Advertisement

‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ trailer explained


A well-timed trailer can turn a film's fortunes around before it even hits cinemas. Take 'The Amazing Spider-Man' - before this morning the reboot of the web-slinging franchise had some seriously bad buzz.

'It's a cash-in', said critics, who reckoned the film was only being made so Sony could retain the rights to the character. Eyebrows were also raised by the choice of director - Marc Webb. He may be appropriately named, but his most high profile gig was the well-received but very different relationship drama '500 Days of Summer'.

These voices weren't silenced by the teaser, released last July, which was memorable chiefly for some shoddy CGI.

[See also: 'The Avengers' Super Bowl ad]

The dissenters have been shut up, (for the time being at least) by this barn-storming new trailer. It's a cracker, and gives a good idea of what to expect from one of the year's biggest films (it's released on 4 July). But what does it all mean?

Here's our breakdown...


Meet the parents! Peter Parker (played by Brit Andrew Garfield) meets his girlfriend Gwen Stacey's (a blonde Emma Stone) family.

Gwen who? She is Peter Parker's other love interest in the comics, alongside his more famous squeeze, red-headed Mary-Jane Watson. Stacey was in 'Spider-Man 3' in a small role but this wasn't expanded upon much.

Gwen's dad is Captain George Stacey of the NYPD and he's not a fan of vigilantes, especially red and blue ones. "This guy wears a mask, like an outlaw," he says to Parker.


Parker is a bright lad and in the comics he originally made his own web-shooters to work in tandem with his other spider-like abilities.

It was an idea vetoed in Sam Raimi's trilogy - much to the chagrin of some comic book fans but it's a welcome change for the new series... and means there's something else to make into a toy!

Another complaint of Sam Raimi's films was that the Spider-Man character wasn't the smartass, quick-talking hero that he has always been in the comics.

This snippet, with Spidey back-chatting a criminal while in the car he's trying to steal, should ease some of those concerns.

The tagline of the film is "The Untold Story". With three films already that may seem strange, but it refers to Peter's parents. Parker wants uncover the mysteries behind their deaths, and that leads him to the film's villain Dr Curt Connors, played by Rhys Ifans.

[See also: The most complained about films of the last decade]

Parker's dad, as we can see, worked in the "Genetics Laboratory" at the Oscorp company.

You might remember that name from the last films - as Norman Osborne, played by Willem Defoe in the original - owned it and went on to become the Green Goblin of course. Don't expect him to show up in 'The Amazing Spider-Man' though, but there's been rumours that the amazingly-named 'Proto-goblin' — an even nuttier red version of the green iteration — could make an appearance in the sequel.

In this film the Oscorp-connection is that Peter finds Dr Connors, who works there as a scientist. Once Connors - who has one arm - and Parker form a friendship things get complicated. Peter presents the doctor with a formula that in theory should re-grow his missing arm. What could possibly go wrong?

Lots, obviously, as he turns into a big lizard, called, umm The Lizard.

There have been doubts about the design of Connors' Hyde-esque abomination thanks to some of the film's merchandise. From Pez dispensers to the toy car you see below, the design looked a bit ridiculous.

Lizard will likely look a little better on film than in plastic - but some fans still aren't convinced after the quick shots of him in the trailer.

The fact that he's not wearing a lab coat has proved the most controversial - he always wore one in the comics. Another gripe is that he resembles 'Goomba' from the rubbish 'Super Mario Bros.' film...

It seems that the relationship between Peter and Gwen is well-established early on in the film. It also appears that she knows Spider-Man's identity, which removes one of the typical comic book sub-plots.

Action! There's lots of it here, all too quick to be screen-grabbed. The important sequence however is when the police seemingly capture Spidey and unmask him. This is one of the trailer's highlights, showing Spidey isn't quite the do-gooder of old as he beats up police officers to escape.



This is the best shot of hero and villain fighting and it's high up upon Oscorp tower. Lizard is venturing into Spidey's territory here so he must have a reason. What could it be?

The other shots come from another fight between the two in the Lizard's preferred battleground, deep in the New York sewer system.

Finally there's the money shot, which sees the structure the Lizard was kicked off earlier come crashing down.

Spider-Man leaps and crashes into the roof as the destruction rains - down bringing to an end this impressive trailer.

What did you make of it? Let us know below.