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________Note: This story contains spoilers for those who haven’t seen Spider-Man: No Way Home.
So Spider-Man: No Way Home has just been released in local cinemas, which means Filipino audiences finally—legally—get to find out what on this green earth Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, both veteran Spideys, are doing in a movie where Tom Holland plays the titular role. Since Holland first appeared as Spider-Man, there’s been an ongoing debate on which of the three actors best depicted New York City’s own ‘Gagamboy,’ and doubtless, No Way Home (commonly referred to as NWH) has further catalyzed the discourse by putting them all in the same movie.
As fans rally behind their Peter Parker of choice, the Garfield camp jumps into the actor’s rich filmography. To prove his range and acting chops, fans have cited his performances in various movies, like film Twitter favorite The Social Network and the more recent Tick, Tick… Boom! where he portrayed playwright Jonathan Larson with excellence. In addition to all that, Garfield’s background in theater makes for an even stronger argument in his favor, most notably his Tony Award-winning performance in the play Angels in America.
Along with these, clips from interviews that were tucked in the pits of the internet have been brought to light. Of his The Amazing Spider-Man co-star, Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield says, “She came in and she was like a shot of espresso. She’s like being bathed in sunlight,” in a clip that’s now gone viral. And although Stone and Garfield have long since called it quits, us single people can’t help but fawn over the sweet, sweet man he is and ask ourselves, “When is it my turn?”
Clearly, the man has the charisma and talent that make him not only a suitable guest judge on Drag Race UK, but also worthy of the renaissance unfolding.
To call it a renaissance is to imply that Andrew Garfield’s career had somehow stagnated before reaching a new high, a return from a period of decline. But it’s not like that at all. I think of Garfield’s renaissance like slow-cooking, where his initial foray into the mainstream in the early 2010s gave him the attention of the internet.
As with everything on the fast-paced web, however, the hype had a short lifespan. The adoration had simmered down, and this is where he did more projects in theater and films with Scorsese and one of the many Coppolas. It’s not to say his work was less than stellar at this point in his career, but with the Andrew Garfield renaissance, fans old and new are finally looking back at the critically acclaimed but also more underrated movies and shows he’s done.
Somewhere along the way, Stan Twitter had fancasted him as a younger Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter franchise. And as Facebook began to draw more flak for its politics, stans turned to Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network, in particular, the scene where he berated Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) and delivered the iconic line: “Sorry! My Prada’s at the cleaners!”
The slow and steady rise of Andrew Garfield’s return to our Pinterest boards and Twitter timelines finally reached a high with the release of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick… Boom! and NWH, the latest installment in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now we may never know who the best Spider-Man is, but Andrew Garfield’s comeback as internet fave, celebrity crush, and possibly White Boy of the Century is definitely merited.
POP! Creator Community/Pie Gonzaga
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