Andrew Garfield played Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, offering several impressive displays of power across the two movies. Despite only having two installments, the Amazing Spider-Man franchise has persevered in modern cinema. Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man movies were unfortunately cut short in favor of an MCU reboot, yet the actor reprised his role for Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, making Garfield an official part of the MCU’s Spider-Man timeline.
When watching the Marvel movies in order, Garfield’s No Way Home appearance makes him a vital part of the 27th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Garfield’s appearance in the film led many to call for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 to be greenlit, giving the character the send-off many would argue he deserves. While it is unclear as of yet whether this will happen, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 still offer plenty to love about Garfield’s iteration of the Web-Slinger, including a handful of impressive feats of strength.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Rips The Lizard’s Tail Off
The main antagonist of the first Amazing Spider-Man movie is The Lizard. After the friendly Dr. Connors transforms himself into a giant Lizard, he often clashes with Spider-Man, forcing the latter to utilize all of his strength to defeat the former. One such display of strength is somewhat of an accident, yet no less impressive. During a fight in Peter’s high school, the hero clings onto The Lizard’s tail with such force that it rips off entirely, leading the reptilian villain to grow another. While not intentional by Peter, the power it must have taken to clutch the tail enough for it to be ripped free cannot be overstated.
Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker Breaks A Subway Hand Pole
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
More so than the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man highlights the ways in which everyday life would be affected by having the strength of the Web-Slinger. Shortly after Garfield’s Peter is bitten by the radioactive spider, he is antagonized on the subway by a group of men. In the ensuing scuffle, Peter unwittingly sticks to a subway hand pole and yanks it completely free of its fastenings. Subway poles can withstand a lot of people holding on to them at the same time, making Peter’s ability to pull it free with ease and without intention an impressive display of Spider-Man’s power.
Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker Bends A Goalpost With A Football
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Much like breaking the subway pole, The Amazing Spider-Man continues to show how Peter’s upgraded reflexes and strength alter his school and home life. At one point, Peter is sitting on the bleachers with Gwen Stacy when a football is hit towards them. Peter catches the ball without looking which alone is an impressive display of Spider-Man reflex-related power. After doing so, Peter mindlessly throws the football back toward the field, only with enough power for it to smash into the goalpost and bend it in half, outdoing his ability to break a subway train.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Defeats The Rhino
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Interestingly, the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home confirmed that one of Spider-Man’s greater feats of strength from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 happened off-screen. At the end of the latter movie, Garfield’s Spider-Man confronts the Rhino, with the film ending right as the hero engages his enemy. Spider-Man: No Way Home confirms Peter survived this attack, thus meaning he managed to defeat the Rhino. Given the Rhino’s extremely formidable exoskeleton, defeating this villain is no small feat of power.
Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker Breaks A Basketball Hoop
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
One other everyday aspect of Peter’s school life that was affected by being Spider-Man was his relationship with Flash Thompson. After being bullied by Flash for years, Garfield’s Peter opts to get his own back in The Amazing Spider-Man. After humiliating Flash using his newfound powers of sticking to objects and reflexes, Peter dunks a basketball on Flash, only to completely break the hoop. Basketball hoops are constructed to hold the weight of men much taller, bigger, and stronger than Peter’s normal self, meaning the Spider-Man power on display to completely demolish one is higher-ranked on this list than many may have first thought.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Defeats The Green Goblin
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
At the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter battles against the Green Goblin who is hellbent on killing Gwen Stacy. The overall fight is a good display of Peter’s power, while not containing any one aspect that stands out above the rest. From Peter’s durability to withstand high falls and the Goblin’s attacks to the agility shown by utilizing webs to ultimately defeat the Goblin, the feats of strength on display are evident. Similarly, Peter’s focus is clear to see throughout the scene as he simultaneously battles Goblin, keeps Gwen from falling initially, and stops the clock tower from activating, all highlighting Spidey’s power.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Recharges The Oscorp Power Grid & Defeats Electro
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
One of the more impressive feats of durability-based power in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes as Peter battles against Electro, shortly before his fight with Green Goblin. In order to defeat Electro, Spider-Man uses his webs to pull together the electrical pipelines of Oscorp’s power grid which alone requires a lot of strength. Peter then holds the webs together and directs them at Electro as Gwen turns on the power, shocking Spider-Man in a bid to overcharge Electro and dissipate the latter’s energy. Spider-man withstands the electrical current generated by the power grid all while holding his webs together, defeating Electro once and for all.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Saves A Child From A Burning Car
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The scene in The Amazing Spider-Man in which Peter realizes the titular hero can be a beacon of hope for New York is one of the film’s best and also houses the third most impressive display of power from Garfield’s iteration of the character. The scene involves The Lizard’s first rampage on the Williamsburg Bridge in which the creature throws multiple vehicles over the side, tumbling towards the East River. Spider-Man arrives and webs the cars to the bridge before being made aware that someone’s son is still inside one of the vehicles.
Spider-Man descends the web and begins helping the child, Jack, escape the vehicle. Eventually, the car pulls free from the web meaning Peter has to stop the car from falling into the river with one hand. This is undoubtedly one of the purest displays of power Spider-Man has shown across all live-action films, which is only improved by Peter using his strength and reflexes to eventually save Jack, thus becoming the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man for the first time.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Catches A Cop Car
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Similar to Garfield’s Spider-Man saving Jack, the second most impressive display of power from the character involves another car. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man’s first confrontation with Electro comes at Times Square. At one point, Electro lets out a surge of power which flips all the cop cars in his vicinity backwards. Spider-Man arrives, catching one of the cars in midair and saving a group of sightseers nearby. The strength it would require to catch a car anyway is remarkable, yet the cop car in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is being propelled quickly by Electro, making the feat even more spectacular.
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Stops A Crashing Bus
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Coming in as the strongest display of power shown by Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man is the character stopping a crashing bus. The opening sequence of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 shows Spider-Man foiling a plan by Aleksei Sytsevich before he becomes the Rhino at the end of the film. Sytsevich is shown rampaging through New York City in an armored Oscorp truck, plowing through vehicles and endangering the lives of civilians.
At one point, Sytsevich crashes into a bus which threatens to tip over, injuring everyone inside and people on the sidewalk. Spider-Man then flips over the bus and catches it before it tips, slamming his feet into the concrete in an effort to stop the vehicle from crashing. The bus is naturally much heavier than the cars from Peter’s other displays of power, as evident by the ground beneath Spider-Man’s feet cracking as he tries to stop the bus. However, Spider-Man manages to save everyone involved, proving to be the most impressive display of power found in Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies.