''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (internationally titled ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro'') is a 2014 American
superhero film
A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...
based on the
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
character
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
. The film was directed by
Marc Webb
Marc Preston Webb (born August 31, 1974) is an American music video director and filmmaker. Webb made his feature film directorial debut in 2009 with the romantic comedy ''500 Days of Summer'', and went on to direct ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' in ...
and produced by
Avi Arad
Avi Arad (; he, אבי ארד; born 1948) is an Israeli-American film producer who became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, and the chairman, CEO, and founde ...
and
. It is the fifth
theatrical ''Spider-Man'' film produced by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
and
Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American show business, entertainment company (law), company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York (state), New York, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment ...
, the sequel to ''
The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' (2012), and the final film in
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' series. The studio hired
James Vanderbilt
James Platten Vanderbilt (born November 17, 1975) is an American filmmaker best known for the films ''Zodiac'' (2007), ''White House Down'' (2013), ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (2012), ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (2014), '' Independence Day: Resur ...
to write the screenplay and
Alex Kurtzman
Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the ''Star Trek'' franchise since 2009, co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers (film), Transformers'' (2007), ''Transformers: Revenge ...
and
Roberto Orci
Roberto Gaston Orcí (born July 20, 1973) is a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer. He began his longtime collaboration with Alex Kurtzman while at school in California. Together they have been employed on television s ...
to rewrite it.
The film stars
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time'' ...
as
Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside
Emma Stone
Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...
,
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...
,
Dane DeHaan
Dane William DeHaan ( ; born February 6, 1986) is an American actor known for his roles as Andrew Detmer in '' Chronicle'' (2012), Lucien Carr in '' Kill Your Darlings'' (2013), Harry Osborn / Green Goblin in ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (2014) ...
,
Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott (born July 19, 1961) is an American actor, producer and director. His roles include Steve Dunne in '' Singles'', Mark Usher in ''House of Cards'', Joseph Tobin in ''Damages'', and Richard Parker in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and ...
,
Embeth Davidtz,
Colm Feore
Colm Joseph Feore (; born August 22, 1958) is a Canadian actor. A 15-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries '' Trudeau'' (2002), his portrayal of G ...
,
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
, and
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...
. In the film, Peter Parker tries to protect his girlfriend
Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
as he investigates his parents' death while also dealing with the supervillain
Electro and the return of his best friend,
Harry Osborn
Harold Theopolis "Harry" Osborn is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first ...
, who is dying from a deadly genetic disease.
Development of ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' began after the success of ''The Amazing Spider-Man''. DeHaan, Giamatti,
Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tele ...
, and
Chris Cooper
Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), ''October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' Cap ...
were cast between December 2012 and February 2013. Filming took place in New York City from February to June 2013. The film was released in 2D,
3D, and
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
3D on May 2, 2014, in the United States with two international premieres being held between March 31 and April 10 of that year. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the chemistry between Stone and Garfield, action sequences, visual effects, direction, and Hans Zimmer's musical score, but criticized the screenplay, story, tone, and overabundance of plotlines. while Foxx's portrayal of Electro was met with mixed responses. Although it grossed $709 million worldwide, making it the
ninth-highest-grossing film of 2014, it earned $49 million less than its predecessor and is the lowest grossing live-action Spider-Man film to date, becoming a
box-office disappointment.
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' series was originally intended to continue with at least two more
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
s and several
spin-offs
Spin-off may refer to:
*Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity
* Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
, most notably films centered on
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
and the
Sinister Six
Sinister commonly refers to:
* Evil
* Ominous
Sinister may also refer to:
Left side
* Sinister, Latin for the direction "left"
* Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see de ...
. Due to the film's mixed critical reception and relatively disappointing box office performance, all subsequent installments were canceled. Both Garfield and Foxx reprised their roles in ''
Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021), which followed the events of this film, and linked it to the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
using the concept of the
multiverse
The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The di ...
.
Plot
Former
Oscorp
Oscorp (sometimes stylized as OsCorp), also known as Oscorp Industries, is a fictional multibillion-dollar multinational corporation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, predominantly in stories about Spider-Man. The compa ...
scientist and businessman
Richard Parker records a video message to explain his disappearance. He and his wife Mary Parker try to flee aboard a
private jet
A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...
that is hijacked by an assassin. The jet crashes, killing the couple.
In the present day, two years after his battle with
Dr. Curt Connors
The Lizard (Dr. Curtis "Curt" Connors) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #6 (November 1963) as an enemy of ...
