Andrew Garfield Says His Spider-Man Would Not Like Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man

As the end of 2021 draws closer, anticipation continues to build for the final MCU movie of the year: Spider-Man: No Way Home. That hype is now moving at warp speed thanks to the threequel's recently released second full trailer, which teased the first signs of the Multiverse breaking as Peter Parker and Doctor Strange come across a handful of villains from Spidey movies of the past.

On top of appearances from past antagonists like Alfred Molina's Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, rumors are still running rampant regarding the potential arrival of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men alongside Tom Holland. Marvel and Sony reportedly debated about whether to include them in the movie's new trailer, which likely means that they won't be confirmed until the movie releases in full.

While continually denying or avoiding his potential role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Garfield has been more than open about both his experience playing the web-slinger and his views on what the MCU is doing in the movie landscape. Most recently, he went undercover to answer online fan questions, including one about how his Spidey would've interacted with an MCU icon.

Garfield's Spider-Man Meeting RDJ's Iron Man?

Marvel

In an appearance on GQ's YouTube show Actually Me, Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield went undercover to answer fan questions and comments about his web-slinger. One specific question asked how his version of Spider-Man would have interacted with Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man within the MCU.

Garfield admitted that his Peter Parker would likely be "suspect" of the MCU's original hero and somewhat "turned off" by how obscenely wealthy Tony Stark is throughout the series. However, he also offered hope that his young Spidey could show Tony a sense of what real life is and help him step away from his own ego for a moment.

"I definitely think Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man would be pretty suspect of MCU Iron Man. I think he would be a little turned off by the excess, the billionaire, trillionaire status of Iron Man. I think it would rub my version of Spider-Man the wrong way. But you know, maybe there could be some influence there. Maybe my Peter Parker could wake Tony Stark up to his own egoic drives a little bit. We’ll never know. Literally never know."

A Different Take on Iron Man and Spider-Man

Although Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker had a similar upbringing as the MCU's hero played by Tom Holland, the two Spider-Men had a completely different experience once they went through their superhero transformation.

Rights issues kept Garfield's high schooler from interacting with any other heroes in either The Amazing Spider-Man movie, which meant that he had to develop his skills and tech completely on his own after his fateful spider bite. While that meant he never found himself in Tony Stark's presence, Garfield seemed to feel strongly that it wouldn't have been the best experience for his web-slinger. 

From a more positive angle, Garfield saw a window for his Peter Parker to help Tony learn a bit of humility and step away from his life of excess to some extent. Holland's hero helped Downey's MCU icon find a sense of family, especially following Spidey's temporary death in Avengers: Infinity War, and it appears that Garfield sees an opportunity his hero could have taken in a similar vein.

In the end, as Garfield mentioned, Downey's Iron Man sacrificed his life in Avengers: Endgame and will never meet this version of Spider-Man assuming he comes into the MCU. Whether that comes into play, Garfield clearly knows his character inside and out while looking at how he would relate to a hero like Iron Man.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will debut in theaters on December 17, 2021.