The secret is out and much of the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home can be attributed to the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as their respective versions of the Web-head. But while there are fans asking for a fourth Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire, there is a larger movement to give Andrew Garfield his chance to finish and redeem his series of films. Although The Amazing Spider-Man 2 received mixed box office and critical reactions, fans who have watched Spider-Man: No Way Home enjoyed seeing Andrew Garfield reprise his role. Could this be enough to push Sony Pictures to bring him back for a third outing? Read on for more on this development.
Fan movement for a third Amazing Spider-Man
On Twitter, a massive surge of tweets from fans using the hashtag #MakeTASM3 flooded in after Spider-Man: No Way Home. At the height of the trend, it reached more than 500,000 tweets. These tweets generally directed the message to Sony Pictures Entertainment. Although these numbers are not as expansive as #RestoretheSnyderverse that helped convince Warner Bros. Pictures to bring back Zack Snyder and bankroll an additional $70 million to finish his original vision for the Justice League film on the HBO Max platform, it is still an impressive show of fan support. There are already rumblings in the industry and among insiders that Sony is seriously considering the continuation of Andrew Garfield’s film series. There are rumors that Sony Pictures has approached Emma Stone, who played Gwen Stacy, to return. Some of the speculation have stated this will be for flashback scenes, while others have posited the possibility of Stone playing Spider-Woman (also popularly known as Spider-Gwen). A version of the latter already appeared on film in the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) which was voiced by Hailee Steinfeld (Hawkeye).
Who else should be in The Amazing Spider-Man 3?
If Sony Pictures eventually confirms and pushes through with the third Amazing Spider-Man film, most of the already established cast and characters from the prior two should also return. Sally Field (Aunt May), Felicity Jones (Felicia Hardy), as well as villains Rhys Ifans (Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard), Dane DeHaan (Harry Osborn), B.J. Novak (Alistair Smythe), Paul Giamatti (Aleksei Sytsevich/The Rhino), and Jamie Foxx (Max Dillon/Electro) could all return to reprise their roles. However, there would be some major differences, as it is already 8 years since The Amazing Spider-Man 2. In addition, the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home would likely alter their overall status quo. Many fans would also like to see Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Watson restored. Woodley actually shot and completed scenes that would have been in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but were removed from the final cut of the film. Director Marc Webb decided to remove key scenes that had Mary Jane meet and interact with Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, clearly setting up Woodley’s MJ as the love interest for the third film, as shown in the partial clips that surfaced online: Another character that fans want to bring in for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 is J. Jonah Jameson. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the only interaction between Garfield’s Peter Parker and the cantankerous publisher of the Daily Bugle is through a text message. Naturally, the fandom have expressed having J.K. Simmons play Jameson once again. Given how the multiverse is already accepted and established, another version of the character played by the same actor would not be out of place, especially given the universal popularity of J.K. Simmons’s portrayal. It should be noted that Marc Webb has gone on record that he planned a Sinister Six plot for the third Amazing Spider-Man movie starring Andrew Garfield. The main villain would have been Chris Cooper’s Norman Osborn becoming the Green Goblin, using the concept that the research of Peter and Dr. Curt Connors would be used to resurrect the dead. Cooper’s Norman Osborn seemingly died, but a deleted scene in the film revealed Oscorp was keeping his severed head in cryogenic stasis.
— Marc Webb (@MarcW) January 30, 2013 As plans for the third The Amazing Spider-Man fell off, these plot threads went with them. But if Sony Pictures does come into fruition, revisiting these ideas for the Sinister Six could be incorporated.
Let there be Venom… and Morbius
One more recent addition that many fans would really like to see happen is establishing that Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock/Venom is in the same universe as The Amazing Spider-Man. Since Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man is building toward a different Venom (as seen in one of the post-credits scenes in Spider-Man: No Way Home), having Hardy’s Venom meet and antagonize Garfield’s Spidey is a logical alternative. This would also be a wish fulfillment that gives a resolution to Spider-Man: No Way Home’s charming dialogue of Andrew Garfield’s Peter stating he wants to fight an alien after hearing Maguire and Holland share their experiences in battling such foes. Still another possibility is Jared Leto’s upcoming take on Morbius. The Living Vampire’s own film has not revealed which universe it is actually playing in, but it has hinted Morbius knows about Venom yet has a scene with Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes/The Vulture from the MCU’s Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). If the Morbius film is not set in the main MCU, setting it in The Amazing Spider-Man continuity would be a fine alternative. As Spider-Man: No Way Home has already joined the billion dollar box office club of films, it might just be a matter of time before we hear an official announcement from Sony Pictures greenlighting The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
— Forbes (@Forbes) December 28, 2021 Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home is now running in most international theaters. It will be released in Japan and the Philippines on January 8, 2022. Morbius is scheduled for theatrical release on January 28, 2022.