, Richard and Mary's son, Peter, continues to fight crime as
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
and apprehends Russian criminal
Aleksei Sytsevich. Due to Peter's reservations about his relationship with his girlfriend
Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
since making a vow to her late father to stay away from her, Gwen ends their relationship after their high school graduation. Peter's childhood friend,
Harry Osborn
Harold Theopolis "Harry" Osborn is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first ...
, returns home to see his terminally sick father,
Norman Osborn
Norman Osborn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first ...
,
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Oscorp. He explains that his illness is genetic and Harry is at the age where it first develops. Norman dies, and Harry is appointed the new CEO.
While working in an Oscorp laboratory, mild-mannered electrical engineer
Max Dillon accidentally shocks himself and falls into a tank of genetically-engineered
electric eels
The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts ...
. They attack him and he mutates into a living electric generator. Meanwhile, Gwen tells Peter that she may move to England if she earns a scholarship to
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Unaware of the extent of his power, Dillon wanders into
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
, accidentally causes a
power outage
A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user.
There are many causes of power failures in an electricit ...
, and is stopped by Peter, as Spider-Man. Dillon is taken to the
Ravencroft Institute
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features.
Places
Certain places fe ...
, where he is studied by German scientist Dr. Ashley Kafka.
Meanwhile, the first symptoms of Harry's illness are showing, and he uses information Norman gave him to deduce that Spider-Man's blood could save him. He asks Peter, who has been selling photos of Spider-Man to the ''
Daily Bugle
The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most ...
'', to aid him in finding Spider-Man. Peter is unsure of what effects the transfusion would have and wary of the possibility of Harry suffering a mutation similar to Dr. Connors. He later refuses Harry as Spider-Man, angering him. Oscorp vice president Donald Menken frames Harry for covering up Dillon's accident, removes him as CEO, and takes control of Oscorp. Harry proposes a deal with Dillon, who now calls himself "Electro", to get back inside the Oscorp building. Electro agrees and kills Dr. Kafka.
Upon getting back into Oscorp, Harry finds the venom from the now-destroyed genetically altered spiders. However, after he forces Menken to inject him with the venom, it accelerates his illness and turns him into a
goblin-like creature, but the built-in emergency protocol in an armored suit restores his health. Meanwhile, Peter finds his father's secret lab in an abandoned subway station and learns that he had to flee because he refused to cooperate with Norman's plans to make biogenetic weapons with his research. Peter then discovers that Gwen was offered the Oxford scholarship. He professes his love for her, and they agree to go to England together.
When Electro causes another power outage, Peter and Gwen restore power and overload Electro's body, killing him. Harry, as the Green Goblin, arrives equipped with Norman's weaponry. Upon seeing Gwen, he deduces Spider-Man's secret identity and swearing revenge for being refused the blood transfusion, takes her to the top of a large clock tower. Peter manages to subdue the Green Goblin but is unable to save Gwen, who falls to her death. Guilt-ridden and depressed, Peter ends his career as Spider-Man.
Five months later, Harry is coping with the aftereffects of his transformation while being imprisoned at Ravencroft. His associate,
Gustav Fiers, visits him and the pair discusses forming their own
team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...
. Fiers orders Harry to start with Sytsevich, escaped from prison. Equipped with an electromechanical suit of armor, Sytsevich dubs himself the "Rhino" and rampages through the streets. Peter, inspired by Gwen's graduation speech, confronts him as Spider-Man.
Cast
*
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time'' ...
as
Peter Parker / Spider-Man:
An orphaned teenage boy who received spider-powers after being bitten by a genetically-altered spider. Peter first uses his powers to try to hunt down the
killer
A killer is someone or something that kills, such as a murderer or a serial killer.
Killer may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Killer (''Home and Away''), a character from ''Home and Away''
* Killer Kane, ...
of his uncle in ''
The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' but soon decides to use his powers to fight crime as the vigilante known as Spider-Man. Garfield explained that the suit that he would wear in the film would undergo a new design. Garfield hoped to bring back the theme of him being an orphan stating, "I wanna keep exploring that theme of being fatherless, being motherless, searching for purpose and finding a purpose within himself". He felt that it was his responsibility to take on the role and that he does not take it lightly.
**
Max Charles
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...
as young Peter Parker.
*
Emma Stone
Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...
as
Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
:
A high school student and Peter's love interest. When asked about Peter and Gwen's relationship in the sequel, Stone said, "She saves him more than he saves her. She's incredibly helpful to Spider-Man ... He's the muscle, she's the brains."
