It's very difficult to not look at The Amazing Spider-Man series as the awkward middle child of Sony's film franchise. The series wasn't disastrous by any means; both films were financially successful (although both grossed less than Sam Raimi's precedessors), and stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone won many over with their onscreen chemistry, along with Garfield's delivery of a wisecracking wall-crawler that Tobey Maguire never quite hit the mark with. However, there were also several questionable creative decisions made by the writing team and the studio that didn't sit well with fans and critics, including a retread of the origin story, flat villains, a weird subplot with Peter's parents, and too much focus on setting the stage for sequels or spinoffs, just to name a few.
With Spider-Man entering the MCU in Spider-Man: Homecoming this July, Collider sat down with Amazing Spider-Man series director Marc Webb for a retrospective look at the series. All in all, Webb told the website he took a lot of pride in both films, specifically the ambition of the second installment. "It’s hard for me to think about it, in terms of regrets. There are so many things that I’m proud of. There was an ambition with the second movie, in particular. The idea that it’s a superhero that can’t save everybody is something that I’m really proud of. I’m really proud of the ambition of that because it’s an important message, and I believe in that. I believe in what we were after. They’re really, really difficult movies to make. They’re complex in ways that people don’t fully understand. They weren’t disasters."
"But in terms of regrets, I don’t think of it in those terms," he continued. "I felt really, really fortunate to have that opportunity. That’s a whole other long, in-depth conversation that I probably shouldn’t have publicly. I loved everybody involved. I really did. I didn’t have an adversarial relationship with the studio, at all. There were a lot of very smart people. These are just incredibly complicated movies to make. I am proud of them, in many ways, and I stand by them. I’m certainly not a victim, in that situation."
While the series concluded fairly abruptly with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony had planned for a third installment before the company was hacked. According to Webb, he didn't have any villain or story ideas in mind, as the studio was focused on making their spinoff focusing on the villainous Sinister Six. "We finished the second one and they were working on Sinister Six, so we all took a break. And then, the Sony hack happened and everything went away. But, that’s the way Hollywood works sometimes."
What are your thoughts on The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel? Let us know in the usual place!
About The Author:
Matt is a graduate of the Ryerson University School of Journalism, and has been a fan of superheroes since he picked up his first comic book issue as a child. While he works as a professional musician, Matt has a massive passion for comic books, films and heroes, along with participating in discussion and debate with the CBM community.