Andrew Garfield has always been frank about the disappointment he faced with the outcome of his Amazing Spider-Man duology — not in having embodied the legendary superhero, but in the creative and business decisions behind it. Now, as rumours swirl about his potential return, he’s using renewed leverage to remind people of some of his past criticisms.
It’s a banner week for Andrew Garfield talking strictly about Spider-Man and only Spider-Man, in the most diplomatic manner possible, no sir, nothing to see here in these quotes about the Spider-Man at all. After reminding us that time is the prison in which we live and the forces of capitalism its grim wardens, in another profile the former Spidey decided to revisit his distaste for the corporate forces around his Amazing Spider-Man movies. This time, speaking with the Independent, Garfield didn’t have it out for Sony’s capitalism, but instead, its biphobia.
“I worked harder than I’ve ever worked on anything [on Spider-Man] and I’m really proud of it, but I didn’t feel represented,” Garfield said. “There was an interview I gave where I said, ‘Why can’t Peter explore his bisexuality in his next film? Why can’t [his girlfriend] MJ be a guy?’ I was then put under a lot of pressure to retract that and apologise for saying something that is a legitimate thing to think and feel. So I said, ‘OK, so you want me to make sure that we get the bigots and the homophobes to buy their tickets?’”
Garfield was pointedly referring to a 2013 interview in the run up to Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Entertainment Weekly, where he had reflected the possibility that this incarnation of Peter Parker have a male romantic partner, challenging the previous acceptance that Spider-Man necessarily always had to be strictly heteronormative.
“What if MJ is a dude? Why can’t we discover that Peter is exploring his sexuality? It’s hardly even groundbreaking! …So why can’t he be gay? Why can’t he be into boys?” the actor had mused at the time, before suggesting Michael B. Jordan as Peter’s boyfriend. And while the actor has touched upon the reaction to his comments in the past, to be candid enough to discuss how Sony itself had pressured the actor into retracting the comments certainly suggests a lot more ire he has for the studio beyond its presence in the existence of late-stage capitalism.
That said, if Garfield actually ends up in No Way Home like all the rumours have presumed up to now? It will not be anywhere near as enjoyable as his denial press tour has been up to this point. Hell, the press tour for the movie might actually be interesting!