The Amazing Spider-Man

It was produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment, Laura Ziskin Productions, Arad Productions, Inc., and Matt Tolmach Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.

It is the fourth theatrical Spider-Man film, serving as a reboot following Sam Raimi’s 2002–2007 Spider-Man trilogy, and was followed by a second The Amazing Spider-Man film.

The film was directed by Marc Webb and written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, and Steve Kloves, based on a story by Vanderbilt, and stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man alongside Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field.

Development of the film began following the cancellation of Spider-Man 4 in January 2010, ending director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man series that starred Tobey Maguire.

Columbia Pictures opted to reboot the franchise with the same production team, with Vanderbilt staying on to write, and Sargent and Kloves helping with the script. The main characters were cast in 2010, during pre-production.

New designs were introduced from the comics, such as artificial web-shooters. Using Red Digital Cinema Camera Company’s RED Epic camera, principal photography started in December 2010 in Los Angeles before moving to New York City.

The film entered post-production in April 2011. 3ality Technica provided 3D image processing, while Sony Pictures Imageworks handled CGI effects.

It was the last American film scored by James Horner to be released before his death in 2015, and the penultimate film for producer Laura Ziskin, who died in 2011.

Sony Pictures Entertainment built a promotional website, releasing many previews and launching a viral marketing campaign; tie-ins included a video game by Beenox and Activision.

The film premiered in Tokyo on June 30, 2012, and was released in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX formats in the United States on July 3, ten years after the release of Spider-Man (2002).

It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised Garfield’s performance as Spider-Man, the chemistry between Stone and Garfield, the visual effects, and the musical score, while some of the plot elements drew criticism.

The film was the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2012, taking in $758 million worldwide. A sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, was released on May 2, 2014.

In 2021, Garfield and Ifans reprised their roles in the MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home, which dealt with the concept of the multiverse and linked that franchise to the Raimi and Webb installments.

Richard and Mary Parker, Peter’s parents, gather hidden documents, take Peter to the home of his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and mysteriously leave.

Years later, a teenage Peter attends Midtown Science High School; he is intelligent but socially awkward and often bullied. He has a crush on Gwen Stacy, who returns his feelings. Learning that his father is friends with Dr.

Curt Connors, a scientist at Oscorp in the field of cross-species genetics, Peter sneaks into Oscorp, where he is bitten by a genetically modified spider.

He develops spider-like abilities, superhuman strength, sharp senses, agility, speed, and the ability to cling to walls. Connors, whose right arm has been amputated, is conducting experiments to regenerate limbs.

Peter discovers the missing piece to Connors’ experiments in his father’s papers – the “decay rate algorithm”. He visits Connors, reveals that he is Richard’s son, and gives Connors the algorithm. At home, Peter and Ben argue, and Peter leaves.

While searching for him, Ben tries to stop a thief that Peter allowed to escape, is shot, and dies in Peter’s arms. Peter uses his new abilities to track down criminals matching the killer’s description.

He creates a mask and spandex suit to hide his identity, and builds mechanical web-shooters. At dinner with Gwen’s family, he discovers her father is police captain George Stacy, who holds a grudge against the new vigilante hero.

Peter reveals his identity to Gwen. After seeing success with the lab rats using lizard DNA, Connors’ superior Rajit Ratha demands that Connors begin human trials. Connors refuses to rush the drug-testing procedure and put innocent people at risk.

Ratha fires Connors and decides to test his serum at a Veterans Administration hospital. Desperate, Connors tries the formula on himself, passes out, and awakens to find that his missing arm has regenerated.

Connors turns into a large humanoid reptilian monster while trying to intercept Ratha and attacks people on the Williamsburg Bridge. Peter, now using the alias Spider-Man, saves the people from Connors’ attack.

As a result of this, the police issue a city-wide manhunt for both the Lizard and Spider-Man. Peter tracks Connors to the sewers before he is attacked by Connors, but manages to escape.

The Lizard finds a camera with Peter’s name on it, and he attacks Peter at his school.

Pursuing Connors, Peter discovers Connors’s lab in the sewers and learns that he plans to release a biochemical agent from Oscorp tower to turn all humans in New York into reptilian hybrids like himself, eliminating the weaknesses he believes plague humanity.

Captain Stacy and the police corner Spider-Man. Captain Stacy discovers that Spider-Man is Peter, and Peter is released to stop the Lizard.

Gwen creates an antidote, which Peter disperses, returning Connors back to normal, but not before the Lizard fatally wounds Captain Stacy. Before dying, Stacy asks Peter to avoid Gwen in order to keep her safe.

Peter does so, but realizes that they are both unhappy, hinting to her that he may not keep his promise. An incarcerated Connors speaks with a man in the shadows who asks if Peter knows the truth about his father.

Connors tells him Peter does not know and demands that Peter be left alone, before the man disappears.