Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man exit: How a missed Sony gala dinner and leaked emails fuelled the end of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise

As Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues its successful run in theatres worldwide, attention has once again turned to Andrew Garfield's future as the web-slinger. While Tom Holland is winning over audiences as the latest Peter Parker, Garfield has revealed that he is open to returning to the franchise—but only if the story offers something entirely different from previous Spider-Man films.

The actor, who last reprised the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, said any future appearance would have to break away from convention and offer audiences a fresh take on the beloved superhero.

Andrew Garfield wants an unconventional Spider-Man story

Andrew Garfield headlined The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 before returning alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home.


Asked whether he would be willing to play Peter Parker again, Garfield said the project would need to take an unexpected direction.

“I would need it to be very, very odd,” Garfield said while speaking to The Playlist.

What was said in email hack controversy?

While the underwhelming box office performance of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 slowed Sony Pictures' plans to expand the franchise, another incident involving Andrew Garfield also came under the spotlight.

Following the 2014 Sony Pictures cyberattack, leaked emails suggested that Garfield had been "let go" from the role after he failed to attend an event where then-Sony chief Kaz Hirai was expected to announce The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which was planned for a 2017 release.

Garfield later said he missed the event because he was ill.

One of the leaked emails reportedly read: "Here we are about one hour away from our Gala event and Andrew decides he doesn’t want to attend. He has a rather scruffy beard and he just wants to be left alone."

Andrew Garfield on whether he was fired

When asked by The Guardian in 2016 whether he had been fired from the role, Garfield responded:

“No, I don’t think so. What I’ll proudly say is that I didn’t compromise who I was, I was only ever myself. And that might have been difficult for some people.”

Garfield on The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Garfield has also spoken candidly about the mixed reception to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and what he believed affected the film.

Speaking to The Daily Beast in 2014, he said:

“I think what happened was, through the pre-production, production, and post-production, when you have something that works as a whole, and then you start removing portions of it – because there was even more of it than was in the final cut, and everything was related. Once you start removing things and saying, ‘No, that doesn’t work,’ then the thread is broken, and it’s hard to go with the flow of the story.”

Years later, during Variety's Actors on Actors conversation with Amy Adams, Garfield reflected on how the experience affected him.

“I signed up to serve the story and serve this incredible character that I’ve been dressing as since I was three, and then it gets compromised and it breaks your heart. I got heartbroken a little bit.”

The end of an era

Garfield's run as Spider-Man ended with The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Sony later struck a deal with Marvel Studios that allowed Spider-Man to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Tom Holland taking over the role. Holland has since portrayed the superhero in multiple MCU films, while Garfield returned as Peter Parker alongside Holland and Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Since leaving the franchise, Garfield has earned acclaim for performances in films including Hacksaw Ridge and Silence.