Apr 4th 2012 By: Andy Khouri

Andrew Garfield on Spider-Man as Metaphor for Internet Trolling

Obviously Peter Parker is going to behave differently as Spider-Man than he will in his nerdy, unmasked idiom, but the Amazing Spider-Man sizzle previewed for the press last month featured a wall-crawler whose behavior went beyond the typical boundaries of vigilante bravado; something I described as "epic spider trolling." I was referencing a scene that's since surfaced of Spider-Man giving some foolish criminal a bit of the business, but a new interview with Amazing star Andrew Garfield confirms that the darker(/funnier) nature of internet anonymity is something he built into his performance as Spider-Man.

Read the actor's remarks below, where you'll also find a new high-resolution image of Hollywood's latest Spider-Man.

On sale now, the latest issue of SFX features expansive coverage of the new Mark Webb film based on the Marvel Comics superhero created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. Besides an interview with Amazing Spider-Man producer Matt Tolmach on the Lizard villain's dramatic role in the story, the feature also includes a chat with star Andrew Garfield about his work on the film. As excerpted on the SFX website, Garfield compares the change Peter Parker experiences when he puts on his mask to the "power" of message board anonymity.

You feel the power of it, the power of not being seen, the power of the mask. Peter becomes witty when he's got that protective layer. It's like he's on a message board. He's got the anonymity of the Internet within that suit, and he can say whatever the hell he likes, and he can get away with anything. He can f**k with people and there's no consequences because nobody knows who the hell he is. We all know how powerful and potentially dangerous that anonymity is.

Garfield is likely speaking to something more dramatic and complex than the surface-level dickery that amused me about this comically juvenile scene -- and I truly hope his remarks spark some debate in the comments below about the tyranny of nonanonymity (which is something I feared and hated until I started writing things that anonymous people disagreed with) -- but hey, let's watch it again anyway.

"Oh, it's so simple."

And here's a new high resolution image, courtesy of Comic Book Movie. Click to enlarge.

The Amazing Spider-Man opens July 3.

[Via io9]

Tags: amazing spider-man - AmazingSpider-man - andrew garfield - AndrewGarfield - anonymity - spider-man - trolling - trolls

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Lugh

Garfield must have taken jerk lessons from Denis Leary.

April 05 2012 at 11:34 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Lugh's comment

Thad

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Sometimes he parks in handicapped spaces
While handicapped people make handicapped faces
Look out! Here comes the Spider-Man.

April 05 2012 at 12:34 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

Elleohelle

I know that's what it was like in the comics, but I can't stand the webslingers. Having magical spinnerets in his wrists may have not made any sense, but to me it felt more natural (or was more easily to suspend disbelief about) than a highschool / college student creating them in, what, his school science lab? His garage?

April 05 2012 at 4:32 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

3 replies to Elleohelle's comment

Elias Algorithm

There was a comic a little while back, sort of a What If where Uncle Ben lived and Peter explains to him that he's Spider-Man and the dialogue was something to the effect of "The mask is very liberating. There should be rooms where everyone just gets to anonymously be jerks to each other."

April 04 2012 at 11:25 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Morgan R. Runice

You can't deliver 500 million one liners without making a few enemies.

April 04 2012 at 9:33 PM Report abuse Permalink +3 rate up rate down Reply

Mr. Komodo

So much better. That was one thing Raimi never got right.

Parker's internal monologue is all angsty and whiny. The words that make it all the way out of his mouth are Don Rickles-level one-liners.

Course, maybe that was Maguire's fault, not Raimi. Not sure Tobey can say anything without it sounding whiny.

April 04 2012 at 4:26 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Mr. Komodo's comment

Thad

He got a couple good one-liners out in the Raimi movies, but yeah, not nearly enough.

On a related note, I think the new cartoon series is off to a great start. Goofy as hell, but I don't see anything wrong with that in a Spider-Man show.

