With the recent casting of British actor Andrew Garfield as the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man, MTV’s Splash Page editor-in-chief Rick Marshall contacted comic book creators, including Peter David, Todd McFarlane and Mark Millar, to get their thoughts on whether they thought Garfield was a good choice.
McFarlane is probably best known for his run on “Amazing Spider-Man” and the spin-off comic “Spider-Man” during the ’90s, which famously introduced the fan-favorite character Venom. Here’s part of what he had to say about the casting:
Spider-Man is a juggernaut in and of himself, so you have the luxury of getting 500 tests and picking the best talent that will make the character. That’s what they’re saying they did, and I’m going to take them at their word. They didn’t feel pressured to put in a guy everybody knows, who’s one of the sexiest guys under 25 or anything. Peter Parker has a skinny neck and isn’t the biggest guy on the block. He doesn’t usually get picked first when it’s time to put together a baseball team at recess. As I look at images of Andrew Garfield, he sort of falls into that category.
Peter David has written the character numerous times over the years as well, so he had his own take on the character based on having seen his previous movie, Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus:
I think this displays yet again Terry Gilliam’s brilliant eye for casting. Garfield was excellent as Anton in “The Adventures of Doctor Parnassus,” and if he brings to “Spider-Man” even a fraction of both the intensity and vulnerability that he displayed in Gilliam’s latest masterwork, then fans will be more than satisfied with the casting choice. If nothing else, I hope they’ll seek out “Parnassus” to get a preview of the next Peter Parker, since “Parnassus” is a film that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.
Lastly, they have some thoughts from the equally out-spoken Mark Millar, whose most famous Spider-Man related story involved Peter Parker unmasking himself during “Civil War”:
I think he’s a great choice. I picture-googled him this morning, which made me feel a bit creepy, and looked at about ten consecutive pages of images, which made me seem creepier still. But in some shots he looks like a drawing of Peter Parker. From some angles, he looks like the brilliant Mike Wieringo’s Parker, and from others he’s like a Romita Snr. Either way, he’s a great fit and I loved him in “Red Riding.”
You can read what some of the other comic book creators had to say about Garfield’s casting over at Splash Page. And if you want to read one of ComingSoon.net’s previous interviews with Garfield, here’s one from 2008 for his early movie Boy A. Around that time, he was also up for another comic-related project.
Watch the video of Garfield’s casting announcement below:
