayed Spider-Man's famed comic book wit; unlike Maguire's web-head, Garfield bantered and cracked jokes when he fought crime as Spider-Man, so he seemed to be having more fun as the web-slinger. Garfield's Peter also got to be the genius scientist he's supposed to be in the comics, and he finally brought Spider-Man's artificial web-shooters to the big screen.

Of course, Garfield's Peter is probably most defined by his romance with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), which was an improvement over Maguire's hot-and-cold affair with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), which became a tiresome love triangle with Harry Osborn (James Franco). Gwen was even smarter and definitely more mature than Peter, but she fell hard for him, and he proved to be worth her while. When Gwen quickly found out Peter was Spider-Man, she stuck by him despite the death of her father, Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary). Gwen briefly broke up with Peter in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but their relationship, and the real-life chemistry between Stone and Garfield, was the highlight of both films until Gwen was killed off at the end of the sequel. (Although Emma Stone's Gwen will reportedly also be in Spider-Man 3.)

The MCU's Spider-Man 3 is an ideal occasion to put Andrew Garfield's Parker in a mentor position to Tom Holland's teenage Spidey, and this should bring all of Garfield's best qualities as the web-slinger to the surface. Garfield's Spider-Man has been through the wringer, faced deadly enemies, saved New York City, and stood as his own man. Garfield's Spider-Man has known plenty of death, especially Gwen's, and tragedy but he's also irreverent, witty, and he can banter with Tom Holland (and Tobey Maguire). Spider-Man 3 will hopefully remind fans that Garfield's wall-crawler is a true hero who stands up for the little guy and puts himself on the line like a great Spider-Man should.

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