*
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...
as
Max Dillon / Electro:
An
electrical engineer
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
who works for Oscorp Industries and later transforms into a powerful, electrical creature following an accident, then taking the alias of "Electro". Foxx described the character as "a nobody" who initially idolizes Spider-Man. He develops an obsession with Spider-Man after being saved by him and obtains his powers through an accident at Oscorp involving
electric eel
The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts ...
s. Foxx stated that the character would be redesigned to be more grounded and that the villain's classic yellow and green suit would be omitted in favor of a modern look, as depicted in the film.
*
Dane DeHaan
Dane William DeHaan ( ; born February 6, 1986) is an American actor known for his roles as Andrew Detmer in '' Chronicle'' (2012), Lucien Carr in '' Kill Your Darlings'' (2013), Harry Osborn / Green Goblin in ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (2014) ...
as
Harry Osborn / Green Goblin:
Peter's best friend for 10 years and son of Norman Osborn. He was sent away to boarding school around the same time Peter's parents disappeared and met him for the first time there. He eventually assumes the role of the Green Goblin after injecting a special serum of spider venom into his body, initially injected to provide a cure, which instead turns him into a hideous, psychotic, goblin-like creature. As the Green Goblin, Harry dons a technological suit capable of healing him and can fly with the use of a large glider.
*
Campbell Scott
Campbell Scott (born July 19, 1961) is an American actor, producer and director. His roles include Steve Dunne in '' Singles'', Mark Usher in ''House of Cards'', Joseph Tobin in ''Damages'', and Richard Parker in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and ...
as
Richard Parker: Peter's deceased father.
*
Embeth Davidtz as
Mary Parker: Peter's deceased mother.
*
Colm Feore
Colm Joseph Feore (; born August 22, 1958) is a Canadian actor. A 15-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries '' Trudeau'' (2002), his portrayal of G ...
as
Donald Menken
M-11
Originally known as the Human Robot, the character was given the name "M-11" in the 2006 to 2007 ''Agents of Atlas'' miniseries as an allusion to its first appearance in '' Menace'' #11 from Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. ...
:
Oscorp's Vice President and Head of the Board. He is often in dispute with Harry over his capabilities of being a CEO to Oscorp, claiming that because Harry is a boy, he is incapable of leading the company.
*
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
as
Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino:
A Russian gangster killer for the
Russian Mafia
Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gr ...
who allies with Harry and receives a massive, well-armored, robot, rhino-like suit from him, deciding to call himself "the Rhino". Giamatti said of his character, "He's a Russian mobster. Russians are always good villains. I have an ability to just destroy things", he said. "My accent is pretty hammy. I loved doing it. It seemed to me like an opportunity to be as over-the-top hammy as possible. It was really fun."
*
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...
as
May Parker
Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
: Peter's aunt. Field was critical of the lack of depth in her role; during a 2016 appearance on ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
'', she said that "It's really hard to find a three-dimensional character in
he film
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
and you work it as much as you can, but you can't put 10 pounds of shit in a five-pound bag."
Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tele ...
portrays
Felicia Hardy, Harry's sidekick at Oscorp. While Jones was only credited as "Felicia" in the final film, her surname was presented as "Hardy" in a marketing video for the film's release on digital HD formats.
Marton Csokas
Marton Paul Csokas (, hu, Csókás Márton Pál; born 30 June 1966) is a Hungarian-New Zealand actor of film, stage, and television. A graduate of the Toi Whakaari drama school, he has worked extensively in Australia and Hollywood, along with ...
portrays
Ashley Kafka
Dr. Ashley Kafka is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in stories revolving around the superhero Spider-Man. Introduced in ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' #178 (July 1991), she was created by ...
, the head of
Ravencroft Institute
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features.
Places
Certain places fe ...
, and
B. J. Novak appears as
Alistair Smythe
Alistair Alphonso Smythe () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man, and the son of Spencer Smythe. After his father dedicated his lif ...
, Dillon's boss and an Oscorp employee. Kari Coleman, Charlie DePew,
Skyler Gisondo
Skyler Augustus Gisondo (born July 22, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''Licorice Pizza'', ''Booksmart'', and ''Vacation'', as well as the television programs ''The Righteous Gemstones'' and ''Santa Clarita Die ...
