Andrew Garfield likens failed Amazing Spider-Man 3 to a break-up

Andrew Garfield has described originally leaving the role of Peter Parker / Spider-Man as a break-up of sorts.

From 2012 to 2014, Garfield played Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Though he received plaudits for his performance as the titular hero, the movies were not critically acclaimed and did not meet commercial expectations either.

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The character would eventually be rebooted within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Tom Holland taking on the role. In what proved to be a hugely popular move among fans, Garfield and the original cinematic Spider-Man, Toby Maguire, would return to reprise their respective versions of Spidey in the MCU's Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Thanks to the multiverse arc in the movie, Holland, Garfield and Maguire are all featured as Peter Parker.

And, for Garfield, it proved to be a cathartic return after Sony cancelled any plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3.

"I don’t know if I had an expectation of doing more,” he told GQ.

“I was very open to it being whatever it was meant to be. But there was an undone feeling. Like, ‘What was that experience about? And how do I close that circle in my living room on my own?’

"And I was doing that – and then it was like that classic thing, when you’re getting over a relationship, and you’re first starting to really feel free and untethered from that thing – the person knows to call the hour after the first good night’s sleep you’ve had.”

Garfield in Spider-Man: No Way Home

Garfield believes that he and Maguire were able to be more creative in Far From Home as all the pressure was on Holland, who was concluding his own trilogy.

“I got to treat it like a short film about Spider-Man with buddies,” he said.

“The pressure was off of me. It was all on Tom’s shoulders. Like, it’s his trilogy. And me and Tobey were there to provide support and have as good a time as possible, actually, and be as inventive, imaginative, and kind of dumb as possible.

“Y’know, between the three of us, I was like, ‘Oh shit, this is going to be interesting.’ You have three people who feel real ownership over this character. But it was really, like, brotherhood first, I think. And I think that comes through in what we shot.”