Sorry Tom Holland - Andrew Garfield Says Tobey Maguire Is His Favorite Spider-Man
Andrew Garfield has been doing tons of interviews (and making headlines all over the place) for his new movie with Florence Pugh called 'We Live In Time' - and this latest piece from Vanity Fair put him in the very tricky situation of picking a favorite Spider-Man.
I think for most people around my age, Tobey Maguire is the obvious nostalgic pick - but there's certainly a younger generation that LOVES Andrew Garfield's wisecracking, skateboarding, cool Peter Parker - and then Tom Holland, while the most recent Spider-Man, is pretty widely considered to have the best performance/actual material to work with in his movies….so who does Garfield go with?!
Sorry Tom - but the nostalgia takes over for Andrew Garfield on this one; it's Tobey Maguire.
Garfield used to get stoned and practice Tobey's Spider-Man lines when he was studying acting in drama school, so you could see how that performance would be near and dear to his heart….
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You want my take on this?
Even considering the dreaded "Emo Peter" scenes in 'Spider-Man 3'….
….I can't hate on the pick at all. I've got as much nostalgia for those movies and Tobey's portrayal of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as anybody. They were the first movies I could remember seeing in theaters, and I had all the toys, costumes, posters, video games, cereals, and more. If it had Spidey branding, I was begging my parents to buy it for me.
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I do believe that Tom Holland has put in enough great work to overtake Tobey as the definitive Spider-Man at this point.
Not only is he more believable as a genius kid in high school thrust into the superhero life, but the rollercoaster of an arc he's been on from his first appearance in 'Captain America: Civil War' to blipping away and back again in 'Infinity War/Endgame' to meeting his multiversal counterparts in 'No Way Home' has been nothing short of incredible, and it's allowed Holland to showcase a wide range of emotions that always ooze Peter Parker's spirit.
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I mean, just take his performance in the wake of Aunt May's death for example….
That's a god damn actor right there. No disrespect to Tobey (again, who I LOVE) but his reaction to Uncle Ben's death is a lot more dramatic/over the top and has become a cheap reaction meme at this point….
Tom Holland has had so many of those great scenes at this point - Michael Keaton's Vulture bringing him to prom, Holland stepping out from under the rubble at the end of that movie, the infamous "Mr. Stark I don't feel so good" and his reunion with Tony on the battlefield in 'Endgame', locking in to defeat Mysterio at the end of 'Far From Home', the eerie Spider-Sense scene with Goblin in 'No Way Home' and the near-attempt to kill him later on….I could go on and on, but you get the point. Tom Holland is my favorite Spider-Man, even if Tobey's 'Spider-Man 2' may still my favorite of the films overall.
Oh, and don't get me wrong, I think Garfield is amazing in the role as well (pun intended) - but he got the short end of the stick in material. I think the first 'Amazing Spider-Man' movie is pretty good, or at least watchable, but the second falls off a cliff faster than you could say Electro. It's real bad. Thank god for 'No Way Home' where it felt like Garfield got to totally redeem that with a show-stealing performance alongside the two more popular Spider-Men, because I think it took a lot of people until then to realize how good he truly is as Peter Parker. Honestly, we've yet to have someone who didn't knock the role outta the park!
I discussed all of this (and more) with UFC legend Matt Serra on his new 'Geeking Out' podcast last week - so if this blog got your Peter Tingle going, check that out below….