One of the pitfalls about portraying a superhero on the big screen is that you can’t do it forever (well, unless you’re Hugh Jackman). Andrew Garfield currently plays Peter Parker in the Amazing Spider-Man films, which already have two installments and two more on the way, as well as villain-centric spin-offs for Venom and the Sinister Six. One major question on the minds of fans has been how long Garfield will decide to play the web slinger before he is either recast or the franchise gets rebooted all over again. Judging by what the actor has said in a recent interview, he wonders the same thing.
Garfield recently spoke with Comic Book Resources, and was asked about his thoughts on the possibility of an Ultimate Spider-Man movie featuring Miles Morales, a character who first appeared in 2011. Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, Morales is a teenager of Black Hispanic descent, who takes over the role of Spider-Man following the death of Peter Parker. He’s bitten by a spider that was genetically engineered by Norman Osborn, who was attempting to duplicate Peter’s abilities.
On the possibility of seeing Peter Parker pass the torch to Miles in a future film, Garfield said:
“I have given that thought. Miles Morales was a huge moment in this character’s comic book life. And I do believe that we can do that. It’s something I’m really interested i figuring out; an eloquent way of coexisting, or passing on the torch. I don’t have an answer, but I think it’s actually a really important move. I think it’s a really beautiful and important move.”
The idea of a Miles Morales Spider-Man film is quite intriguing for a number of reasons. First of all, Morales has been a well-received comics character so far, and adding a bit of much-needed diversity to the superhero genre would be a great move. Secondly, Garfield passing the role onto another actor and character would be a way for Sony to avoid yet another reboot of this franchise. We’ve already seen two Spider-Man origin stories on film, and we really don’t need a third. Plus, by the time The Amazing Spider-Man 4 comes out, the studio will have spent a lot of time in building a cinematic universe around the character, so I highly doubt they would be willing to start all over again.
The fact of the matter is, Garfield won’t play Spider-Man forever, and shouldn’t. When asked about whether he’d be interested in playing an older Peter Parker, he said:
“I want it to feel like a circle. I want the two ends to join, somehow. I don’t know what that means, yet. I don’t know what that means in terms of the quantity of Spider-Man movies I do. But I know that I don’t particularly want to be a 40-year-old Spider-Man. [Laughs] I do know that time is fleeting.”
The actor is already thirty years old, so he’d be approaching that age quickly by the time a fourth installment comes around. We’ve heard Marc Webb talk about TASM 4 as being different than the outings that came before, and a Miles Morales film would certainly fit that bill.
Tell us, would you like to see Garfield pass on the role to another actor to play Miles Morales in an Ultimate Spider-Man movie? Let us know in the comments below.