While former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield is currently in the midst of a press tour promoting ‘Hacksaw Ridge’, the conversation often shifts to his time on the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ films. As the series was not able to conclude on its own terms before Spider-Man’s much-ballyhooed return to Marvel, there are any number of lingering narrative questions surrounding the two films, especially given how much of the runtime of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ was devoted to setting up the various sequels and spinoff that Sony had planned at the time.
One of those questions in particular, though, goes back even farther, to the first entry in the ‘Amazing’ duology. In that film’s post-credits scene, we saw a mysterious, black-clad man (variously credited as “The Gentleman” or “Gustav Fiers”) address Connors from the shadows of his cell. The character appeared in a similar capacity at the end of the second films, and though little concrete information was ever established, his conversations with both Connors and Harry Osborn make clear that he is involved in some capacity with OsCorp (or at least with the Osborn family in general), that he knows “the truth” about Peter Parker’s father (a plot thread that was intended to run throughout the ‘Amazing’ films, though the pertinent scenes frequently landed on the cutting room floor), and that he was to have had some connection (via OsCorp, presumably) to the Sinister Six.
During a recent interview with Cinema Blend, Garfield was asked about the identity of the Gentleman (or whatever you prefer to call him), and had this to say:
“I don’t know that the filmmakers knew who the hell that guy was! [Laughs] I don’t actually know. No. But the good news is that now none of us are ever going to find out, because that version of Spider-Man is no longer. Now we got Tom Holland, who I really think is going to do some beautiful stuff.”
So there you have it. If anyone involved ever decided who this character was meant to be, they never bothered to tell Andrew Garfield. The mystery will most likely die here, unless director Marc Webb or any of the writers with whom he collaborated decide to offer a more definitive answer.
Garfield then continued, offering some characteristically typically gracious praise of his successor:
“He’s an unbelievable actor, and he’s got this real depth and this lightness as well. And he’s an ex-dancer and a gymnast, so he can do his own stunts and everything like that. I just think they made an incredible choice. And it’s back at Marvel, which excites me a lot as well.”
As Garfield noted, Spider-Man’s cinematic future currently rests with Tom Holland as the web slinger at last takes his rightful place alongside the Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland’s first outing as Spider-Man (following a well-received cameo in ‘Captain America: Civil War’) comes next summer in the aptly titled ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, which hits theaters on July 7, 2017.