, and Jacob Rodier reprise their roles from
the first film
''The First Film'' is a 2015 British documentary film about cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince, made by David Nicholas Wilkinson. It argues the case that Le Prince, rather than the Lumière brothers, was the true inventor of moving pictures, making ...
as
Helen Stacy
Sabra
Sabreclaw
Sabreclaw is a character in the MC2 universe who first appeared in '' J2'' #8 (May 1999). He is the half-brother of Wild Thing and the son of Wolverine.
The character has claws (similar to Sabretooth), a healing factor, enh ...
, Philip Stacy, Howard Stacy, and Simon Stacy, respectively, with the latter being uncredited.
Chris Cooper
Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), ''October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' Cap ...
, who portrays
Norman Osborn
Norman Osborn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first ...
, the founder of Oscorp and Harry Osborn's father, and
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole (song), Assh ...
, who reprises his role as
George Stacy
George Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in stories depicting the superhero Spider-Man. He is Gwen Stacy's father and a former police captain from the New York City Police Departm ...
, appearing as a soul in Peter's visions, are also in uncredited roles. Spider-Man cocreator
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
has a cameo appearance as a guest at Peter and Gwen's graduation ceremony.
Michael Massee
Michael Groo Massee (September 1, 1952 – October 20, 2016) was an American actor. Active on screen during a three decade career, he frequently portrayed villainous characters. His film roles include Funboy in the dark fantasy ''The Crow'' (1994 ...
reprises his role as the "Man in the Shadows" from the first film, with the character now credited as "
Gustav Fiers (The Gentleman)".
Shailene Woodley
Shailene Diann Woodley (born November 15, 1991) is an American actress. Born in San Bernardino, California, Woodley was raised in Simi Valley, and started modeling at the age of four and began acting professionally in minor television roles. She ...
was cast as
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and made her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man' ...
before her scenes were cut from the final film.
Aidy Bryant
Aidan Mackenzy Bryant (born May 7, 1987) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the late-night variety series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), beginning in season 38, and leaving at the end of season 47. For her wo ...
appears as a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty.
Production
Development
The sequel's villain was teased in the 2012 film. Webb stated that the origin story would further unfold in the second installment.
In June 2012, Webb said he was unsure whether he would return, though it was confirmed on September 28, 2012, that he would return to direct the sequel.
He stated that he "wanted to create a universe that not only can withstand but anticipate future storylines" while also "working in and of itself for one movie."
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time'' ...
had also expressed hope to reprise his role, and in September 2012, it was confirmed that he would do so.
Emma Stone
Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...
was later confirmed to be reprising her role as
Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
, having signed a contract for two ''Amazing Spider-Man'' sequels.
[ The costume was completely redesigned to be more faithful to the comics, following the mixed reaction of the costume from the first film. The eye lenses were changed to be much larger and solid white, while specially screen printed fabrics were used to allow the color of the costume to change in different lighting scenarios. The web shooters were also modified to be more streamlined with the suit.
Actor ]J. K. Simmons
Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He ...
expressed interest in reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson
John Jonah Jameson Jr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and he ...
from Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy should the studio offer it to him. In October 2012, Electro was rumored as the next villain. Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...
was given the role. That December, Foxx confirmed that he was cast as the character, and during an interview with MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, explained that the redesign of the character would be more grounded as well as details of his depiction, which were based upon the Ultimate Marvel
Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring re-imagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Those characters in ...
incarnation of Electro. On December 3, 2012, Marc Webb revealed that Dane DeHaan
Dane William DeHaan ( ; born February 6, 1986) is an American actor known for his roles as Andrew Detmer in '' Chronicle'' (2012), Lucien Carr in '' Kill Your Darlings'' (2013), Harry Osborn / Green Goblin in ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (2014) ...
was chosen to play Harry Osborn
Harold Theopolis "Harry" Osborn is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character first ...
. Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
was confirmed as a cast member in February 2013. Felicity Jones
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones (born 17 October 1983) is a British actress. She started her professional acting career as a child, appearing in '' The Treasure Seekers'' (1996) at age 12. She went on to play Ethel Hallow for one series of the tele ...
confirmed her involvement with the film under an undisclosed role. Giamatti also indicated in an October 2013 interview that he would return in ''The Amazing Spider-Man 3'' as well. On February 27, 2013, Chris Cooper
Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), ''October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' Cap ...
was cast as Norman Osborn
Norman Osborn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first ...
.
By October 10, 2012, Shailene Woodley
Shailene Diann Woodley (born November 15, 1991) is an American actress. Born in San Bernardino, California, Woodley was raised in Simi Valley, and started modeling at the age of four and began acting professionally in minor television roles. She ...
was in talks for the role of Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and made her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man' ...
