Andrew Garfield On Corporate Mindset Behind ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

When The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hit theatres in 2014, many expected sequels galore. However, the film under performed (it still grossed over $700 million worldwide) according to Sony Executives, and the franchise was rebooted in Captain America: Civil War with Tom Holland taking over. One of the franchise’s best components was none other than Spider-Man himself, Andrew Garfield. The English actor is up for a Golden Globe thanks to his role in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge, with the potential of receiving an Academy Award nomination in the coming weeks. As far as Garfield’s career goes, the end of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise came at a perfect time.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter , Andrew Garfield discussed the battle he faced in giving the character the best he deserved:

“I had to fight really, really hard to make sure that the character was honored and that we were offering something really fun, entertaining and also moving and complex and deep for all the young boys and girls that want to see their favourite superhero.”

Sadly, Sony Pictures did not feel the same way. Andrew Garfield blames the “the corporate mindset” of those in charged, who valued sequel-prospects more than solid reviews. Garfield continued:

“So many beautiful things came out of that. I met someone that remains incredibly important to my life on that — you can fill in the blanks on who that is. But the difference between how I felt when Never Let Me Go and The Social Network were coming out and how I felt with The Amazing Spider-Man franchise was that I didn’t feel represented. I was feeling very represented by those other two films, and with The Amazing Spider-Man stuff I didn’t feel like that was my work up there, in a weird way. It felt like a semblance of it or kind of a shade of it, but ultimately I felt it was enshrouded in that filter.”

Andrew Garfield has not been silent when discussing the franchise before, so this revelation comes with no real surprise. However, as someone who loves Spider-Man, and would cherish the chance of portraying him on screen, it is absolutely heartbreaking to see how this all affected Garfield. Of course, you can check out Garfield’s Golden Globe-nominated performance in Hacksaw Ridge, while Silence is playing in selected theatres.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter