One of the biggest comeback stories of the last year has been Andrew Garfield’s return to the webs over seven years after he last played Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While the initial intention seemed to be that the series would be a trilogy, negative critical responses prematurely ended his run as Spider-Man. With No Way Home, however, viewers have a chance to revisit Garfield’s work on the character.
Looking back reveals that, regardless of the overall quality of the films, Garfield’s take on Parker and the Wall-Crawler is wonderfully comic book accurate. While overlooked at the time, the gift of distance makes it crystal clear.
It’s important to acknowledge that the Amazing films focus on an aspect of Peter Parker that, while comic book accurate, does not tend to receive the spotlight in most adaptations — the fate of Peter’s parents. As a result, non-comic book fans rarely know about it. Even many casual comic readers wouldn’t necessarily have an instant recollection of why they’re no longer in his life. In Marvel Comics, Peter’s parents are killed while working as secret agents. Although the Amazing series moves the couple from globe-trotting gun-toting Cold War warrior types to research scientists trying to change the world for the government, the core of the tragedy remains. Richard and Mary Parker die in a plane crash that stems from their top-secret efforts for the government.
In part due to the trauma of losing his parents while so young, Peter is a deeply flawed person. He’s often a reflexively snarky teen who tends to hold others at a distance. Andrew’s Peter is a fully developed and flawed character that is already struggling with darkness in a way that other adaptations usually wait to introduce after his Uncle Ben’s death. The film alters the arc of the character’s development some by doing this. However, the core of Parker remains accurate and, in some ways, reflects a more modern and realistic conception of how a teenager like Peter might present and interact.
As a result of his isolation, bullies who interpret his lack of connections as weakness frequently target him. Nonetheless, Peter stands up for himself and others despite his lack of popularity. For example, even before he became Spider-Man, he would verbally berate Flash Thompson for the jock’s acts of casual cruelty. Once more, this somewhat changes Peter’s evolution by seeded characteristics we associate with Spider-Man before the bite and Ben’s death. But, as noted above, it only affirms those Spidey aspects earlier, and in a way, that better reflects the adaptation’s era.
Peter can also be emotional and a bit hot-tempered as he wrestles with trauma, teen angst, and newfound powers that propel him into becoming a superhero. We see this in Garfield’s films as he commits to the character’s feelings when he yells at his uncle and subsequently breaks down upon his death. So often, people think of Peter as a one-dimensional “nerd,” but that was never the case. His character is much more than that. It’s Garfield’s Spidey that shows the nuance of who Peter is the best.
Peter Parker’s depiction as a brilliant mind is consistent throughout all three live-action feature adaptations. Garfield’s incarnation, however, arguably took it the farthest. He both developed his own web-shooters, which Tom Holland’s Peter did as well, and completed his father’s formula alongside Dr. Curt Connors, which feels like something Maguire’s Peter would do. Add in that he did so with the Maguire version’s lack of financial support, unlike Holland’s Spidey, and it’s a version that accomplished what both other Peters did, and on a budget.
Peter Parker’s relationship with Gwen Stacy is arguably one of the significant romances in comics, period, not just Spider-Man comics. While the Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire as Peter took elements of Stacy’s story for the film, it chose to make Mary Jane, as played by Kirsten Dunst, the love interest. Gwen would eventually arrive in the series’ third installment, but the character had little of the emotional resonance of her comic book counterpart.
In The Amazing Spider-Man movies, however, Gwen is more or less returned to her comic book role as Peter’s high school sweetheart and first love. This choice eventually leads to the tragic death of Stacy in the second film, likely the second most important death in Peter’s life. Additionally, in many ways, it was the final step in Spider-Man fully becoming the character we know today. Unlike Uncle Ben’s death inspiring Peter to become Spider-Man, Gwen’s death caused Spider-Man to realize innocent people could die because of him being a hero. This marked a turning point for his character in the comics and seemed intended to do the same in the films.
There are also physical similarities between Garfield and his comic counterpart that further the sense of adaptation accuracy. For instance, Peter Parker is 5’10 and so is the actor. Both have brown eyes and dark brown hair. In addition, they both favor a wiry, athletic build over the more traditional strongman broad-shouldered physique of, say, a Chris Evans Captain America.
As viewers revisit Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, it seems fitting to admit he unfairly got the short end of the stick. How intensely his role in No Way Home seemed to connect with audiences is only further evidence of that. This doesn’t negate Maguire or Holland’s portrayals in any way, of course. However, free from the middle child syndrome that hamstrung the Amazing films, the truth becomes more evident. Garfield’s realization of the character is, by far, the most comics-accurate Spider-Man.
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