Andrew Garfield wants to return as Spider-Man – but will he?

Major spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home follow. You have been warned.

Spider-Man: No Way Home, the latest superhero movie to dominate the global box office, has potentially brought the curtain down on Tom Holland's incarnation of the iconic webslinger.

But, while the 27th Marvel movie may have called time on Holland's Spider-Man career, another of the actors who portrayed the wallcrawler in a live-action film may see their franchise revived off the back of No Way Home's success.

We're entering full spoiler territory for Spider-Man: No Way Home from this point on. If you haven't caught the latest Marvel Phase 4 movie, don't scroll past the image below.

If you've seen No Way Home, you'll know that the rumors are true: former Spider-Man stars Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield return to help Holland's Peter Parker defeat a myriad of the webslinger's villains and stop the Marvel Cinematic Universe from becoming the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse.

Naturally, Spider-Man fans (and superhero aficionados in general) were delighted to see Maguire and Garfield reprise their roles as the wallcrawler. And, such has been the fan fervour over the duo returning, fans have started campaigning on social media for their Spider-Man film franchises to be revived – with hashtags including #MakeTASM3, #TheAmazingSpiderMan 3 and #MakeRaimiSpiderMan4 doing the rounds online since No Way Home's release.

While Maguire's Spider-Man trilogy has a loyal following, though, it's Garfield's webslinger who fans really want to see more of. The Tick, Tick... Boom! actor's Spider-Man movie series was cut short after the disappointing and overstuffed Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie. But, off the back of his scene-stealing turn in No Way Home, Spidey fanatics want him to don the iconic red and blue suit on a more regular basis again.

In a Variety profile piece ahead of the 2022 Golden Globes ceremony – Garfield is up for two awards for his leading role in Netflix's Tick, Tick... Boom! – Garfield was asked if he'd be open to reprising his role as Spider-Man in the future. Unsurprisingly, he was unequivocal in his response.

"I mean, yes, definitely open to something if it felt right," Garfield said. "Peter and Spider-Man, those characters are all about service, to the greater good and the many. He’s a working-class boy from Queens that knows struggle and loss and is deeply empathetic. I would try to borrow Peter Parker’s ethical framework in that, if there was an opportunity to step back in and tell more of that story, I would have to feel very sure and certain in myself."

With Garfield's Spider-Man trilogy cut short by a combination of poor critical reception, and Marvel and Sony teaming up to bring the superhero to the MCU, the actor's potential return as the webslinger would make for fascinating viewing.

Despite The Amazing Spider-Man film series being the weakest of the three so far, Garfield's turn as Peter Parker/Spider-Man was electrifying; the actor brought a real emotional depth to a character, whose themes of guilt, identity, sacrifice, power and taking responsibility have resonated with comic fans for decades.

Garfield's Spider-Man also received some long-overdue closure as part of No Way Home's plot – with the actor telling Variety that "I’m just really, really grateful that I got to tie up some loose ends for the Peter that I was playing". But, with Garfield and Spidey fans alike wanting him to reprise the role he inhabited between 2012 and 2014, is a more permanent return on the cards?

On the surface, judging by Garfield's comments on getting some closure for his Spider-Man incarnation, it seems unlikely. No Way Home provides Garfield's webslinger with the happy ending that he required. And, with Marvel and Sony pressing ahead with a potential fourth Spidey MCU movie starring Tom Holland, it's doubtful that both studios will want two Spider-Man film series running alongside one another. After all, fans may get confused about which Spidey exists in which universe, their respective villains and other story elements.

But never say never. Garfield clearly loved his time as Spider-Man, and his iteration is certainly one that we'd like to see again.

And we may well get our wish. According to prominent Marvel movie leaker MyTimeToShineHello, there are "other options" on "multiple projects" available to Garfield to return as Spider-Man in the future, either as a solo project or in a cameo/supporting role capacity.

One possibility that would set fans' tongues wagging may be a Spider-Man vs Venom movie. During one of No Way Home's post-credits scenes, Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom was pulled back into his own universe after he was pulled into the MCU at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage? The reason? Holland's Spider-Man and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange botching a magical spell in No Way Home that almost led to the multiverse colliding with the MCU.

Some fans had hoped that Hardy's Venom would take on Holland's webslinger at some point, but that appears to be a non-starter now. Instead, though, could Hardy's Venom cross paths with Garfield's Spider-Man? If they did, it would provide both characters with a third instalment in their respective movies series. Sony and Marvel could even go with a title like 'The Amazing Spider-Man Vs. Venom', rather than 'The Amazing Spider-Man 3' or 'Venom 3', in the same vein as DCEU flick 'Batman Vs. Superman'.

According to another Marvel Studios leaker in DanielRPK, that's a distinct possibility, too. While DanielRPK doesn't state which version of Spider-Man may fight Venom in the latter's third solo film, it would be very cool if it was Garfield's version.

So, will Garfield's Spider-Man return to the big screen? Not officially just yet (if at all), but we'd love to see it happen. A fair number of rumors from MyTimeToShineHello and DanielRPK have proven to be correct in the past, too, so there's every chance that some discussions have taken place about Garfield's return. We'd be delighted if he did, and we're sure the actor would be as well, but time will tell if his and our hopes become reality.

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