Andrew Garfield Reacts to No Way Home's Best Picture Nomination Snub

Andrew Garfield opens up about Spider-Man: No Way Home not receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. After Spider-Man 3 failed to make an impact on critics and audiences, Sony rebooted the franchise with Garfield as Peter Parker. Much like Tobey Maguire, Garfield's time as the character was also cut short, making room for Tom Holland's introduction to the MCU. However, Maguire and Garfield both got a chance to put their Spidey suits on again by making surprise appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The return of Garfield and Maguire had long been rumored prior to the movie's release, and thankfully, their return was able to satisfy audiences. Spider-Man: No Way Home is being called one of the best Spider-Man movies ever. One of the main reasons for that is because the film successfully tied three generations of Spider-Man into a single two-and-a-half-hour film. With the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sony and Marvel unsurprisingly pushed to get their movie nominated for all Academy Award categories, including Best Picture. Unfortunately, their plan didn't quite work, with Spider-Man: No Way Home only being nominated for one Oscar, Best Visual Effects.

In a recent interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Garfield was asked about Spider-Man: No Way Home not getting a Best Picture nomination. Garfield somewhat dodged the question, complimenting director Jon Watts and praising the story's focus on brotherhood between the three versions of Spider-Man. The actor also explained how different the film's narrative would have been had he and Maguire not been involved, discussing MJ's near-death experience and Holland's Peter almost killing Green Goblin. Garfield's full quote from the interview can be read below:

It’s a great movie, Jon Watts. Jon Watts is an incredible director. He pulled together all these different stories and strands and didn’t make it feel like, kind of cynical. He made it feel totally heartfelt and important. And the other thing I love is like, I love this idea of destiny and the idea that if neither Toby’s nor my Peter Parkers had been like landed into that particular universe, of Tom Holland’s universe, then he might have lost his MJ, if I wasn’t there to catch her. Sorry, spoiler. And he might have gone down a dark path if Tobey wasn’t there to kind of appeal to his better angels. I love that. The idea that we were called in there for a specific mentoring, brotherhood kind of reason. That’s just beautiful to me.

Spider-Man No Way Home still of Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire's Group Hug

While Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon were able to carry Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, No Way Home likely would not have done as well with critics if Maguire and Garfield weren't included. Rumors about the two actors' return started after Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Alfred Molina (Doc Ock) were confirmed to return, and it would have been a huge missed opportunity to not bring back the previous Spider-Man actors as well. And as Garfield mentioned in his interview, the bond between the three Peter Parkers really was at the center of the film's emotional storyline.

Superhero movies have infamously been left out of the Best Picture category, with rare exceptions like Black Panther and Joker. With that in mind, Spider-Man: No Way Home not getting a Best Picture nomination isn't too surprising, but it does seem like the Academy snubbed the Marvel flick in other categories. The Academy Awards have continually been subject to criticism, this year for cutting eight awards from the live broadcast and the inclusion of the Fan Favorite Oscar category, so it's fair to say that not a lot of moviegoers necessarily care about how many awards the movie wins. Not winning awards doesn't take away from Spider-Man: No Way Home's overall quality, yet Garfield might just be too modest to admit that.

More: Spider-Man: No Way Home's Ending Explained

Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live