. By March 14, 2013, Woodley had concluded filming her small role. Garfield recalled, "I think all of hose sceneswere in our backyards. We had two or three scenes with me talking over the fence, and there was one with us riding together on a motorcycle that we never got to shoot."[ ] By mid-June, Mary Jane was cut from the film, with director Webb explaining it as "a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship."
Filming
On February 4, 2013, Marc Webb posted on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that principal photography had begun and that the sequel was being shot on 35mm film 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
in the anamorphic format
Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...
, instead of being filmed digitally as the preceding film was. Sony revealed this would be the first ''Spider-Man'' film to be filmed entirely in New York state, including a car-chase scene that was filmed in Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
because the speed laws are less restrictive in upstate New York.
It became the largest film production ever in New York state. The decision to film in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...
near the Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...
holiday caused some controversy, as critics believed that this was culturally insensitive, and would cause problems with parking. The filming company decided to work with the community and then agreed to adjust its production activities for Passover. The producers had assembled a 200-person crew for the 10-day shoot in Rochester, with a total number of 250 local crew members and 150 local extras. The prominent scenes were shot mostly on Main Street of Rochester and were digitally remastered to look like New York City.
On March 1, a scene within the movie was filmed in NYC Chinatown's Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Consequently, Doyers street was shut down for the day of filming, with the businesses on the street being compensated for the inconvenience.
On June 25, Webb posted on Twitter that filming was completed. Soundstage work was done at Grumman Studios Grumman Studios is a sound stage complex in Bethpage, New York, United States, that offers 160,000 square feet with seven sound stages and 30 acres of paved outdoor space.
Principal owner in the project is Parviz Farahzad whose production company ...
and Gold Coast Studios, both in Bethpage, New York
Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2010 United States Cen ...
, and at the Marcy Armory in Brooklyn.
Visual effects
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...
designed the CGI special effects for the film. The digital composition of the film, including the scene where the battle of Spider-Man and Electro in Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
, took one year to complete. The sets of Times Square were built in Gold Coast Studios with the green screens
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
and most of the scenes were digitally re-designed by computer. The photography and VFX team took over 36,000 photos of the Times Square in order to re-create the location digitally. In addition, the animation team captured over 100 billboards during the photography process.
The film was post-converted from 2D to 3D, in part because the production team wanted to shoot 35mm film 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film
* 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock
* 35MM 35 mm may refer to:
* 135 film, a type of still photography format ...
. Dan Mindel used Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 and 200T 5213, while the second unit shot day exteriors on Kodak Vision3 50D 5203. During the production, 20 layers of lightning CGI effects were applied to depict Electro. Jamie Foxx was photographed as Electro by the KNB EFX team and the skin colors used to show the moods of the character. A total number of 1,600 visual effects shots of the film was originally filmed in 2K resolution and then converted into 4K resolution with the help of Film colorization, color grading.[ To give the visual effects a realistic look, sound designers Addison Teague and Eric Norris and re-recording mixers Paul Massey and David Giammarco Audio mixing (recorded music), mixed the background music using Auro 11.1 Cinematic techniques#Sound, cinema sound technology and the film's soundtrack was remixed using Dolby Atmos, Auro, and Dolby Digital, Dolby 5.1.]
Post-production
The film was mixed in Dolby Atmos and Auro 11.1 in the converted William Holden Theater. The mix for both was completed by Paul Massey and David Giammarco.
A mid-credit teaser scene from ''X-Men: Days of Future Past'' was added to the film after its London premiere, due to an existing deal between Webb and 20th Century Fox, in which Fox allowed Webb to direct the film if Sony would promote the X-Men film for free. The scene, set during the Vietnam War, shows Mystique (comics), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), a rogue mutant, trying to infiltrate a military camp led by William Stryker (Josh Helman) in an attempt to recruit fellow mutants Havok (comics), Havok (Lucas Till) and Toad (Marvel Comics), Toad (Evan Jonigkeit). The scene's inclusion sparked confusion among some viewers in the United Kingdom, who thought it meant an X-Men–Spider-Man crossover film was being planned, based on how Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios (division), Disney use Post-credits scene, codas within the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
to promote future films.
