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Everyone is familiar with Garfield, the beloved comic strip cat who perpetually torments his owner Jon while dreaming about lasagna. And American history buffs, along with college professors around the country, can tell you all about U. S. President James A. Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881. But when it comes to famous Garfields, chances are that unless you're Andrew Garfield's mom, you've never heard of him.

Until now, that is.

That's because, as we told you last night, Garfield (Andrew, not the cat) has been cast as Peter Parker in the upcoming reboot of the box office smashing 'Spider-man' franchise. The announcement, which came as a surprise to many (including, apparently, Josh Hutcherson, who just yesterday was widely rumored to have landed the part), has fans of the comics and the films alike asking one simple question: Who is Andrew Garfield?

Well, have no fear, because we're on the case for you. Here's your quick fact sheet for the former unknown who is about to step into Tobey Maguire's webbed tights for 'Spider-man 4,' currently scheduled to drop on July 2, 2012:

• A British Peter Parker?! -- Born in California to a British mother and an American father, Garfield moved with his family to England at the age of three. Before you start asking why he isn't filming a Captain Britain film instead, have no fear: Garfield has dual citizenship.

• A Rising Star -- Garfield, who's now 26, rose to prominence at the precocious age of 18 thanks to an acclaimed turn on the stage: In just his second part, he took home a MEN Theater Award as the lead in the Manchester Royal Exchange's version of 'Kes.' His early stage success led Variety to name him one of their 10 young actors to watch in 2007.

• Television and Doctor Who -- Transitioning from the stage to the small screen, Garfield reached the pinnacle of British television when he guest starred in a two-part 'Doctor Who' arc, in which he faced off against the terrifying Daleks, an adventure that should give him plenty of experience when it comes to more mundane Spider-man foes like Mysterio or The Rhino. In 2009 he returned to the BBC in the highly anticipated 'Red Riding' mini-series, where he played a doomed reporter facing off against the devilish Sean Bean.

• 'Boy A' In 2007, Garfield made the jump to feature films, where he co-starred opposite Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Tom Cruise in the ambitious political flop 'Lions for Lambs.' But he had more success with the British production 'Boy A,' which earned him a BAFTA for Best Actor.

• The Big Time -- For such a young actor still in the early stages of his career, Garfield seems to have a knack for landing in star-studded films: he played alongside Heath Ledger, Jude Law and Johnny Depp in Terry Gilliam's mad fable 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' while his latest effort, 'The Social Network,' which is slated to debut on Oct. 1, finds him being directed by 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' auteur David Fincher.

How much Garfield learned about the world of comic book filmmaking from Ledger during their time together is unclear, but there's no doubt that Ledger, who sadly passed away before earning an Oscar for this portrayal of The Joker in 'The Dark Knight,' had a major impact on Garfield during their time together on 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.' "We wanted to challenge each other, and Heath was so strong," Garfield told Entertainment Weekly. "He made me fight harder than I ever had, and I'm so thankful to him for it."

Let's hope he took those lessons to heart, because as Spider-man, Garfield's fighting life is just beginning.

What are the odds on this blowing big chunks..? Quite high I think...

Very high. Any movie slated to be filmed using the distraction of 3D even before a script is written smacks of gimmickry & Sony not caring whether 3D would even serve the non-existent plot. This kid has no chin just like Toby btw.

I think what I'm worried about more than anything is if this kid can pull off being a smartass and sounding natural doing it. No offense to my Brit friends but it takes a certain New York cynisism to make it work. Toby sure as hell couldn't do it to save his life so I'm worried. We NEED Spidey to act like Spidey this time. And would it be asking too much to have a natural red headed HOT Mary Jane this time too? :?:

Hmm...That may make for a more interesting discussion...

Alicia Witt, maybe..?

I think she woulda been dead on the first time but may be too old now.

darklighter1 wrote:I think what I'm worried about more than anything is if this kid can pull off being a smartass and sounding natural doing it. No offense to my Brit friends but it takes a certain New York cynisism to make it work. Toby sure as hell couldn't do it to save his life so I'm worried. We NEED Spidey to act like Spidey this time. And would it be asking too much to have a natural red headed HOT Mary Jane this time too? :?:

Toby was good as Pete. He fit the role. The problem with the series was the third movie. Not Tobie. That movie was just bad and poorly written.

Lets be honest . All this dude needs to do is proof that he can put on ten pounds of muscle to go from nerdy kid to average white male.


The big issue is will they be true to Spiderman lore. If Gwen Stacy is not in the first two movies these movies are dead to me.

The big deal of the these movies should be the Death of Gwen or Uncle Ben. But I really doubt any these movies will do either of those characters justice.

Yeah you're right 84 about Gwen Stacey but I really doubt they'll use her at all considering they'll probably want to kind of not do another origin story. It'll probably be just loosly affiliated with the first bunch of movies kinda like the last Hulk was. So you can either look at it as a whole new direction or maybe Spidey 5. But to do a Gwen story you'd have to have the Goblin again and I think they want a newer villain for this one. Just hope to God it isn't the Vulture.

Oh and I gotta disagree with ya on Tobey. I think he pulled off the nerd side of Parker perfect but just had no timing when it came to delivering a joke. Gotta be funny to be Spidey. Grim to be Bats and funny to be Spidey.

That would be a shame if they didn't have Gwen Stacy in it.


I'm not asking them to be Dark like Dark Knight but they need to get the message why Pete fights.

Gwen is the most truest and simplistic way to do it. Her death was the foundation of what made him great as character.

To this Day Norman or Mary Jane don't mention her because they both understand how much she meant to him.

My only hope for a brand new day was that they would have had the balls to bring Gwen back. But whatever.

My point is that if you want to explain why he is a hero you need to see the rollercoaster that was life and times of Gwen Stacy.

But I guess kids these days would say she should have been Mary Jane because of the last three movie. :|


To your second point:

I never felt that Pete's jokes were meant to be funny. I always saw it as how in real life your in a bad situation or an awkward situation so you crack a joke to lighten to mood or to make the villain pause for a second.

I don't need a actor to be Dane Cook or what comedian is cool to the kids these days.

To me Pete is a average white dude who could be any kid in america who had to put up with retarded amounts of crap.

To me he is the every man that white media wants to portray as the wholesome guy that moms would want to date their daughters. Thats why I don't need an actor to be on one extreme or the other.

I would rather them go unknown all the way across the board.

Get some dude from Broadway who looks like young Nathan Fillion and get a random blonde actress thats in hollywood. Its not like Hollywood doesn't see a million hot blondes arriving everyday.

Now my fanboy crush pic for hot blonde would be Blake Lively. But she might be to well known.




Or maybe a lesser known blonde depending on who you ask.

Alyson Michalka




I hope they go the Lost/Burn Notice approach to casting.

Well BLake is playing the Green Lantern's girl in the new movie coming out next summer so she's out. The other chick is intriguing. As for Spidey the guy makes constant jokes and trashtalking part of his schtick so I always thought that was seriously lacking in the movies and I think it's more cause Tobey just couldn't realistically drop a joke as opposed to how it was written. Don't get me wrong I don't want it to become a comedy but it's just how the character has always been. Spidey was always kinda the opposite of Parker in his normal life. But I too would like to se the Gwen thing done right and from the beginning but it's probably too much for the average fan who think MJ was always the love of his life.