Spidey vs. Spidey! Garfield or Maguire?

Spidey vs spidey!

Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire square up as we await a new Web-head to enter the ring!

 

An Op-ed by Steven Carter

 

With the recent news that the Spider-Man franchise is finally making it's way back to Marvel, (albeit with a few creative strings attached) we can now look forward to yet another reboot to the series with rumours of it being called the "Spectacular Spider-Man"! Sadly it seems, with new power must come new responsibility, and a new actor. Peter Parker seems destined to stay in High School forever as if stuck in a Groundhog day - like hell.

ANDREW GARFIELD - "The Amazing Spider-Man 1" and "2"  

I liked Andrew Garfield. It's a shame that he is out, especially considering he was a childhood fan of Spider-Man. This would appear to be a somewhat controversial opinion to have in my circle of friends who tend to be in the Toby Maguire camp. When the first reboot happened back in 2012, I was the same. Shocked at the sudden departure of Sam Rami over "creative differences" and saddened that a perfectly decent (although surprisingly old) actor was being shunned for some guy from the "Social Network" movie. What went wrong? It seemed like a recipe for disaster.

Garfield's Spider-Man showcased the hero's funnier side

Once I finally got the chance to see the film however, it had won me over. Garfield's performance reminded me more of the animated cartoon that I watched as a kid back in the 90's. A wise cracking superhero and a good looking nerd. He had a more up-to-date approach to high school. A kind of hipster/nerd persona which gave him a social presence when standing up to Flash and also earn a date with love interest Gwen Stacey. He did all this without the use of his powers which is interesting to note, Tobey Maguire's Peter failed to gain Mary Jane's affections until she discovered he and Spider-Man were one and the same.

Whoever is in the suit, it cannot be denied, Spidey's got game!

The chemistry between Peter and Gwen was spot on. From the awkward moments when asking to go out on a date, to the banter shared when hiding from Oscorp security in a closet. I even liked the controversial suit change. It made sense for a budding superhero, who doesn't have a lot of money, to start out in a costume that clearly looks homemade and not an instant cosplay masterpiece. Naturally it would develop over time and become more refined, and eventually end up with the classic design that we all know and love. We finally see this in ASM2.

Andrew Garfield demonstrated the more scientific aspects of Peter Parker's character

We were treated to some great visuals and sounds, especially in Electro's first fight but I couldn't shake the very cartoon'y vibe the whole film had. Especially the opening sequence with the Rhino. I was also confused as to who the main villain really was. The director had insisted that Electro was numero uno but he seemed more of a henchman and a distraction if anything. Garfield's performance was still as good as the script would allow, although the scene involving the University of Oxford was rather cringy, however he more than made up for it towards the end of the film. Tragedy always seems to lurk just around the corner for poor old Peter and when it does, Andrew Garfield nails the reaction perfectly.

 

Tobey Maguire - "Spider-Man 1" "2"  and "3"

Maguire's films had some of the best action scenes ever witnessed in a Superhero film

Maguire's first outing was a long time coming for the wall crawler. We are talking nearly 25 years since the movie rights were sold before Sony managed to produce a final product. Maguire portrayed an all out nerd who had zero social skills. When he gets his powers, there follows a lot of trial and error. Especially involving his organic webbing which was rather cringing to watch. "GO WEB, GO!!!" I get why most film makers don't go too close to the source material when making a comic book hero film. A lot of the comics from the golden age were very camp, gaudy affairs with cheesy one liners. I do feel that they got too close to the 60's comic book peter. The only thing missing was his perfectly round glasses and crew cut! Placing a character like that into a contemporary setting, doesn't quite sit right with me.

Maguire nailed the character's dramatic beats

When they finally tried to update the character in the third film, they tried to make him darker and edgy when he was under the influence of the symbiote, it kinda backfired and what we were presented with was a moody emo kid that liked to point at people and... dance down the street. Yeah, the producers were down with da kids alright... Don't get me wrong. The action sequences across all three films are still fantastic, when Spidey gets his rear end handed to him courtesy of the Green Goblin, I had never felt distress for the hero on that kind of level since watching Luke Skywalker get tortured in Return of the Jedi! However, even when Peter was suited up as Spidey, his dialogue was still that of an anti-social and naive nerd. On the odd occasion that he did pull a quip, it seemed rather forced and awkward. 

Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker was more traditional and old-fashioned

You could argue that through pure numbers alone, the Maguire films should be better. They at least managed to make a third film before things fell apart! Worldwide box office figures also back the original trilogy but considering the highest grossing film of the bunch was Spider-Man 3, I wouldn't take those figures too seriously. Ultimately there was only one reason why both franchises faltered, they both share a common enemy. It's name begins with S and ends with "ony". Their desire to sell toys and other merchandise seems to overpower the need to make a truly great film.

The original Spider-man trilogy are some of the highest grossing films of all-time

The first 3 films saw Spidey tackle and finish off some of his greatest ever enemies in mere moments. At least the Second two films realised this and allowed the villain to live another day thus prolonging the potential life span of the franchise. But the biggest lesson of all was not learnt. Too many enemies. Sony producers got too greedy and instead of spreading out the villains over a series of films, smash them all together into one big blob. The Marvel Cinematic Universe took at least 4 years and 5 films to build up to the Avengers! This is why I am hopeful that now Marvel are on board for the next film, this has the potential to be the most amazing, spectacular, sensational, ultimate Spider-Man yet!

The future of Spider-Man films?