Andrew garfield spider man no way home

It’s no controversy to say that Spider-Man: No Way Home is overflowing with heartfelt Peter Parker moments. While the gimmickry of teaming Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of the character with Tom Holland’s ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe version is self-apparent, No Way Home refused to sit on its laurels with the stunt. Instead, it developed a thoughtful emotional arc for all three Peters, finding healing and closure not only with each other but in the individual arcs of their own universes as well.

Yet while the film doesn’t play favorites and all three actors play a key role in its phenomenal success, Garfield seems to have found a special spot in the fans’ hearts. That stems as much from the actor’s status in the whole affair as it does the particular path of his character. His Spider-Man is at once the most tragic of the three and the one who seems most affected by his brush with the other Peters.

No Way Home, of course, featured a multiversal collision of webheads as Doctor Strange’s spell gone wrong sent them – and a fistful of villains – crashing into the MCU’s reality. That brought Maguire and Garfield’s version of Peter Parker to the MCU in pursuit of their respective antagonists. They then worked together with the "native" Peter to find "happy endings" for the five baddies, who had been largely consigned to death or imprisonment in their respective realities. Along the way, the trio bonded through their unique shared experiences – including the tragic ones – and all three emerged rejuvenated and committed to their shared responsibilities as Spider-Man.

It's their strangely mutual losses that hit home the hardest. While all three lost a parent figure of some kind, only Garfield’s Parker lost the woman he loves. Maguire’s Parker still has Mary Jane, and while Holland’s version loses his version to the forgetting spell, MJ’s still alive and happy at the end, leaving the door open to a fresh romance with her sometime in the future. Of the three, only Garfield experienced the death of a lover on top of his Uncle Ben. Indeed, he doesn’t mention Ben when the trio compares their losses, even though he lost one in a manner similar to Maguire’s.

Instead, it’s Gwen Stacy who he mentions by name and whose death may even eclipse Ben’s in Spider-Man lore. Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 depicted the event with compassion and heartbreak, which Garfield summons again during his Peter’s sojourn in the MCU. Maguire’s Stacy is presumably still among the living – she was at the end of Spider-Man 3 – leaving Garfield’s version alone with that particular pain. It pays dividends when he has to rescue Holland’s MJ from a fall very similar to Gwen’s, letting him put the tragedy in his past to bed at last.

Beyond all of that, it’s Garfield’s enthusiasm for the situation that wins him the audience’s heart. "I always wanted brothers," he announces with a chipper smile as the trio awaits the antagonists at the Statue of Liberty. It’s followed later by a straight-up "I love you guys" in a moment of variant bromance that would melt the heart of the most callous Marvel fan. If his Peter suffered the most as Spider-Man, No Way Home gives him the strongest sense of belonging, helping to silence his demons and make sure he remains a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man when he returns to his reality.

Garfield himself probably added the final components to the mix. His experience on the two Amazing Spider-Man films was widely reported to have been an unhappy one, and those movies’ initially mixed response among Marvel fans may have played a role as well. His lauded performance in No Way Home acted as a form of closure for that too, triggering a significant re-evaluation of Garfield’s Spidey movies in the eyes of fans and a reported sense of fulfillment from the actor. That may be the biggest warm fuzzy in a project full of them, cementing Garfield’s place at the center of No Way Home’s supremely relatable heart.

KEEP READING: Spider-Man: No Way Home Releases First Tobey Maguire Solo Poster

Spider-Man: No Way Home was full of crowd-pleasing moments, but one of the biggest surprises was Andrew Garfield stealing the show as the movie's best Spider-Man. In the past, Marvel fans criticized Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man because he was simply too cool as Peter Parker. Spider-Man: No Way Home showed otherwise in the long-conflicted Spidey's return to the big screen.

Gwen Stacy's death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 pushed Peter Parker into complete darkness from the accumulated guilt of Uncle Ben and Gwen's deaths. He temporarily quit as Spider-Man, and when he eventually returned, it was a far more brutal version of himself, revealing that he stopped pulling his punches. Gwen's death destroyed Peter's sense of morality along with whatever teenage innocence was left after Uncle Ben's death. Peter's perception of himself changed too, becoming riddled with self-doubt while seeing himself as a failure. It would be an understatement to say Gwen's death was a tragedy for Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man.

Once Garfield's Peter Parker was magically summoned into the universe inhabited by Tom Holland's Peter Parker #1 in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it became clear Peter #3 was still not himself. Even at his worst, he provided so much of the movie's comedy with quick-witted quips and an excessive number of self-deprecating jokes, even by MCU standards. Eventually, Tobey Maguire's Peter #2 had a little pep talk with Peter #3 and told him he was wrong about being the worst right before the climactic final battle, culminating in a cheesy "You're amazing" joke. It was really foreshadowing because later, Peter #3 was so amazing he finally took the crown as No Way Home's best Spidey by saving MJ (Zendaya). That scene was long overdue closure and self-validation for Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man. It also best exemplified what makes Spider-Man such a fan-favorite hero.

The scene with MJ and Garfield's Spidey was deep because it mirrored Peter's failed attempt at saving Gwen Stacy. Once Peter #3 landed on his feet with MJ safely in his arms, his face said it all. The movie-stealing moment was both heartbreaking and heartwarming; it was a triumphant display of closure and self-validation that should have happened long ago. Spider-Man's relationship with tragedies is part of what makes him a compelling character. Maguire's Peter did it in his trilogy. Holland's Peter did too by the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Meanwhile, Garfield's Peter was left hanging for eight years because a possible The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was canceled after The Amazing Spider-Man 2's lackluster performance.

Closure can be powerful character development when done right. Tony Stark's final act of heroism in Avengers: Endgame was tremendous because his closure was complete with his death. Iron Man's Endgame sacrifice fixed his past mistakes, and ultimately, it ended up being the defining pop culture moment of a massively successful movie. Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man achieved that too. However, Peter Parker #3's journey was slightly different but just as rewarding as Tony Stark's. Spider-Man: No Way Home cleverly used Peter #3 primarily as very effective comedic relief for the vast majority of the movie. However, even when he was filled with so much self-doubt and insecurities, it didn't stop him from jumping after MJ as she fell to her imminent death. He instinctively tried to do the right thing, and by saving MJ, he atoned for his own past mistakes. Whether they were actually his fault or not.

Peter #3 saving MJ was the highlight of an already memorable movie. That scene, and Peter #3's journey to get there, was so good that fans demanded The Amazing Spider-Man 3 after seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home. Andrew Garfield perfectly embodied both Peter Parker and Spider-Man: an amazing, awkward teenager with great power and great responsibility who just tries to do what's right.

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