Tobey Maguire finally reacts to ‘Bully Maguire’ memes: ‘I did see the videos…’

Tobey Maguire plays mob boss James McKay in Damien Chazelle’s latest film Babylon alongside actors Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva. The actor took part in a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session at Reddit where he answered a number of questions from fans about his career. Tobey played Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and reprised his version of Peter Parker recently in the 2021 blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home along with Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield. (Also read: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse writers say Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield could appear in film)

In the Reddit session, one fan asked, “Hey, Tobey. How do you feel about all the memes that have been made about you throughout the years? Love them? Hate them? Neutral about them?” The actor replied, “Fairly neutral. I did see the Bully Maguire videos, which was a funny discovery.” Tobey referred to the memes that surfaced after Spider-Man 3 (2007) in which a darker side of Peter Parker is shown after being infected with Venom’s symbiote. Instead of being menacing, fans found this evil side of the iconic character, dressed in black, to be comedic. Thus, Bully Macguire was born.

The actor seems to have a good sense of humour and no hard feelings about his last turn as the superhero in Spider-Man 3 alongside Kirsten Dunst and James Franco. Additionally, another fan asked Tobey, “Piggybacking off this, have you seen the video of the little kid that dances like Peter from Spider-Man 3?” To which, Tobey responded, “Yes! Love him.” In the film, Peter is often arrogant and aggressive, and the most famous clip shows him performing the now-infamous dance. Tobey was also asked if he can still do the dance, he said, “Every morning when I wake up.”

Tobey started out as a child actor in the 1990s and acted in the critically acclaimed films The Ice Storm (1997), Pleasantville (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999), Wonder Boys (2000), and Seabiscuit (2003). He broke through with his portrayal of Spider-Man in Raimi trilogy and later appeared in selected films like Brothers (2009) and The Great Gatsby (2013). He was nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a prisoner of war. Tobey is also an executive producer on Chazelle’s Babylon.