Music
Webb then hired Hans Zimmer to compose the music for the film. On October 25, 2013, Pharrell Williams revealed to ''Billboard'' that he would co-compose the score with Zimmer. Webb and Zimmer formed a supergroup with Williams, Johnny Marr, Mike Einziger and former Eurythmics, Eurythmic, David A. Stewart, to create the music for the sequel. Eventually, Stewart did not participate in the film's music, and the supergroup, credited as ''The Magnificent Six'', a reference to the Sinister Six
Sinister commonly refers to:
* Evil
* Ominous
Sinister may also refer to:
Left side
* Sinister, Latin for the direction "left"
* Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see de ...
, was composed of Williams, Marr, Einziger, Junkie XL, Steve Mazzaro and Andrew Kawczynski assisting Zimmer. The soundtrack for the film was released on April 18, 2014, by Columbia Records and Madison Gate Records. Hans Zimmer described his work for this film as different from previous works by him, thus revealing one of the themes for the film, which was first heard on the website.
On March 31, 2014, Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar recorded a song titled "It's On Again", which was uploaded to SoundCloud. Keys announced the song on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and credited Zimmer and Williams, along with Lamar and herself for the song, indicating the song as a part of the film's soundtrack. Webb described the song as "upbeat and exciting".[
]
Marketing
The release of the film in the United Kingdom was moved to April 16, 2014, two days ahead of its original April 18 date. Deadline Hollywood, Deadline reported that, in addition to the production budget, the film's marketing budget was $180–190 million.
On July 17, 2013, Sony released a clip from the film with the first released footage of Jamie Foxx as Electro to encourage attendance at the panel, at the San Diego Comic-Con International. At the panel they premiered a four-minute trailer, which was not publicly released but eventually leaked on the internet. Viral marketing for the film included a version of the ''Daily Bugle
The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most ...
'' on the blogging service Tumblr, which included references to Kathryn Cushing (Marvel Comics), Kate Cushing, Sin-Eater (comics)#Stanley Carter, Detective Stan Carter, the "Frederick Foswell, Big Man", Isabel Bunsen (Marvel Comics), Izzy Bunsen, Joy Mercado (Marvel Comics), Joy Mercado, Donald Menken
M-11
Originally known as the Human Robot, the character was given the name "M-11" in the 2006 to 2007 ''Agents of Atlas'' miniseries as an allusion to its first appearance in '' Menace'' #11 from Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. ...
, the Vulture (Marvel Comics), Vulture, Hydro-Man, Spencer Smythe, Ned Leeds, She-Venom#Fictional character biography, Anne Weying, J. Jonah Jameson, Shocker (comics), Shocker, Alistair Smythe
Alistair Alphonso Smythe () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man, and the son of Spencer Smythe. After his father dedicated his lif ...
, Doctor Octopus, Eddie Brock, Enforcers (comics), The Enforcers, and Puma (comics), Puma. Marc Webb posted a photo on Twitter with a message written in Dwarven language revealing that the first trailer would debut prior to 3D screenings of ''The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug''.
On December 8, 2013, it was announced that new footage from the film would be presented during Times Square Ball, New Year's Eve festivities at New York City's Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
. The film was further promoted during the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) "Earth Hour" campaign. The cast was present at the launch of the 2014 event in Singapore. Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, Disney Consumer Products announced a merchandise product line for the film at the American International Toy Fair on February 17, 2014.
In March 2014, Gameloft and Marvel announced the launch of a mobile game The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014 video game), of the same name for smartphones and tablets. It was released on consoles afterward. Kellogg's released an application featuring the film. Evian served as a promotional partner of the film. On April 1, 2014, the brand released an advertisement "The Amazing Baby & Me 2" featuring Spider-Man and a baby version of him, as a follow-up to their original "Baby & Me" campaign. The film partnered with NBCUniversal for advertising. Spots for the film appeared on Bravo, E!, USA, Syfy, Telemundo, and mun2. A customized page was created on Fandango. In May 2014, Marvel announced that Spider-Man's costume from the film would be shown within ''Marvel: Avengers Alliance''.
Home media
''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for Digital distribution, digital download on August 5, 2014 and was released on Blu-ray, Blu-ray#Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on August 19, 2014. The Blu-ray/DVD release includes an alternate ending in which Peter Parker's father meets Peter at Gwen's resting place. Creative agency Deckhouse Digital was hired to produce several animated GIFs ahead of the film's Blu-ray/DVD release as part of a sponsored ad campaign on Tumblr.
''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' received a standalone 4K UHD Blu-ray release on March 1, 2016. The film was later included in ''The Spider-Man Legacy Collection'', a 4K resolution#Resolutions, 4K UHD Blu-ray collection which includes the first five Spider-Man films, and was released on October 17, 2017.