April 04 2012 at 5:03 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Greybeard

I definitely agree that the movie Spider-man, by the end of movie 3 was a different character than the comic. I personally thought it was great, and made sense in the trajectory of the films' story.

But in movie 1, Spidey was jokey as hell. He really did quip during most of his featured scenes in costume. By movie 2, the trajectory went a little more dramatic, and movie 3 is practically a tragedy (not as in it's a bad movie, as in it is what's known as a tragedy in drama). I think the Raimi movies do take from the source material significantly - I mean really, the first decade of Spider-man stories is a non-stop onslaught of misery and bad luck as much as Spidey is loving life. By movie 2, the comedy extended to the whole film, not just his character.

April 04 2012 at 11:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Greybeard's comment

Thad

I can't think of any point where he was jokey in the first movie except the scene in the Bugle office.

Dude was cowering in fear of that ridiculous Green Goblin mask. Comic Spidey would have been pointing and laughing.

April 05 2012 at 12:37 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down

Greybeard

I think if you care to, check the movie out again. Most scenes where he's Spider-man, he's throwing a joke in there somewhere, or at least being irreverent. I don't remember him cowering in fear of the Goblin mask at any point. I remember he is shocked by it during the burning house scene - right before he makes a few jokes at the bad guys expense.

April 05 2012 at 12:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down

aaroncolter

On the Internet, no one knows you're a spider.

April 04 2012 at 3:15 PM Report abuse Permalink +4 rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to aaroncolter's comment

Ben Siegel

They don't call it the "World Wide Web" for nothing.

*rimshot*

April 04 2012 at 9:17 PM Report abuse Permalink +3 rate up rate down Reply

Joshua

I want to see him writing in a diary saying to himself "dear diary, I think I have a crush on Kyle, also I'm spiderman". Like the meme.

April 04 2012 at 3:05 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply

Space Cobra

Masks have always done that, even in the theater. I know Andrew Garfield didn't feel "comfortable" wearing the suit because of his lack of wearing anything else under it, but it was his decision and based on his performance and even some of his reactions, I am not surprised by this direction.

And really, if you take a look at the comics, Peter and Spidey are almost totally different individuals personality-wise. We could get into a discussion about how masks can be "free and liberating" or his powers had something to do with that (probably both did), but this tact isn't a bad decision. While I wouldn't have chosen to go full-on "internet troll" if I were the actor playing Spider-Man, I can't really fault it. I think it's a good decision and let's see how it comes out on-screen.

April 04 2012 at 2:58 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Space Cobra's comment

Greybeard

I have seen this interpretation pop up a lot lately around the interwebs, and it's an interesting on to contemplate - the idea that Spider-man and Peter Parker have two different personalities and that the mask frees him. I don't think this is true. I totally agree with the idea that after he became Spider-man, Peter seemed to become more liberated (based on what little we knew of him before he was bitten barring retcon). But honestly, in the original comics, he was not THAT different when he was Spider-man vs Peter.

He was always a trash talker as Peter. He got into as much **** as Peter than he did as Spidey. He tells just as many jokes as Spider-man does. He's even known as being a bit of badass professionally, because he's always getting those crime photos (it's the reason his first girlfriend and him break up). And in any given situation where he's not running off to be Spider-man he is just as willing to help people out. Sure, he had to downplay his physical abilities and act sick or scared occasionally, but that's just secret identity stuff.

What I mean to say is, Peter and Spider-man are exactly the same post spider bite, it's not a Clark/Superman, Bruce/Batman thing. When he wears the costume, it's definitely helpful in helping him deal with his guilt and all the other fun emotional stuff Spidey is known for. However, artistically, especially considering this movie is attempting to distinguish itself from other films and the source material and it is his origin story, it's totally a great idea to get out there. It makes sense the mask would have an effect on him when he starts out, but that initial spider-confidence was quickly infectious.

April 04 2012 at 11:40 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply