For far too long, Andrew Garfield has been the most unsung interpretation of Peter Parker, buried beneath the nostalgia-laden love for Tobey Maguire and the more recent buzz for the boyish charms of Tom Holland. And while there's no denying the talents of his fellow live-action Spider-Men, the world has been too quick to ignore the amazing web-slinger. In their defense, "The Amazing Spider-Man" movies had the impossible task of following up Raimi's beloved trilogy and didn't even have the benefit of a cinematic universe to do so. They simply had to thrust a brand new Peter onscreen before an audience of fans who still had Maguire's iconic performance fresh in their minds. Depending who you ask, this reboot and its sequel were pretty hit-and-miss but if there's anything we can all agree on, it's the talents of the internet's beloved Andrew Garfield.
Garfield brought his wholehearted love of the character to the role and gifted us with a Peter Parker marked by incredible depth and impeccable snark. For those of us who saw Garfield don the suit at an impressionable young age, we held tight to our love for the quippy skater boy turned hero, so you can imagine our joy when the rumor mill began rumbling with whispers of multiversal hijinks in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." And after months of anticipation building, all that joy was released (via squealing) when he jumped through the portal and pulled off his mask. The best part? Everyone else is in on the lovefest too! At long last, the time has come for Andrew Garfield to get the recognition he deserves because — unsurprisingly to those of us in the know — once he shows up in the film, he pretty much becomes the star. It's still Tom Holland's movie, yadda yadda yadda, but there's a reason everyone walked about buzzing about Garfield — his magnetic charisma quickly turned him into the movie's MVP.
Since his first time donning the suit, Garfield has been a master of balancing Peter's vulnerability with his overconfident, show-off side. No only does he bring this back, he spends half his appearance alternating between bragging or belittling himself, whilst the other half is spent being overwhelmed with joy about his new brothers. Needless to say, audiences fell in love. Garfield's popularity has become so noticeable that Sony might just be eyeing the actor for a continuation of his Spider adventures. Or so the internet would like to believe. Helping the hype along, Sony just dropped a character trailer for "No Way Home" that puts the spotlight on Garfield's Spidey AKA, "The Amazing Peter #3."
The Amazing Peter #3
The trailer was dropped in honor of "No Way Home" becoming available on digital and Blu-ray, but if you ask some fans, the real meaning behind this video is to hint at a possible follow-up to "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." And if that wasn't Sony's intention, they may as well consider it because the internet certainly is. Within hours of this video dropping, fans got "#MakeTASM3" trending, inputting fan posters, storyline ideas, and lots of meme material.
Given the love for Garfield's performance, the ridiculous profits of "No Way Home" and the fact that Sony is already doubling down on all their Spidey efforts, this isn't entirely outside the realm of possibilities. Except for the minor detail of the actor himself — because given his prior experience in the blockbuster superhero machine, it's hard to imagine Garfield coming back for another potential flop. Especially when "No Way Home" provided such an effective closer to his Peter's arc.
The Amazing Andrew Garfield
Andrew Garfield gets to be amazing in "No Way Home," and it's not an opportunity he takes lightly. Since the release of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and his steady rise to fame, the actor has been an open book about his unfortunate experience during the blockbuster duology. Sadly, his turn as Peter Parker initially ended with an overstuffed, uneven sequel that never really offered the chance to properly conclude his hero journey. As he told The Guardian:
"I went from being a naïve boy to growing up. 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's made a lot of jokes since then about hesitating when the opportunity arose to return to "No Way Home," mostly centering the idea that he came back because Tobey Maguire did, but there's likely some truth to that hesitance. Why would he quickly jump aboard something that burned him the last time around? Thankfully, "No Way Home" paid off in his favor. Garfield's Peter finally gets some closure: he becomes a mentor to Holland's Peter and finds a mentor of his own in Maguire's. Together, the three commemorate their losses and restate the core of what it means to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. When we first meet his Peter — after the cute portal hijinks and ceiling crawl — he reveals that he doesn't have time for "Peter Parker stuff" and hints at turning down a dark path after Gwen Stacy's death. But the time spent with his fellow Spidey brothers sets him on a path of healing. Especially once he saves MJ the way he never got to save Gwen.
On one hand, "No Way Home" offers the necessary closure to end his story. But at the same time, there's plenty more to explore. Garfield's Peter still has a ways to go so if it did continue, who would complain? Okay, I know, some people would absolutely complain, but they would be wrong. As his entire filmography proves, give Andrew Garfield a solid script and some room to let his passion shine through and he'll work his magic. But that's on the off chance that everything else goes right. I, for one, am torn between the fundamental belief that more isn't always better and my feral desire to have as much Andrew Garfield onscreen as possible. The way I see it, we're in a win-win situation: either we've already seen his arc completed, or we have more on the way. Either way, the clips of Andrew Garfield being the shining star of "No Way Home" are eternal and YouTube is overrun with fan-edits, so there's always happiness to be found somewhere.
Read this next: Spider-Man Movies Ranked From Worst To Best
The post Is Sony's Joke The Amazing Peter #3 Trailer a Stealth The Amazing Spider-Man 3 Tease? appeared first on /Film.