Reception
Box office
''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' grossed $202.9 million in the United States and Canada and $506.1 million in other countries for a worldwide gross of $709 million. ''Deadline Hollywood'' calculated the net profit of the film to be $70.38 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film, making it one of the top 20 most profitable releases of 2014.
The film grossed $8.7 million on its early Thursday night showings. It finished its opening weekend in first place with $91.6 million, almost $30 million more than the opening-weekend gross of the The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 film), first film. Upon opening, ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' had the second-highest domestic opening weekend for a 2014 film, behind ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier''. In its second weekend the film grossed $35.5 million (falling 61%) and dropped to second at the box office behind newcomer ''Neighbors (2014 film), Neighbors''. It was similar to the 61.5% second-week drop of ''Spider-Man 3'' (2007).
Outside North America, ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' opened on April 16, 2014 to $2.73 million in the UK and to $190,000 in Belgium, while opening to $1.44 million in Australia and $1.11 million in Germany. Within a few days, the opening gross in the UK increased to $15 million, breaking ''The Lego Movie''s record for having the country's largest opening weekend of the year. The film's release in India was the biggest opening weekend for an American film at that point with . Its final box office collection was $13.44 million there, one of the highest of all time by a Hollywood film. In China, the film played on 11,002 screens, which is the biggest release of any film in history. On its opening day in Hong Kong, the film earned $1.23 million, the highest opening gross in the territory.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' holds an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . This is to date the only film featuring Spider-Man to receive a "Rotten" rating on the website. The site's critical consensus reads, "While the cast is outstanding and the special effects are top-notch, the latest installment of the Spidey saga suffers from an unfocused narrative and an overabundance of characters." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 50 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, lower than the "A−" earned by its predecessor.
The ''Los Angeles Times'' said, "[The film is] overstuffed with plot lines, set pieces and villains, although stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone do their best to give the movie heart." Tim Robey of ''The Daily Telegraph, The Telegraph'' said, "Marc Webb's Spider-Man sequel is overstuffed with high-voltage villains, but the sparks between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone save the day". Simon Reynolds of ''Digital Spy'' said, "Peter's past, present and future all intertwine in a sequel that offers bang for your buck. That said you can't help [but] feel the franchise bean counters at work here thanks to all the ominous foreshadowing and unresolved character arcs. Too many cooks and all that ...". Kim Newman of Empire (film magazine), Empire scored the film three out of five stars, saying: "A few too-broad gags aside—and even these are in the funky spirit of '60s Marvel—this is a satisfying second issue with thrills, heartbreak, gasps, and a perfectly judged slingshot ending." Leslie Felperin of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' said, "The eponymous hero hits his super-heroic stride here, as does Andrew Garfield in the role, especially when Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker learns there's always some fine print in a contract with this many benefits. The plot gets itself tangled up in multiple villain strands, but in the main, this installment is emotionally weightier and more satisfying than its predecessor."
Guy Lodge of ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' said, "Redundancy remains a problem, but this overlong superhero sequel gets by on sound, fury, and star chemistry." Richard Roeper gave the film a B+, stating that "It's about 20 minutes too long and it's overstuffed with too many characters and too many subplots, but there's enough good stuff in ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' to warrant optimism about the next chapter of the franchise." A negative review came from Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'', giving the film two stars out of four, he said: "Things go wrong quickly with Amazing 2. Am I the only one who hates the word Amazing to describe a movie that isn't? Just asking." IGN reviewer Daniel Krupa gave 6.9/10 and wrote, "''Amazing Spider-Man 2'' gets a lot right, yet there's a constant awkwardness to the machinery of its plot; you can almost hear the cogs turning. However, what's worse is that at times it becomes overtly patronising: there are flashing screens and computer voice-overs constantly telling you what something is or what something is doing, just in case the people in the back rows aren't paying attention, which feels at odds with the film's emotional intelligence." William Harrison of DVD Talk rated the film as 3.5 stars of 5 stars as "Recommended".
