Andrew Garfield is an actor that brings up similar feelings as Brandon Routh does for me. He’s an actor who I think was very good, and very right, for a particular role, but was just involved in the wrong project. In Routh’s case, it was Superman Returns. In Garfield’s it was the two Amazing Spider-Man movies. After seeing the second one, I remember thinking, “Wow. He was a great Peter Parker and Spider-Man. You can tell he’s a very talented guy, and that he’s brought a lot of dedication to this work. It’s just a damn shame the movie around him was a total mess.“

That’s why when we learned that he’d be getting recast as part of the monumental deal between Sony and Marvel that would welcome Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I felt bad for him. After all, he had been championing such a thing for years; And he loved being Spider-Man. Suddenly, his dream was happening but it was happening without him. Bummer.

So how’s he feeling these days? Earlier this year, the world got to meet Tom Holland’s version of Parker/Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, and now Garfield is about to be seen in two very high-profile projects that could reap rich rewards for him come awards season. Up first, we’ll see him in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge, where his work is already creating Oscar buzz. And then in December we’ll see him in a passion project from Martin Scorsese called Silence. 

Fandango caught up with the actor to see how he’s feeling about how everything worked out, and here’s what Garfield said:

“To be honest, I would not have been able to work with Mel Gibson and Martin Scorsese if I had done Spider-Man 3. I’m incredibly grateful that I get to now go and watch another man play Spider-Man who I think is a fantastic actor in Tom Holland.”

And how about the irony of Spider-Man finally returning home to Marvel, but without him- a very vocal advocate for that move?

“You know what, it’s sliding doors, right? There are so many possible outcomes; so many positives and potential downsides to that situation. If I am being totally honest, I am so excited Spider-Man is back in the hands of Marvel. I think that’s a really awesome move. It was a move that I’ve been advocating since I was offered the Spider-Man gig five or six years ago. I’m also excited for Tom Holland. I think he’s a very emotional, truthful, funny, physical actor, and I love the filmmaker — it all really couldn’t be in any better hands. I’m really stoked for it.”

So Garfield sounds like he’s a really good sport about the whole thing, and I’m sure the fact that he rebounded so gracefully has a lot to do with that. Unlike Routh, whose career hasn’t gone on quite the trajectory as Garfield’s, the British thespian found a way to move beyond his time as a beloved superhero in a subpar production and into the role of Respected Actor.

Hacksaw Ridge comes out on November 4, up against Marvel’s Doctor Strange.

SOURCE: Fandango