Marc Webb on not wanting to reboot Spider-Man; discusses villains in ASM 2

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

While at SXSW on Saturday, director Marc Webb had an interesting conversation with The Playlist about his initial thoughts on rebooting Spider-Man, and shared some information about the villains appearing in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2.

One big concern many fans have about THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 is the amount of villains, and they are worried it's going to end up being a mess similar to Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 3. Several villains will definitely appear in the new film, but Webb says the main antagonist is Jamie Foxx's Electro, and that Paul Giamatti's Rhino will only be in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 for about four minutes.

"It's about writing. We're aware of those movies and the complaints people had. The main villain is Electro. Every other villain emerges around that. We were careful to make sure the stories entertained. You had to make sure to create obstacles that were difficult to overcome. We wanted to make the physical and emotional obstacles difficult. Rhino is in it for four minutes so it's a legitimate comparison, but when you see the movie, I'm confident.”

Many weren't too thrilled with the idea of rebooting Spider-Man in the first place, and Marc Webb says he initially thought it wasn't the greatest idea either.

“It was the stupidest idea I had ever heard. [Sony chief] Amy Pascal brought it up to me and I thought it was crazy! But of course I was a Spider-Man fan, but more of Peter Parker. It was a tricky time. I had just finished ‘500 Days of Summer.’ I didn't know what to do next. And those movies, which are really sacred to people, weren't that old. They gave me a script I didn't like. And Amy said, "You can't turn down Spider-Man." And she was right. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. But to build that up, it was an adventure. Not only being a fan of Spider-Man is one thing but I was really curious about the process and work with people who were up-and-coming like Andrew Garfield but also Sally Field. The opportunities were extraordinary. I'd wake up every day and think about what I'd done right in a past life."

Marc Webb also goes on to say he held back a bit with the CGI in the first movie, and hopes to have fixed that with the sequel.

"In the first movie I was a little too reserved with the CGI, quite frankly, because I didn't want it to look too weird or awkward. There was a moment deep in the production process where a giant lizard smashes through a wall and I was like, ‘This is not grounded.’ And I made a decision that in the next movie I would embrace the spectacle and not be beholden to smallness. Not to reject the emotional stuff but I wanted it to be big and express and command that feeling you had as a kid reading the comics—that color and that bravado. I think in the second movie we've really maintained the grounded, emotional texture and combined it with spectacle."

Why do I have the feeling some of you aren't going to like these comments from Marc Webb? It does look like the director has "embraced the spectacle" with THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, but will fans? Some have been extremely critical of the new movie and it hasn't even been released yet. I'll admit there are some things about the sequel I'm not digging, however I'm also willing to give it a chance, and hopefully THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 will be…um, amazing.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 also stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Chris Cooper, Colm Feore, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz and Sally Field, and will hit theaters on May 2nd, 2014.