Comic Con: Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 Panel with Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx and Marc Webb

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Production on THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2 has been interesting to say the least. From countless set pics of nerdy Jamie Foxx and pantsless Paul Giamatti to unending behind-the-scenes speculation involving Mary Jane and the growing number of villains, there was plenty that could be addressed during Sony's panel. And everyone involved did the best to get the Hall H fans really, really excited.

Director Mark Webb took the stage along with producers Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad and actor Dane Dehaan. If some major names seem to be missing, there's a reason. When they called Andrew Garfield, the moderator was told he was still outside. Cut to a "live" video outside the Convention Center where Spider-Man is on the roof of the Hard Rock Hotel across the street trying to make his way to the panel—jumping off roofs, crawling up walls, etc. When he gets to the entrance of Hall H, like many Con-goers, he gets turned away and told he needs to get in the back of the line. When Spidey tells the guy he's Spider-Man, the security guard says "Yeah, and there's 10 of you inside already."

Eventually Spidey uses his powers to get inside and Andrew Garfield took the stage in character—costume and all. Garfield was in his element here as the wisecracking wall-crawler, constantly improv-ing during the panel ("Who's Andrew Garfield? I thought Eduardo Saverin played me." "Ooh, Emma Stone…she's hot!") Though Stone herself couldn't be there, she did film a video on location in France—only to be interrupted by static and a menacing voice singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider." This was obviously Jamie Foxx's cue to come out.

After Spider-Man told Foxx how much he loved DJANGO UNCHAINED (to which the actor appropriately responded "I like the way you die, boy"), Foxx talked a little bit about the character and what drew him to the role. He said he was literally having a Spider-Man themed birthday party for his daughter when he got the call asking if he wanted to be Electro. So it was a pretty easy decision once his little girl said she wanted to see him "get his ass kicked" by her favorite superhero. Foxx said he's playing Electro as a very serious villain, someone who's betrayed by love, family and work—a pathetic man whose own mother forgets his birthday. So when he gets his electrical powers, all he cares about is "burning the city down and burning "Spider-Man" along with it.

Marc Webb expressed his relief at being done with the origin, so they could move on to the more liberating fun part story. He said at the beginning of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, the title character is just having fun being Spider-Man and maybe getting a bit too cocky. With that Webb announced that they had just wrapped production a few days prior, but they brought along some rough footage to show the fans. Here's a recap:

It opens with a truck being driven by Paul Giamatti, who's being chased by an army of police cars. Soon Spider-Man swings down and surfs on the cop cars a bit until he catches up with Rhino. Through narration, Peter Parker says, "Know what I love about being Spider-Man? Everything." He then confronts Giamatti, using his webs to criss-cross his arms and pull down his pants, much like those infamous set photos. During this we also see a humorous scene with Peter wanting to do his laundry and Sally Field's Aunt May saying the last time he did he "turned everything blue and red."

Next we see Spider-Man saving a pre-Electro Max Dillon. A clearly depressed Dillon seems to be in awe of Spidey after he tells Max, "You're not a nobody; you're a somebody. You're my partner—my eyes and ears out here." There's random shots of Gwen Stacey saying "I love that you're Spider-Man, but I love Peter Parker more" and Aunt May saying "You don't have forever."

Then came the more interesting footage. We see Jamie Foxx at work in his job at Oscorp, when he falls in to a tank of electric eels. (Presumably, this is what turns him in to Electro?) We then see our first glimpse at Harry Osborn (Dan DeHaan) visiting his sick father Norman (Chris Cooper), who tells him "Not everyone has a happy ending." Then there's a shot between the young Osborn and Electro that suggests he might be controlling/bankrolling the supervillain. ("You'll never be invisible again.")The money shot featured Electro in his hooded costume shooting electricity all throughout Times Square before the power goes out and a shockwave blows through the buildings.

After the clip finished, Andrew Garfield was on stage out of his Spider-Man costume and back to his British accent for the Q&A. Here's some highlights:

• Someone mentioned that Peter Parker was a nerd and not attractive or cool and that Tobey Maguire really nailed that but accused Garfield of having too much "swagger." Garfield replied, "Tobey Maguire was a sex machine," and said no matter who fills those shoes it's always Tobey's role
• A guy who identified himself as a gay Asian man told Garfield his recent comments about Spider-Man having a homosexual interracial relationship meant a lot to him. Garfield said that Spider-man stands for everybody and wears a costume head to toe so you don't know his skin color or his sexual orientation. Though to appease the Hall H fanboys he admitted that it would be illogical if in their universe Spidey was dating a black guy randomly in the third movie.



• Dane DeHaan gave some backstory to the "modern" incarnation of Harry Osborn. Harry and Peter were childhood friends but Harry got sent off to boarding school. As a result he was cut off from every part of his life due to his complicated relationship with his father. At the start of ASM2, he comes home finally and has to reconcile his relationship with Peter. Webb added that seeing Peter have a true friendship will complicate his life significantly.
• Webb said you can expect lots of spectacle and operatic theatricality, but also strong character relationships. The film grabs bits and pieces from all of Spidey's cannon, from traditional arcs to a little bit of the Ultimate run.
• Some guy brought up the good point that there seems to be so much going on in this movie and said he didn't want another SPIDER-MAN 3. Webb's response was that there's "just the right amount of stuff in it." Electro is the main villain. Paul Giamatti makes an appearance as Rhino and there's a couple scenes with him in it to establish a fun tone, but Electro "sustains the breadth and depth of the film." He also said Electro is godlike since you can't touch him and Spidey's web conducts electricity—to which someone in the audience yelled "WATER!"



• Was Foxx worried they were going to put him in the green and yellow costume? No, while they wanted to be true to the comics, their version of Electro would have no time to stop and make a costume. He just grabbed something and made it his own.
• Producer Avi Arad said he gets up in the morning, drinks and goes online to see what fanboys are saying. He insisted "loyalty to character is loyalty to fans" and that Stan Lee himself loved everything they're doing in this movie.
• Garfield admitted that he would like to see Spider-Man play in the Avengers cinematic universe, to which Avi Arad seemed to freak out.