It seems there was some truth to the alleged rift between the Sony head and Andrew Garfield after all.

Before kickstarting their villain-centric cinematic universe with Venom, Sony’s initial plans involved building a shared universe revolving around Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man. Unfortunately, before the shared universe could even launch, Sony pulled the plugs off it after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to make it big at the box office, resulting in Garfield’s exit from the role.

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But TASM 2‘s failure might not be the sole reason why Sony opted to move into a new direction without the Oscar-nominated star per one leaked email, which Garfield didn’t completely debunk.

Andrew Garfield’s Exit Might’ve to Do with His Alleged Rift With Former Sony Boss

A still from The Amazing Spider-Man (via Sony Pictures Releasing)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s low box-office returns weren’t the biggest concern at the Sony headquarters in 2014. A malicious hacking group that identified itself as Guardians of Peace, leaked confidential data from the Industry giant, which involved an email implying the reason behind Garfield’s departure. Before Sony signed a deal with the MCU and allowed them to incorporate the webhead into their cinematic universe, the studio’s initial plans involved making TASM a trilogy.

According to the hacked email, then-Sony head Kaz Hirai dropped Garfield from the role after he failed to turn up for a Brazil event following his sickness, in which TASM 3 was set to be announced. On asked if the leaked email had merit or not, Andrew Garfield laughingly stated, “No, I don’t think so.” However, Garfield implied that he is proud of himself for never compromising, which he stressed might not have sat well with some people.
A still of Andrew Garfield from The Amazing Spider-Man (via Sony Pictures Releasing)
He said (The Guardian):

“What I’ll proudly say is that I didn’t compromise who I was, I was only ever myself. And that might have been difficult for some people.”

It appears that his aforementioned statement might be hinting towards the alleged rift between him and the former Sony boss, which could mean the leaked email might not be all fiddlesticks after all.

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Tom Holland Regretted Not Informing Andrew Garfield About Playing Spider-Man

Although we can’t know for sure if Garfield’s decision to prioritize his health might’ve cost him the Spidey gig, at the very least, he did get to reprise the role once more in No Way Home. But before joining forces with the other two live-action Peter Parkers, his successor Tom Holland shared regret over not informing Garfied about taking the gig of Spider-Man when he was 19.
A still from Spider-Man: No Way Home (via Sony Pictures Releasing)
He said (via THR):

“That’s because of my naivete as a kid. I was 19 when I got cast. I was so caught up in getting the role that I never took any time to think about what it must have been like for him. If I’d made my second movie and it didn’t necessarily deliver in the way it should have done and they recast me, I would really struggle to bounce back.”

But despite his guilt, Garfield didn’t hold any grudges against the MCU spidey, and the three of them, including Tobey Maguire, got along pretty well.

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The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 are available to rent on Apple TV.