Around the time the "Sony Hack" emails found their way online, we heard that a big part of Sony's decision to partner with Marvel for a Spider-Man reboot was the fact that company head Kaz Hirai wanted Andrew Garfield gone. That reportedly stemmed from the British actor failing to appear at an event he was holding, an event which would have seen Hirai announce The Amazing Spider-Man 3!
So, is there any truth to that? You'll have to ask Hirai, but in an interview with The Guardian, Garfield was asked about possibly being "let go" for missing that event in Brazil and whether he skipped that in the hope of getting fired (after all, he's made no secret of his disappointment with the franchise).
"No, I don’t think so," Garfield laughed when it was put to him that he may have been a no-show to self-sabotage himself. "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." The actor then went on to explain what he tried, and ultimately failed, to bring to the role of Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man films.
"I’d been reading the mythologists Joseph Campbell and James Hillman. And when I took on Spider-Man, I thought, ‘Holy shit! This is exquisite and terrifying and incredible. I have been given the responsibility of reaching my hand out from the big screen and putting it on [young boys’] shoulders. That is a gift for me and a big burden to carry. And I’m so up for it.’ I thought, if I can infuse all this ancient knowledge and wisdom into [Spider-Man], it could be profoundly affecting for young people in the audience. That was always my intention and what I tried to do. I was 25 and I was naive – not because of that, but because I was naive to the whole process of making one of those big-budget films."
What do you guys think of Garfield's remarks? Let us know that in the comments section below.