Highlights
- Andrew Garfield's iteration of Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was cut short, leaving fans to piece together his story through hints in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
- The canceled plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 would have introduced new members of the Sinister Six, potentially making it the darkest and most violent live-action version of Spider-Man.
- In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Garfield's Spider-Man reveals that he fell into darkness and may have even killed someone, lacking the support system that Holland and Maguire's versions had. Fans hope for Garfield's return in future villain movies or an official The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
After 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, fans didn't see Andrew Garfield return as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man until 2021 in Spider-Man: No Way Home. In this love story to everything Spider-Man, which also brought back Tobey Maguire's version of the character, fans only caught a glimpse of what Garfield's iteration went through after the events of TASM 2, and it was a stark contrast to what they're used to from the character on the big screen.
Audiences expected to see Andrew Garfield return to the role in an Amazing Spider-Man 3, but Sony canceled its plans after its predecessor's poor box office performance. Now everybody has to piece together hints from Spider-Man: No Way Home to know what happened after the credits rolled on The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
What Happens in the Amazing Spider-Man 2?
After the first Amazing Spider-Man and its wildly different atmosphere from Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, fans looked forward to the sequel. Unfortunately, the movie didn't quite hit the mark because of some overcrowdedness. Too many villains and plot points to cover made the film feel busy. The movie needed less Green Goblin and more Electro or vice versa.
Two years after the events of the first Amazing Spider-Man, Peter finds himself at odds with Harry Osborn and Max Dillon as well as in a strenuous relationship with Gwen Stacy. By the end of the movie, Peter and Gwen mend the strain between them and agree to go to England together since Gwen landed a scholarship to Oxford. He just has to deal with the Green Goblin and Electro. Everything seems to be going well for Spider-Man at first. He and Gwen handle Electro by overloading the villain with energy, essentially killing him. That still left Harry out there.
While it looked like Peter and Gwen were going to get their happily ever after, Harry threw a kink in things and tossed Gwen from the top of a clock tower. As fast as Spider-Man was, he was a fraction of a second too slow in saving her. Despite catching her in his web, the backlash forced Gwen's head to hit the ground, killing her instantly. The grief from her death forced Peter to give up the superhero life for five months until he found inspiration from Gwen's graduation speech and returned to active duty.
What Could Have Happened in the Amazing Spider-Man 3?
In a post-credit scene in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the audience saw the makings of the villainous Sinister Six team, including Doctor Octopus and the Vulture. At the time, the Vulture was a character fans hadn't seen in live-action, giving everyone something new to look forward to. Reports from Sony also showed that the studio fully intended to produce The Amazing Spider-Man 3 along with The Amazing Spider-Man 4, leading up to two climactic Sinister Six movies. It's unfortunate that those plans fell through.
If Sony made The Amazing Spider-Man 3, more members of the Sinister Six would have appeared. Perhaps Rhino escaped the battle at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, leaving him to be the primary antagonist for the sequel. The movie would have most definitely introduced new members for the sinister team, giving fans something fresh to see from the wall-crawler's movies. Based on comments between Peter one, two, and three in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Garfield's Spider-Man never ran into Venom or another alien symbiote, making it unlikely he ever donned a black suit.
However, there were plans for Emma Stone to return as a revived Gwen Stacy with the Carnage symbiote. This might have been the movie that showed Peter get over his grief and move on. No matter who Garfield's Spider-Man went up against, it would have been darker and potentially the most violent version of Spider-Man anyone had ever seen in live-action. He hinted as much in Spider-Man: No Way Home​​​​​.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Hinted at Amazing Spider-Man 3's Potential Story
Peter might have been inspired by Gwen's speech about hope when he returned to crime fighting, but any hope he felt didn't last long. Or, it at least didn't make him the friendly, optimistic Spider-Man that everyone knows him to be. Gwen's death continued to haunt him for years as he felt there was nobody else to blame than himself. During his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he confided in Peter-One and Peter-Two that he stopped pulling his punches.
There's no way to know how far he went when apprehending his enemies, especially since he had no support system in his universe. It's perfectly reasonable to think he even killed someone. Unlike Tom Holland's Peter Parker, he didn't have friends to guide him out of the darkness he fell into. Peter-Three had Aunt May, but The Amazing Spider-Man did a poor job showing them have as close of a relationship as Holland's or Maguire's Peters did with their Aunt May.
Garfield's version of Spider-Man closely resembles Jake Johnson's Peter B. Parker from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. It's a character at their lowest dealing with emotional trauma and they almost don't care for crimefighting anymore. With the success of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse, Garfield's return in No Way Home, and Sony's villain-verse, there's hope that Garfield will make his return as Spider-Man in one of the upcoming villain movies such as Kraven or an official The Amazing Spider-Man 3.