The long-running pop culture debate over who is the best live-action Spider-Man has received a definitive answer from one of the men who actually wore the suit. During a recent promotional appearance on Capital’s show for his film Artificial, Andrew Garfield was asked to rank the three modern cinematic Peter Parkers: Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland, and himself.
Garfield answered almost immediately, placing Maguire in the top spot, Holland in second, and putting himself in last place. His reasoning for crowning Maguire was rooted in personal history and nostalgia.
“Tobey’s always going to be my number one,” Garfield shared during the interview. He explained that Maguire’s pioneering run in Sam Raimi’s trilogy from 2002 to 2007 came out while he was growing up. The actor recalled that while he was attending drama school, he would practice Maguire’s lines in front of a mirror to hone his craft.
Generous Praise for Tom Holland and Personal Humility
Garfield was equally complimentary when discussing his MCU successor, Tom Holland. He described Holland as an incredible talent and the ideal fit for the web-slinger for his generation. By placing himself in third place, Garfield displayed the characteristic self-effacement that has made him a fan favorite during press tours.
This is not the first time Garfield has publicly voiced his admiration for his fellow actors. In October 2024, while promoting We Live in Time, he similarly named Maguire as his favorite on-screen web-slinger. Fans frequently appreciate his loyalty to the original trilogy, even as audiences continue to reassess and champion Garfield’s own performances in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and its 2014 sequel following their historic reunion in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Balancing Superhero Legacy with New Projects
While the conversation around the red-and-blue suit continues to follow him wherever he goes, Garfield’s current career focus lies far away from comic book universes. His latest project, Artificial, is a drama directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Simon Rich. In the film, Garfield portrays OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, chronicling the intense five-day crisis in November 2023 when Altman was briefly ousted from the company and subsequently reinstated.
Featuring a cast that includes Monica Barbaro as Mira Murati, Yura Borisov as Ilya Sutskever, and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, the film has generated significant awards buzz following its screenings at the New York Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival, ahead of its US release on December 25.
Despite diving into intense Silicon Valley boardrooms and prestige dramas, Garfield acknowledges that the Spider-Man questions will likely follow him for decades to come. When previously asked about the possibility of returning to the franchise, he adopted a “never say never” stance, leaving the door open for future possibilities if the story is deemed worthy.
