Andrew Garfield's Next TV Role Is A Doozy
One of the world's favorite Spider-Men just can't stay off of television. After appearing in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which was the biggest film of 2021, Andrew Garfield made the leap to the small screen this year in the crime thriller series "Under the Banner of Heaven." Playing a detective on a murder case that leaves him questioning faith and belief, the gig marked his first trip back to scripted TV since his appearance in the 2009 Channel 4 series "Red Riding."
Now, it appears he's ready to go back to the small screen again after the announcement that he has signed on to star in another limited series focusing on a real-life character that forever changed the business world. No stranger to playing groundbreaking personalities in the past, Garfield has stepped into the shoes of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Savarin in 2010's nearly-perfect film "The Social Network," played disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," and received an Oscar nomination for his turn as creative musical genius Jonathan Larson in "tick, tick... BOOM!" For his next endeavor, Garfield will be playing a British billionaire and one of the best-known entrepreneurs of our modern era. No pressure.
Andrew Garfield is going to play Richard Branson
According to Deadline, Andrew Garfield is set to star in an upcoming miniseries titled "Hot Air," which will see the actor taking on the role of Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Group. Adapted from Martyn Gregory's book "Dirty Tricks," with a script from "Paddington 2" scribe Jon Croker, the series will chronicle Branson establishing Virgin Airways, which took over the sky and, in turn, the competition's airspace in an unexpected fashion.
As outlined by Deadline, the series is expected to cover a period of corporate competition and attempted sabotage between the newly established Virgin Airways and legacy airline British Airways, which saw the latter planting spies in Branson's organization and launching public smear campaigns. So far, so "Social Network," right? As if that didn't all already sound exciting enough, "Deadpool 2" director David Leitch will be helming the series.
The only question is where we're going to see it. Currently, various platforms have their eye on the story, so it all depends on who coughs up the most cash. It's just business, after all.