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Age of MCU: Maguire vs. Garfield – Who Was the Better Spider-Man?

3. Does Whatever A Spider Can

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If there’s one thing every superhero film needs, it’s action! Hell yeah! So which one of our actors fought and moved most like Spidey? And yes, I know CGI played a big part in that. So I’ll take that into account.

Garfield seems to be quicker and more agile. He’s more acrobatic than Maguire, so he certainly moves like a spider. Well, a Spider-Man at any rate. But Maguire looks stronger than Garfield. He really packs a punch in the Rami films, and performs incredible feats of strength. But he never gives off the impression that he’s Superman. He has his limits. But he definitely falls down in the movement department. He just doesn’t look very graceful. So it’s pretty much tied between them.

Judge ruling… I’m going to award points to both contenders. Yes, I can do that! Suck it up.

Maguire: 3

Garfield: 2

 

2. Identity Crisis

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Every superhero has two sides to them. The costume, and the person behind it. Unless you’re Tony Stark, in which case you’re just Iron Man, deal with it! But which of our wallcrawlers was best at being plain ol’ Peter Parker?

Like I said earlier, Maguire can pull off the nerd part very well. But it’s less science-y science and more… woobie. He’s a hapless, sympathetic dork that we’re meant to feel sorry for. Which works… up to a point. Things constantly go wrong for him and at first it’s very endearing. But eventually it gets repetitive and annoying.

Garfield seems like a much more confident Peter Parker. And he’s definitely all about the science, despite the non-nerd look. True, things don’t always go his way, but he doesn’t dwell on them TOO much. I mean, when things go really wrong, of course he gets sad. But the little things don’t bother him more than they should. On the other hand, he’s kinda blasé about the whole secret identity thing. He just up and tells Gwen he’s Spider-Man, with no thought to the consequences, pretty much at the drop of the hat. Maguire knew the benefit of protecting those he loved from a world that would endanger them. So which is better?

Well, in the comics, things frequently go wrong for Peter. But he doesn’t get all sad about it. He either shrugs it off, jokes it off, or gets mad. And I think that’s more in line with Garfield, even with the whole secret identity thing. Sorry, Tobey. I love ya, but Andrew pulled it off (Although, he did mumble a lot in the first one. Ah, too late.).

Maguire: 3

Garfield: 3

 

1. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

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This is it. The decider. The final countdown. Last train to London. Leaving New York. Speed of sound. Don’t stop believing. Like a virgin. What does the fox say. *SLAP*. Thanks, I don’t know what happened there.

Our last round will decide which actor best represents the spirit of Spider-Man. I know, that’s a hard thing to define. But as I see it, Peter Parker was a guy who had a hard life, was given amazing powers, and wanted to use them for personal gain. This selfishness lead to his Uncle dying and made Peter realise that he had to use his powers to help everybody he could. My question is this… who represents this aspect of Spider-Man best?

Right off the bat, it seems like Garfield might have this one in the bag. His indifference leads him to standing by when a shop cashier is being robbed, which later leads to Uncle Ben being killed by the same man. This has more of an emotional weight than a robber ripping off a corrupt wrestling manager like in the Rami film. However, this leads to him becoming Spider-Man… just so he can hunt down his Uncle’s killer. Which he never actually does, remember? Sure he ends up helping people, but he just sort of falls into it.

Maguire on the other hand becomes Spider-Man AFTER he finds his Uncle’s killer. It’s that moment that leads him to accept his responsibility and help people. Plus, the emotional confrontation he has with Cliff Robertson before he’s killed, when he yells at him to stop pretending to be his father, is way more engaging than Garfield’s scene with Martin Sheen. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad scene or a bad performance from either of them. It’s just not as good as the one with Maguire and Robertson.

It’s been a mighty battle but I’ve made my decision. For all the strengths and weaknesses of both characters, Tobey Maguire is the superior Spider-Man!

Maguire: 4

Garfield: 3

Thanks for playing, Andrew. Congratulations Tobey, what’ll you do now that you’ve won? Oh, geez. He’s crying. I forgot he does that alot. Still, it’s better than dancing. OH GOD! Now he’s dancing AND crying! For goodness sake Tobey!

 

But what do YOU think if these actors? Is Maguire the reigning champion? Or is Garfield the one, true Spidey? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter! Meantime, I’m going to literally do nothing else but observe the Internet for confirmation that Dylan O’Brien will be the next Spider-Man. I believe in you Dylan!

About the author

Fred McNamara