Everything About Tom Holland's Spider-Man Maguire And Garfield Would Be Jealous Of
Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man's life is much better than Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's lives as Spidey are, which they'll realize when they meet.
When Tom Holland's Spider-Man meets his predecessors, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's web-slingers, he might find they have lots of reasons to be jealous of him. Holland's Peter Parker debuted in 2016's Captain America: Civil War and has starred in two Avengers movies as well as his own wildly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe solo series. But Spider-Man 3 will reportedly open up the Spider-Verse and Holland will unite with Sony's prior web-heads, Maguire and Garfield.
Tobey Maguire starred in a pioneering and blockbuster trilogy of Spider-Man movies directed by Sam Raimi in 2002-2007 and Andrew Garfield headlined two Amazing Spider-Man reboots in 2012 and 2014. Maguire's films delved into every classic Spider-Man trope established by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Marvel Comics, while Garfield's movie duo followed a similar path but added new elements about Peter Parker's father's experiments as the cause of his radioactive blood and powers. But Holland's Spidey eschewed most of that, including Parker's famous origin story; instead, Holland's web-slinger was integrated into the MCU and the Avengers. Although Holland's wall-crawler hasn't had an easy time in his superhero career — Peter lost his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Spider-Man: Far From Home ended with J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) publicly outing his secret identity — Maguire and Garfield's Parkers would find Holland has it pretty good overall compared to the tragedies they've suffered through.
For one thing, Holland isn't the only superhero in his universe. Maguire and Garfield were each defined by the burdens of the great responsibility that came with their great powers, which they felt they had to carry alone, but Holland is surrounded by fellow heroes. In fact, Holland's Spider-Man is an Avenger and he can call upon any of them for help at any time. While Holland's Peter isn't rich by any means, he doesn't seem to have the daily struggles to make ends meet that Maguire suffered. Holland doesn't even have to worry about sewing his own costume since he has access to Stark Tech and wonderful toys Maguire and Garfield could only dream of. Holland certainly tries to be a hero who stands on his own, but when he needed help in the past, Iron Man, the Avengers, and even Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) had his back.
Holland also isn't perpetually lonely and hasn't had the heartbreaks that damaged Maguire and Garfield. At Midtown High, Holland's Peter is actually well-liked and surrounded by fellow geeks so he's had a comparatively positive high school experience, something neither Garfield nor Maguire can claim. Holland also has MJ (Zendaya Coleman) who finally became his girlfriend in Far From Home, and Holland's love life seems stable and hopeful, unlike the excruciating love triangle with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and Harry Osborn (James Franco) Maguire was mired in. Meanwhile, Garfield's love Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) died, which is a tragedy Holland hasn't had to face. Instead, Holland's MJ and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) knew he was Spider-Man and had his back. Holland's Peter didn't have to lie to his friends in the way Maguire did, and unlike Harry Osborn, Ned didn't resent Peter and try to kill him.
Although Holland's Uncle Ben is also dead, he doesn't seem consumed by guilt over it like Maguire and Garfield are. Even better, Holland's Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is much younger and healthier than Maguire and Garfield's mother-figures. In addition, Holland's May also knows he's Spider-Man so she's another person he can turn to for support. Plus May was being wooed by Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), who is also on hand in a pinch to help Peter out of any jam and bring the vast resources of Stark Industries to his rescue.
Finally, neither Maguire nor Garfield's Spideys ever left New York, but Holland's web-head is a world traveler who has even been to outer space. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Garfield's Parker planned to follow Gwen Stacy to London but he never made it there because she died. Meanwhile, Holland has visited Washington, D.C. and he's spun webs all throughout Western Europe, including Venice and London. Still, Maguire definitely has the edge in experience as Spider-Man, and Garfield has endured a lot of hard knocks and come out stronger for it. But when they meet Tom Holland's web-slinger in Spider-Man 3, Maguire and Garfield's Peter Parkers may just be consumed by the green-eyed monster when they realize how amazing Holland's Spider-Man's life in the MCU is compared to how they're forced to live in their universes.