15 Things We Learned During 'The Amazing Spider-Man' Panel
"This is the coolest moment of my life." That's what Andrew Garfield said after delivering an impassioned speech about what it means to play the lead role in The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony's reboot of the iconic Marvel character. Brand new footage from the film and more premiered Friday evening in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con. Garfield jokingly showed up in a kids' Spider-Man outfit and told fans that he wanted his first appearance at Comic-Con to be among them, on the floor. What followed that was a information-packed Q&A complete with several minutes of brand new footage including the reveal of villain The Lizard.
You can watch a video blog of our footage reaction here, for now, watch Garfield's speech and check out our list of what we learned about The Amazing Spider-Man during its Hall H panel after the jump.
1. Andrew Garfield really loves playing Spider-Man
2. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have chemistry.
In the footage we saw, and on stage, the chemistry between Stone, who plays Gwen Stacey and Garfield, who plays Peter Parker, was undeniable. In the movie, Peter first asks out the pretty girl in an almost cryptic, stunted dialogue way. "Do you wanna maybe?" "Yeah, sure." Director Marc Webb said that while filming that scene "you knew something was working."
3. Peter Parker is a skater.
Peter Parker carries a skateboard around on his back and even rides it down the halls at school...before getting in trouble. It seems like it might get shattered a little later in a subway fight.
4. Parker = stalker.
Peter Parker has a photo of Gwen Stacey from the debate team on his computer and Uncle Ben notices her, later embarrassing Peter for having a photo of the girl on his computer.
5. Spider-Strength is too much.
Once Peter Parker begins growing into his Spider powers, several scenes in the movie will deal with the fact that any normal action he does, such as squeezing out some toothpaste, turning off your alarm clock, or grabbing a rail is done so with almost incalculable strength, destroying something with just a touch.
6. The web shooters have something to do with Oscorp.
Andrew Garfield eluded to the fact that his character's relationship to Oscorp, the company where his dead father worked in the movie and where both Gwen Stacey and Dr. Curt Connors work, had something to do with the development of the webshooters. He caught himself after saying that.
7. It might be The Amazing Spider-Man, but the costume is ultimate.
The more realistic look of the Spider-Man costume was influenced by the Ultimates comic books and also the fact that it's ultimately a boy making a suit. He would incorporate some more practical things.
8. This Gwen Stacey will be a little different from other versions.
Emma Stone said that as much as she loves the Gwen Stacey character and her story with Peter Parker, she can't play a character without bringing some of herself to the role. So because of that, she's mostly Gwen Stacey but part Emma Stone too.
9. Spider-Man is a wise ass.
In some of the scenes that were shown, Spider-Man is very playful and almost cocky to his villains. He jokes with a mugger who pulls a knife, pretends to throw webs in really funny ways and more.
10. Music annoyed the sound guys.
To help get his actors in the mood, director Marc Webb would regularly play loud music – mostly in non-dialogue scenes but not exclusively – in the background on set. Scenes such as Peter Parker making his own mechanical webshooters. Sleigh Bells was one of the more popular choices as was "Dance Tonight" by Paul McCartney.
11. Spider-Man will, again, be the bad guy.
Footage revealed that Spider-Man, again, gets wrongfully accused of crimes and this time he'll be hunted down by Gwen Stacey's father, played by Denis Leary.
12. Peter Parker will have some punk on him.
In several scenes in the movie, Peter Parker will be wearing a Ramones t-shirt.
13. With great power, comes great responsibility.
Yes, we already knew that, but Andrew Garfield said the responsibility of playing this character was more than he could have possibly imagined.
14. The Lizard is scaly, sans snout, and in the sewer.
In the footage that first revealed the look of The Lizard, he comes up from the sewer through a toilet in a girl's bathroom to scare a couple of young girls. His look is best described as Killer Croc meets Venon but the size of the Hulk. He's huge, with a flat face and long tongue, and really detailed dark green, reptile scales.
15. Andrew Garfield knew he was Spider-Man for 30 minutes before we did, but Emma Stone's lead time was much less.
We live in a breaking new world and, according to Emma Stone, that was very much the case with the casting. Andrew Garfield found out he was Spider-Man 30 minutes before Sony announced the news but it took only 90 seconds for the news to break after Emma Stone herself found out.