Andrew Garfield credits Fela Kuti for how his Spider-Man moved

Andrew Garfield has credited Fela Kuti for the way his Spider-Man moved. The British-American actor told the music show Track Star that he made a playlist for the role and that Nigeria’s Afrobeat pioneer ended up at the centre of it.

Garfield said he started listening to Fela when he first got the part. “There was something about the sound and the rhythm that was really useful to me for that character,” he said. The full episode went up on Track Star’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, 2 September 2026. A short clip of the Fela section then spread on Nigerian X and Instagram on Tuesday, 29 September, and was picked up by Pulse Nigeria and Legit.ng.

The timing is neat. The Amazing Spider-Man came out in 2012, fifteen years after Fela died in Lagos. The man who took Afrobeat to the world ended up, in a small way, inside one of Hollywood’s most famous costumes.

What did Andrew Garfield say about Fela Kuti?

Garfield said Fela’s music helped him get into the body of Peter Parker and gave the character a justice-seeking streak, because Fela was a revolutionary. He told host Jack Coyne that he builds a playlist for every role he plays, and Fela went on the Spider-Man list as soon as he landed the part.

He went further than mood. “The way that I moved in that film in the suit has some inspiration from Fela and his music,” he said, according to the clip carried by Pulse Nigeria. The Fela track on the episode’s official track list is “Water No Get Enemy”, the 1975 song (listed there as “Water Get No Enemy”).

When did Andrew Garfield play Spider-Man?

Garfield played Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014, then came back for Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021 alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire. The Fela influence he describes goes back to the start, when he first got the part for the 2012 film.

He is also a two-time Oscar nominee, for Hacksaw Ridge and Tick, Tick… Boom!, which is why Track Star billed him as an Oscar-nominated actor.

Why does the Andrew Garfield and Fela Kuti clip matter to Nigerians?

It puts a Nigerian musician at the root of a performance watched by millions who may never have heard his name. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was born in Abeokuta in 1938, built Afrobeat from highlife, jazz and funk in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and spent decades clashing with military governments from his Afrika Shrine in Lagos.

The clip landed a little over two weeks before what would have been Fela’s 88th birthday, on 15 October. His sons Femi and Seun Kuti still tour, and the family runs the New Afrika Shrine in Ikeja.

What happens next

The full episode, Testing Andrew Garfield’s Music Knowledge, is free to watch on Track Star’s YouTube channel, which is available in Nigeria. As of 9:30pm WAT on Tuesday, 29 September, no response from the Kuti family had been reported. Fela’s birthday falls on Thursday, 15 October, the date the annual Felabration festival is built around. Whether The Amazing Spider-Man films are streaming in Nigeria right now is not confirmed.

FAQ

Did Andrew Garfield really say Fela Kuti inspired his Spider-Man?
Yes. He said it on the YouTube music show Track Star, in an episode released on 2 September 2026.

Which Fela Kuti song did Andrew Garfield choose?
The episode’s track list names Fela’s “Water No Get Enemy”, written there as “Water Get No Enemy”.

Where can I watch the Andrew Garfield Track Star interview?
The full episode is on Track Star’s YouTube channel, free to watch in Nigeria.

Which Nigerian song would you put on a superhero’s playlist? Tell us in the comments.

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