Three flops in a row for Andrew Garfield, and the one thing that would fix it is the suit he says he is done with
Andrew Garfield’s recent run of theatrical setbacks might leave him leaning on his superhero franchise for a much-needed lifeline.
If you go back to those days when Andrew Garfield first waltzed onto the screen as Spider-Man, there was plenty of drama both on and off camera. The poor bloke’s stint in the Spidey suit was cut short, in no small part because The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tried to cram enough setup for three franchises into the space of a single film. Not only did it overshadow one of the character’s most emotional comic arcs, but it helped kick the franchise into what’s now become Marvel's multiversal free-for-all.
Garfield finally got his applause in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), pitching up alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire for that crowd-pleasing, dimension-hopping sendoff. The fans went absolutely mad for him; it was the sort of ovation you’d get at Wembley after a penalty shootout. The film itself was a juggernaut, clearing over $1.9 billion worldwide. Since then? Garfield’s had a rougher go of it. No gigantic Marvel-machine to help him rake in the cash, just a string of earnest performances… and unfortunately, not a lot of punters at the box office.
Andrew Garfield’s last proper theatrical hit before this recent slump was We Live in Time (2024), which turned a $20 million budget into $58.6 million worldwide.
Recent Box Office Bombs
Garfield’s latest offering, The Uprising (2026), opened last Friday, and it’s already sinking fast. This one’s a historical epic riffing on the real-life rebellion said to have inspired Robin Hood. Decent pedigree, mind you – Paul Greengrass both wrote and directed, with names like Tom Hollander, Jamie Bell, Stephen Dillane, and Katherine Waterston alongside Garfield. Still, the film’s reviews have been squarely mixed – it’s floating around 52% from critics and 65% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe the weirdly coy marketing around its Robin Hood roots didn’t help, or the lukewarm word of mouth, but in the end it hauled just $3.25 million on opening weekend, against a $20 million budget.
- The Magic Faraway Tree (2026): Family fantasy with Claire Foy, adapted from Enid Blyton. Critics (79%) and audiences (80%) actually liked this one, but still, box office was a flop – $34.9 million worldwide on a reported $35 million budget.
- After the Hunt (2025): Psychological thriller directed by Luca Guadagnino, starring Ayo Edebiri, Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Julia Roberts. Tanked with critics (36%) and audiences (39%), and bombed at the box office – budget was somewhere between $70–80 million, global take just $9.4 million.
It all makes for grim reading if you’re Team Garfield. Not every actor can live on Spider-Man nostalgia alone, and these results are about as far from friendly neighbourhood as you can get.
There Is Hope, Apparently
If you’re looking for signs of life, We Live in Time remains the last release of his with what you’d call healthy receipts in cinemas – largely off the back of his on-screen chemistry with Florence Pugh. 79% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, 83% from audiences, $58.6 million at the global till. Not exactly dominating the box office, but compared to recent outings, practically a blockbuster.
On TV, Garfield did snag an Emmy nomination for Under the Banner of Heaven (2022), and he’s signed up for Wild Things, a miniseries where he'll play Roy to Jude Law’s Siegfried. But for proper big screen redemption? That could come very soon.
Artificial, out this Christmas, is the next project everyone’s looking at. It’s a biopic of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, once again directed by Luca Guadagnino. There’s a stack of talent attached – Monica Barbaro, Chris O'Dowd, Mark Rylance, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Billie Lourd, the works. The film got thrust into the news for the oddest reason: Amazon abruptly dumped it after investing in OpenAI, claiming that wasn’t the reason, but nobody’s really buying that. The project was left homeless for a bit until Neon rescued it in late June, and now it’s lined up to premiere at the New York Film Festival before a Christmas Day release and wider January rollout.
All the Oscar-bait boxes are being ticked: real-life tech mogul, buzzy director, controversy, ensemble cast – the sort that gets campaign strategists all hot under the collar. No reviews yet, but at the very least you can say it probably won’t get lost in the Christmas rush.
Will He Ever Be Spider-Man Again?
Meanwhile, Marvel is charging towards Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars — and the multiverse makes it dead easy for literally anyone to reappear, alternative timelines and all that. Garfield’s return is absolutely doable in theory; the groundwork’s all there post-No Way Home, but don’t believe any chatter until there’s an actual announcement. Tom Holland just anchored another monster hit with Brand New Day, so there’s little pressure on Sony to rush a Garfield solo Spidey sequel. There was idle chatter about it after No Way Home blew up, but as usual, nothing official. And while the recent fashion is for characters (see: Chris Evans as Johnny Storm in Deadpool & Wolverine) to show up unexpectedly, Garfield himself says he’s not returning… though he does add the predictable bit about being open to the right story. Would it save his box office streak? Maybe, but as things stand, all bets are on Artificial putting him back in awards contention and getting crowds back to the cinema.
Read more: Nicolas Cage's Spider-Noir picked up 11 Emmy nominations. Prime Video killed it anyway.