Luca Guadagnino wanted to direct this Spider-Man film because he’s ‘kind of a megalomaniac’

Luca Guadagnino, who brought us Queer and Challengers this year, wanted to direct a Spider-Man superhero film.

Speaking at the Marrakech Film Festival, in Morocco, where he was heading the jury, Guadagnino said he wanted to direct 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man.

The film starred Andrew Garfield, who was also on the film jury, as was Saltburn‘s Jacob Elordi.

Garfield, who played the webbed wonder and his alter ego Peter Parker in a sequel in 2014, before making a surprise return as one of three Spideys in 2021’s No Way Home, was asked about the role and admitted: “I had to work very hard to have less people ask questions about Spider-Man.”

According to Variety, Guadagnino replied that he found Spider-Man a “fascinating superhero”, adding: “I remember when Sam Raimi directed his first one [2002’s Spider-Man], and I was 28 or 29. I had these dreams because I’m kind of a megalomaniac, and I wished I had been asked to do one.

“I wish I had directed you in Spider-Man,” he told Garfield.

Hacksaw Ridge star Garfield noted that he was “grateful for that time” because “it allowed [him] to maybe have an easier shot at working with people like Martin Scorsese soon after”.

He went on to say: “I think Marty probably was able to get a passion project made with a guy who played Spider-Man to play a Jesuit priest in 1600s [Scorsese’s 2016 film Silence]. The fact that that film got made with the help of Spider-Man is a beautiful thing.”

Garfield is set to be seen in Guadagnino’s thriller After the Hunt, opposite Pretty Woman and The Normal Heart star Julia Roberts and The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri.

After the Hunt is a dramatic thriller that revolves around a college professor (Roberts) whose personal and professional life is thrown into turmoil when a star pupil accuses a colleague of misconduct.

Speaking about the upcoming film, Garfield said: “Luca and myself, we’ve been trying to work together for 15 years and, finally, we managed to this summer.”

Also on the jury was Saltburn‘s Jacob Elordi, who said that he too wanted to work with the likes of Guadagnino, and there rumours that he will star in the Italian director’s reboot of American Psycho.

However, Elordi responded to the rumours with a smile, saying: “That’s news to me.”

Bret Easton Ellis’ tale was considered both ground-breaking and controversial when it was published in 1991, telling the story of an investment banker turned serial killer.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.