As the movie industry braces for the third incarnation of Peter Parker ahead of Spider-Man: Homecoming, spare a thought for Andrew Garfield and Sony’s canned Amazing Spider-Man series.
During an “Actors on Actors” segment over at Variety, Garfield turned in a candid assessment of the blockbuster duo, claiming that, in his experience, “story and character were actually not top of the priority list.” If there’s one common criticism that rings true about Sony and Marc Webb’s budding franchise – particularly The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – it’s that the studio was so obsessed with building an interwoven cinematic universe that all of the half-baked storylines, throwaway villains and Sinister Six teases came at the expense of the actual story.
That’s something that Andrew Garfield touched base on during Variety’s segment, referencing how the “corporate” nature of Sony’s business model ultimately stifled the series before it could get going in earnest. That being said, the actor does begin by sharing more positive memories:
“There were great things about it, I got to work with incredible actors, a really great director… I learned a lot about what feels good and what doesn’t feel good, and what to say ‘yes’ to. There’s something about being that young in that kind of machinery which I think is really dangerous… I was still young enough to struggle with the value system, I suppose, of corporate America really, it’s a corporate enterprise mostly.”
A fan of all things Spider-Man from a young age, Garfield admitted the entire experience left him feeling a bit heartbroken.
“There’s something that happened with that experience for me where story and character were actually not top of the priority list, ultimately. And I found that really, really tricky. I signed up to serve the story and to serve this incredible character that I’ve been dressing as since I was three, and then it gets compromised and it breaks my heart. I got heartbroken a little bit, to a certain degree. Not entirely.”
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, what’s your evaluation of The Amazing Spider-Man series? Let us know by dropping a comment down below.