Whatever Happened to The Amazing Spider-Man 3?
Andrew Garfield reprised his role as Spider-Man in 2021’s multiversal adventure Spider-Man: No Way Home.
His appearance in the movie delighted fans of the actor and his version of the Marvel character which first debuted on screen in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
Marc Webb’s movie was the first of two movies Garfield starred in as the friendly neighbourhood web-slinger. The first did relatively well at the worldwide box office, earning $758 million, while the second didn’t do quite so well, earning just $709 million.
Another sequel was planned, with Garfield reprising his role as the wall-crawler. But as we all know by now, that movie never came to be.
So, why didn’t Garfield return as Spider-Man in a third movie? Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why The Amazing Spider-Man 3 never happened.
The Amazing Spider-Man Movies
Andrew Garfield wasn’t the first actor to wear the famous red and black suit in a big-budget movie. That honour went to Tobey Maguire who starred as Spider-Man in three movies directed by Sam Raimi.
Maguire was supposed to reprise his role for Spider-Man 4, with Raimi back in the director’s chair. But as we discussed here, that movie was canned, despite Maguire’s enthusiasm for the now-cancelled project.
Due to a deal with Marvel, Sony had to get a new Spider-Man movie into theatres within five years and nine months of the previous Spider-Man movie’s release, so they rebooted the franchise when Raimi walked away from another sequel.
The studio hired the appropriately named Marc Webb as director and Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man. Hopes were high for these new franchise movies but both The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel fell short of expectations, largely due to the curious story decisions related to Peter Parker’s parents.
Garfield was fantastic in the role, however, and both movies had their fair share of exciting moments as well as scenes that provoked a tearful response – RIP Gwen Stacy!
Following the emotional ending of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a third movie was planned to continue Garfield’s run as the character. It never happened, of course. This begs the question – why not?
What Happened to The Amazing Spider-Man 3?
Two main reasons can be given for The Amazing Spider-Man 3’s no-show.
The first has to do with the critical response. While many reviewers praised Garfield’s performance as Spider-Man, his character’s gloomy story arc and the script’s tonal inconsistency – quippy comedy one moment, brooding drama the next – did much to bring down review scores online and in print publications.
Then there’s the fact that both movies failed to perform as expected at the box office. Sam Raimi’s movies grossed well over $800 million while Marc Webb’s movies earned a lot less than their predecessors.
Regardless of these problems, there’s also the rumour that there were disagreements between Sony and Andrew Garfield. This rumour reared its head after Sony Pictures was hacked in 2014 and emails reporting of poor relations between the two were leaked. This relationship breakdown was supposedly due to Garfield not attending a promotional event for the franchise, thus incurring the unhappiness of Sony execs who allegedly reconsidered the actor’s future in the role of Spider-Man.
The upshot of these issues? Well, Sony decided to scrap plans for a third movie and instead teamed up with Marvel to reboot the character once more. Tom Holland took over the role of Spider-Man for Captain America: Civil War in 2016 and Andrew Garfield went on to star in such movies as Hacksaw Ridge, Breathe, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
What Would The Amazing Spider-Man 3 Have Been About?
According to online reports, The Amazing Spider-Man 3 would have featured the Sinister Six who were also set to have their own stand-alone movie before Sony decided to partner with Marvel for a Spider-Man reboot.
As teased in the credits of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the Green Goblin, Vulture, Rhino, and Doc Ock were destined to be a part of this gallery of villains.
The main bad guy of the movie was reportedly set to be a resurrected Norman Osborn, with Chris Cooper taking on the mantle of the new Goblin. Paul Giamatti, who made a brief appearance as Rhino in the previous movie, was slated to return to the role.
In the third movie, we would likely have learned more about Peter Parker’s parents, as their mysterious deaths formed part of Peter’s story arcs in the first two movies.
It’s also believed that Shailene Woodley, whose scenes as Mary Jane Watson were cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, would have become the next love interest for Peter in the threequel.
Unfortunately, the Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios deal signalled the end of a third Amazing Spider-Man movie and it also scuppered the possibility of a rumoured fourth movie with Garfield in the lead role.
Will Andrew Garfield return as Spider-Man?
Since Garfield’s return as Spider-Man in No Way Home, there has been some speculation that the actor might return to the part, be that for his own stand-alone movie or another movie within the MCU.
At the time of writing, there has been no official statement regarding Garfield’s return to the role, though Tom Holland has given his full support to the possibility.
In an interview with Brandon Davis on the Phase Zero Podcast, as printed here, Holland said:
“I think what was so wonderful was how Andrew was able to kind of make amends with the character and the studio, you know, to kind of win the general public back. That scene where he saved Zendaya, the fan reactions in the theater was so spectacular. So should Sony decide to do that, they would have my full support, and obviously, so would Andrew.”
Andrew Garfield has admitted he has no plans to wear the Spider-Man suit again (source), but as he said the same thing when asked about his rumoured role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, we know that his word can’t always be trusted! So, perhaps we will see him don the famous Spidey mask again at some point in the future.
Would you like to see Andrew Garfield return? Let us know in the comments below.
Read More: Whatever Happened to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4?
Were you disappointed that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 didn’t get made? Let us know in the comments.
Short answer- No. He’s a good actor just not for that role and i didn’t really think much about amazing spiderman films. I did hear about the standalone sinister six movie and it’s a shame it’s not gonna happen.