Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Isn’t the Hero That You Remember

Spider-Man is the cream of the crop when it comes to superheroes. After being bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker unlocks incredible abilities that allow him to fight crime in New York City. He picks up the jobs that other heroes think are too small, stopping burglars and mob bosses. What drives Spider-Man is his need to help people, a trait he picks up from his Uncle Ben. The story plays out the same in the comic books and the movies, and while Peter makes mistakes now and again, he always picks himself up and does the right thing. Well, at least two out of the three live-action versions of the character do.

Andrew Garfield’s Peter has a rough go of it in The Amazing Spider-Man franchise because he only gets two movies and suffers his fair share of losses. The only issue with giving him a pity party is that he creates problems by continuously screwing those around him over. Peter just can’t get out of his own way, which is why he ends up where he does in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Peter Parker Can’t Help Himself in The Amazing Spider-Man Movies

The Peter that shows up in The Amazing Spider-Man movies is more of an outcast than a nerd. He’s smart, there’s no doubt about that, but he prefers hitting the skate park over pulling an all-nighter in the lab. Watching Uncle Ben die forces Peter to rethink his life, and initially, he embraces his dark side and tries to locate the man responsible for the murder. Gwen Stacy helps him grieve, and as their relationship blossoms, he starts to come into his own as a hero. There are still problems to deal with, as Gwen’s dad, George Stacy, is hot on Spider-Man’s trail as the police captain, but things are looking up.

The Lizard throws a wrench in all of Peter’s plans, however, as he kills George, who gets Peter to promise that he won’t put his daughter in danger anymore. But instead of doing what Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland’s Spider-Men do, pushing their loved ones away until the time is right, Garfield’s version goes back on his word and starts seeing Gwen again. He feels guilty about it eventually, but by the time he realizes what’s really at stake, Harry Osborn, aka Green Goblin, who Peter hurt by lying about being Spider-Man, is ready to get revenge. He kills Gwen by dropping her from a clock tower, breaking Peter’s heart. It’s hard to feel sympathy for him, though, because he puts himself in a position to lose everything. At the end of the day, Garfield’s Spider-Man is more of a cautionary tale than a hero.

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Seeing all three live-action Spider-Men team up on the big screen is a treat. Holland’s Peter gets visited by his variants when he’s at his lowest point, still reeling from Aunt May’s death. The other heroes explain that they understand how he’s feeling because they experienced tragedy themselves. However, Garfield’s character lets it slip that he was bitter after the events of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and stopped pulling his punches. He doesn’t elaborate further, but it feels like there are a few villains in his universe who have permanent scars from their recent battles with the Wall-Crawler. The other Peters brush off the comments, choosing to focus on the task at hand. However, they should have dove a little deeper because they may not want to associate with someone who pretends to have their level of decency.

The Amazing Spider-Man‘s hero tries to redeem himself by saving Earth-616’s MJ from falling to her death. Unfortunately, the moment doesn’t come off as authentic because, while he gets emotional thinking about Gwen, he fails to really come to terms with the part he played in letting everyone down back home. He would be doing the multiverse a favor if he went back to his universe, put his suit in storage, and started to make amends for his transgressions in any way that didn’t involve beating the snot out of criminals.

The Amazing Spider-Man movies are streaming on Disney+.

Do you think Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man is a good hero? Should he retire from crime-fighting after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home? Let us know in the comments below!