Accolades
Future
Cancelled sequels and spin-offs
Sony had originally intended the film to launch an expansive film universe around Spider-Man to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
. In 2013, Sony announced a third ''Amazing Spider-Man'' film with a release date of June 10, 2016 with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner returning to write and a fourth film with a release date of May 4, 2018. The series was to include Spin-off (media), spin-off films featuring the Sinister Six
Sinister commonly refers to:
* Evil
* Ominous
Sinister may also refer to:
Left side
* Sinister, Latin for the direction "left"
* Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see de ...
and Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
, with Drew Goddard writing and directing the two-part ''The Amazing Spider-Man: Sinister Six'' and Kurtzman directing a ''Venom and Carnage (character), Carnage'' script co-written by himself, Orci, and Ed Solomon. ''Sinister Six Part 1'' had been planned for a November 11, 2016 release. Additionally, by August 2014, Sony had hired Lisa Joy to write the script for a 2017 female-lead film starring Black Cat (Marvel Comics), Felicia Hardy / Black Cat. Sony announced plans for a spin-off based on ''Spider-Man 2099'' to be released in late 2017. The character later appeared in the post-credits scene of ''Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'', voiced by Oscar Isaac.
However, between December 2013 and the release of ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' in May 2014, Garfield and Webb stated that while they would both return for the third film, neither was certain of their involvement in the fourth with Webb confirming that he would not be directing. Following the mixed critical reviews and franchise-low box office performance of ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'', the future of the franchise was unclear. By July 2014, Orci had left the third film to work on ''Star Trek Beyond'' (2016). ''The Amazing Spider-Man 3'', which would have included Chris Cooper
Christopher Walton Cooper (born July 9, 1951) is an American actor. He has appeared in several major Hollywood films, including '' American Beauty'' (1999), ''October Sky'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), ''Seabiscuit'' (2003), '' Cap ...
returning as Norman Osborn
Norman Osborn is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #14 (July 1964) as the first ...
and focused on Peter recovering from Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
's death, was delayed to an unspecified date in 2018, and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 4'' was moved to an unknown date.
Following the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, Emma Stone
Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...
was revealed to be in talks to return as a resurrected Stacy in the 2017 female-lead film and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 4'' as the antagonist Carnage. Sony was further revealed to be in talks to have Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
return to the franchise to direct a new trilogy for Peter Parker (Sam Raimi film series), his version of the character along with a ''Spider-Man vs. The Amazing Spider-Man'' movie and was in discussion with Marvel Studios about including Peter Parker (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
film ''Captain America: Civil War''. Marvel reportedly was unhappy with some of the terms of the proposed arrangement including the film rights staying with Sony and both talks allegedly ceased. In early 2015, a deal between the studios that allows Spider-Man to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was reached, effectively cancelling ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' franchise. Speaking to Amy Adams for Variety (magazine), Variety's Actors on Actors YouTube series in 2016 Garfield described himself as being left "heartbroken" by his experience on working on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' films.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures co-production, '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'', released in 2021. Being an adaptation of Marvel Comics' Multiverse (Marvel Comics), multiverse stories, it temporarily transported Features of the Marvel Cinematic Universe#Multiverse, alternate reality versions of Spider-Men and other characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This included characters from both movies in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' duology, as well as the Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi films, ''Spider-Man'' trilogy directed by Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
. Andrew Garfield
Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time'' ...
and Tobey Maguire reprised their roles as Spider-Man. ''No Way Home'' also included a roster of villains from earlier Spider-Man films; Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...
returned as Max Dillon as portrayed in this movie (although he looks more yellow instead of blue, and his outfit at the final battle resembles more closely that of the comics), along with Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina reprising their versions of Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series), Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius (film character), Otto Octavius from Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi films, Sam Raimi's trilogy. In limited roles involving voice acting and use of Stock footage, archival footage, Rhys Ifans reprised his role as Curt Connors (The Amazing Spider-Man film series), Curt Connors from ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and Thomas Haden Church returned as Flint Marko (Sam Raimi film series), Flint Marko.
Following the events of ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'', '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' depicts Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker as being haunted by his inability to save Gwen Stacy from her fall and ends up saving MJ (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Michelle Jones-Watson from a similar fate in that movie's climax.
See also
* List of films featuring powered exoskeletons
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Spider-Man 2014
2014 films
2014 3D films
2010s English-language films
2014 science fiction films
2014 science fiction action films
2010s superhero films
2010s American films
American 3D films
American science fiction action films
American sequel films
Biopunk films
Columbia Pictures films
Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department
Films about the New York City Police Department
Films scored by Mike Einziger
Films scored by Junkie XL
Films scored by Johnny Marr
Films scored by Pharrell Williams
Films scored by Hans Zimmer
Films about genetic engineering
American films about revenge
Films directed by Marc Webb
Films produced by Avi Arad
Films produced by Matt Tolmach
Films set in New York City
Films shot in New York (state)
Films shot in New York City
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