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: