Andrew Garfield was pushing Sony to bring Spider-Man into Marvel’s universe

There was much rejoicing when Spider-Man finally returned home to Marvel (although I guess a better term would be shared-custody) and Andrew Garfield, who played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the last two films, recently told Uproxx that he couldn't be happier that Sony has finally joined up with Marvel:

I’ve been petitioning to hook up with Marvel since the beginning, so I’m really glad they’re finally doing it.

Before what would have been THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3 was cancelled, Andrew Garfield revealed that he had begun to workshop ideas with Alex Kurtzman:

I was actually starting to workshop ideas with Alex Kurtzman, who was going to be writing it. We thought to kind of start from the base level, the foundational level of where have we left Peter and where do we want to see him go and what’s logical. And how do we build upon where we left off with this deep, desperate moment with Gwen? So, yeah, we got to some pretty heavy places and I was really excited to kind of explore it and be involved on the ground level like that. But, anyway, it wasn’t meant to be. As I say, I’m just really excited that I get to watch.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN wasn't a bad film and I quite liked Garfield in the role, but its sequel, despite a small handful of decent moments and finally getting the costume spot-on, unfortunately put the nail in Spider-Man's coffin; teaming up with Marvel was pretty much the only way Sony could save face. I had hoped that there would be some way for Andrew Garfield to continue playing Spider-Man for Marvel, but I'm opening up to the possibilities that a fresh start with a new actor (Tom Holland) will bring.

Our first solo SPIDER-MAN film with Tom Holland is set for a July 28, 2017 release, but our first look at the new Spidey will come in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR on May 6, 2016.