Summary
- The potential for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was cut short by the disappointing The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
- The movie would have centered on Peter Parker mourning Gwen Stacy's death and featured Norman Osborn as a head in a box.
- Despite the failure of the Spider-Man Universe, Garfield fans hope for a return as Spidey to revive the series.
There’s a growing list of superhero movies that will likely never happen. Up there with the long-gestated Gambit movie, a sequel to Ang Lee’s Hulk, and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty being swapped out for Avengers: Doomsday, few sting quite like The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Although the recast of Andrew Garfield’s version of Peter Parker allowed Tom Holland to debut as the character in Captain America: Civil War, many feel The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was pruned like a TVA variant ahead of its time.
Following the success of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies, and the disappointment of 2007’s Spider-Man 3, Sony decided to reboot the series. Tobey Maguire was out, and although Garfield was supposed to lead a franchise of at least four movies (with multiple spin-offs planned), things came tumbling down following the commercial and critical disappointment of 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Still, this was only the start of the story.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Writer Talks The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The world of The Amazing Spider-Man came crashing down in 2015 when Sony brokered a deal with Marvel Studios to bring the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Garfield has spoken candidly about finding out he was being let go as Spider-Man, telling Variety in 2016:
I found that really, really tricky. I signed up to serve the story, and to serve this incredible character that I’ve been dressing as since I was three, and then it gets compromised and it breaks your heart.
Even though The Amazing Spider-Man 3 never happened, Garfield at least got to reprise his role as that universe’s Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Both Garfield and Maguire got to suit up again, and ever since, there’s been chatter about whether they’ll be back for Spider-Man 4 or even projects of their own. As recently as January 2025, Garfield expressed a desire to play Spider-Man again.
As The Amazing Spider-Man 3 never got past the planning stages, fans might be questioning what there is to rescue. Still, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writer Alex Kurtzman has spoken to Screen Rant about the possibility of revisiting the idea and how far things had progressed:
You know, we never wrote it. We never wrote it. I did 2 and that was it for me.
It’s far from him saying he’d be willing to return, but at least it’s not a definite no. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 aimed for a June 2016 release, with Kurtzman also scheduled to pen a fourth mainline movie for May 2018. Various tidbits confirmed Chris Cooper would reprise his role as Norman Osborn (albeit as a head in a box). The crux of the story would have revolved around Peter recovering from the death of Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). After being cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Watson was expected to have a major role.
Tom Holland Retirement Talk Sets Up Perfect Handoff
Tom Holland has started talking about ending his acting career and the timing could be perfect for a new Spider-Man to enter the MCU.
A much bigger Spider-Man universe was in the works. Alongside the frequently discussed Sinister Six movie from Drew Goddard, leaked messages from the 2014 Sony hack revealed that Stone was supposed to return in The Amazing Spider-Man 4 — resurrected as Carnage. This was far from the wildest idea, with Sony also eying Raimi to direct another trilogy that would eventually lead to a Spider-Man vs. The Amazing Spider-Man movie. Multiple spin-offs were in the works. Alongside the two-part Sinister Six outing, there was some form of Venom x Carnage crossover, as well as a solo movie for Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (played by Felicity Jones in The Amazing Spider-Man 2).
Jump forward to 2025, and it seems that Sony hasn’t learned from the mistakes of its past. Despite not being officially canceled, the sprawling Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has come to an underwhelming end with Kraven the Hunter. This leaves the future slate of Spider-Man outings looking a little sparse. Beyond the Spider-Verse faces troubles of its own. Aside from Spider-Man 4 slotting in between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, it looks like all other projects including Nightwatch, Jackpot, the untitled Hypno-Hustler movie, and a TV series based on Cindy Moon/Silk have fallen into the abyss.
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 Needs to Happen
There could soon be a Spider-shaped void in the MCU. With Tom Holland talking about retiring from acting as soon as he becomes a father, his time as the wall-crawling hero looks like it’s running out. While that seems like the perfect chance to finally introduce Miles Morales into live-action, there’s the small problem that the character doesn’t exist yet. Donald Glover played Miles’ uncle, Aaron Davis/Prowler, in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but until Miles is established, The Amazing Spider-Man 3 could fill the inevitable gap in Spider-Man movies.
Critics have already said that Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man 4 needs a bigger twist than just bringing back Garfield and Maguire again, although it looks increasingly likely that they’ll be back in action. There are continued rumors that Maguire in particular is being set up for a substantial role in Secret Wars. But in terms of the previous Spider-Man appearing in anything other than cameo form for future Marvel projects, things remain unclear. Even the underperforming mainline Spider-Man movies have always scored big at the box office, and when it comes to Garfield’s tenure, his story feels unfinished.
One of The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s big critiques is that it felt like just a springboard to future adventures. This isn’t hard to see, considering there were cameos from the likes of Felicia Hardy and Alistair Smythe (B. J. Novak), the massive Sinister Six post-credit scene, and Paul Giamatti’s maligned performance as Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino. The fact that details about The Amazing Spider-Man 3 are thin on the ground could actually work in its favor. Kurtzman could be able to rework whatever plans he presumably had into something that can learn from the mistakes of the SSU and other comic book movies.
It wouldn't be surprising if the fan reaction alone to having Garfield back in No Way Home had at least mended some old bridges between the star and Sony. Even if not for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Garfield has gushed about Drew Goddard’s plans for the Sinister Six, expressing hope that the idea could be revisited one day. There was plenty of speculation that Garfield was the Spider-Man of the SSU. There were also high hopes it was going to lead to its own Sinister Six crossover with the likes of Jared Leto’s Morbius and Michael Keaton’s Vulture.
It seems unlikely that Sony will take a gamble on another SSU movie. However, a full-blown The Amazing Spider-Man 3 resurrection could restore hopes that the studio knows what it’s doing with its bible of Spider-Man characters and maybe even restart the idea of a connected expanded universe. For the time being, Garfield’s Spidey suit remains hung up in a wardrobe, waiting for his seemingly inevitable cameo in the MCU’s Spider-Man 4.
- Release Date
- May 2, 2014
- Runtime
- 141 minutes
- Director
- Marc Webb
- Writers
- Alex Kurtzman, Jeff Pinkner, Roberto Orci, James Vanderbilt, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
- Producers
- Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach
- Prequel(s)
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Sequel(s)
- The Amazing Spider-Man 3
Cast
-
Andrew GarfieldSpider-Man / Peter Parker -
Emma StoneGwen Stacy
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio(s)
- Sony
