The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (internationally titled as The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro) is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), it was directed by Marc Webb and written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner from a story by Kurtzman, Orci, Pinkner and James Vanderbilt. Andrew Garfield stars as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti and Sally Field. In the film, Peter tries to protect his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, as he investigates his parents' death while also encountering the supervillain Electro and his childhood friend Harry Osborn.
Development of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 began after the success of The Amazing Spider-Man. DeHaan, Giamatti, Felicity Jones, and Chris Cooper were cast between December 2012 and February 2013. Filming took place in New York City from February to June 2013. The film was released in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 2, 2014 in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing through its Columbia Pictures label, with two international premieres being held between March 31 and April 10 of that year. The film grossed $717 million worldwide, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2014.
The Amazing Spider-Man film series was originally intended to continue with at least two more sequels, as well as several spin-off films featuring other characters. In February 2015, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios initiated a deal to share the Spider-Man film rights and reboot the character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), cancelling future projects in the Amazing Spider-Man series. Tom Holland succeeded Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War (2016) before leading a new series of Spider-Man films set in the MCU, beginning with Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Both Garfield and Foxx reprised their roles in Holland's third film, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which linked the Amazing Spider-Man films to the MCU using the concept of the multiverse.
Plot
Richard Parker, a scientist who left Oscorp, records a video message to explain his disappearance. He and his wife Mary flee aboard a private jet, which is soon hijacked by an assassin. The jet crashes and kills both Richard and Mary.
Years later, Richard and Mary's son, Peter, continues to fight crime as the vigilante Spider-Man. After apprehending the Russian criminal Aleksei Sytsevich, Peter attends his high school graduation. He is dating Gwen Stacy but is torn by guilt, having promised Gwen's late father that he would avoid her to keep her safe. Due to Peter's reservations about the relationship, Gwen breaks up with him. A few months later, Peter's childhood friend, Harry Osborn, returns home to see his dying father, Norman Osborn, the CEO of Oscorp. Norman explains that his fatal illness is genetic and that Harry will soon begin having symptoms. Norman dies soon after, and Harry inherits Oscorp.
While working in an Oscorp laboratory, mild-mannered electrical engineer Max Dillon accidentally falls into a tank of genetically engineered electric eels, causing him to mutate and gain electric abilities. Unaware of the extent of his power, Max wanders into Times Square, where he inadvertently causes a power outage. Peter arrives and helps the police apprehend Max, who is then incarcerated at Ravencroft Institute. Gwen tells Peter that she will move to England if she earns a scholarship to Oxford University.
The first symptoms of Harry's illness begin showing, and he uses information his father gave him to deduce that Spider-Man's blood could save him. He asks Peter, who has been selling photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle, to help him find Spider-Man. Peter is unsure what effects his blood would have on Harry, but is worried it could cause a dangerous mutation. Disguised as Spider-Man, Peter refuses to give blood to Harry, which enrages him. The vice president of Oscorp, Donald Menken, frames Harry for covering up Max's accident and takes control of the company. Harry offers to liberate Max, who now calls himself "Electro", in exchange for getting Harry back inside the Oscorp building; Max agrees.
Upon returning to Oscorp, Harry forces Menken to inject him with venom from genetically altered spiders. The venom mutates Harry and degrades his sanity. Meanwhile, Peter finds his father's video message, which reveals that his parents had to flee because Richard refused to collaborate with Norman on the creation of biogenetic weapons. Gwen is offered the Oxford scholarship, after which Peter professes his love for her and decides to move to England with her.
Max causes a power outage at a power station. Peter and Gwen arrive and overload Max's body with electricity, killing him. Harry arrives riding a mechanized glider and wearing an armored suit equipped with weapons, and discovers that Peter is Spider-Man. Swearing vengeance, he takes Gwen to the top of a clock tower. Peter subdues Harry but is unable to stop Gwen from falling to her death. Wracked by guilt and sorrow, Peter ends his career as Spider-Man.
Five months later, Harry is incarcerated at Ravencroft. When his associate, Gustav Fiers, visits him, Harry orders Fiers to break Sytsevich out of prison and provide him with Oscorp weaponry. Equipped with an electromechanical suit of armor, Sytsevich dubs himself "The Rhino" and rampages through the streets. Peter, re-inspired after watching a video of Gwen's graduation speech, returns to confront him as Spider-Man.
Cast
Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A college student who developed spider-like abilities after being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, which he uses to fight crime as the masked vigilante Spider-Man. Garfield said his performance involved exploring the idea of "being fatherless, being motherless, searching for purpose and finding a purpose within himself". Max Charles plays a young Peter Parker. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy: Peter's girlfriend. Stone said that in the film, Gwen saves Peter "more than he saves her ... He's the muscle, she's the brains." Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon / Electro: An Oscorp electrical engineer who becomes a powerful electrokinetic being. Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn / Green Goblin: Peter's childhood friend and the son of Norman Osborn. Campbell Scott as Richard Parker: Peter's father. Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker: Peter's mother. Colm Feore as Donald Menken: Vice president of Oscorp. Paul Giamatti as Aleksei Sytsevich / The Rhino: A criminal who is captured by Spider-Man and later freed from prison by Harry. Sally Field as May Parker: Peter's aunt. In a 2016 interview, Field criticized the lack of depth in her role, saying, "It's really hard to find a three-dimensional character in it, and you work it as much as you can, but you can't put ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag."
Felicity Jones portrays Felicia Hardy, an Oscorp employee who is loyal to Harry. Jones is credited only as "Felicia" in the film, but her surname was listed as "Hardy" in a marketing video. Marton Csokas portrays Ashley Kafka, the head of Ravencroft Institute, while B. J. Novak appears as Alistair Smythe, Dillon's superior at Oscorp. Kari Coleman, Charlie DePew, Skyler Gisondo, and Jacob Rodier reprise their roles from The Amazing Spider-Man as Helen Stacy, Philip Stacy, Howard Stacy, and Simon Stacy, respectively, with Rodier being uncredited. Also uncredited are the appearances of Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn and Denis Leary as George Stacy. Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as a guest at Peter and Gwen's graduation ceremony. Michael Massee reprises his role as the "Man in the Shadows" from the first film, now credited as "Gustav Fiers (The Gentleman)". Aidy Bryant appears as a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty.
Production Development
More than a year before the 2012 release of The Amazing Spider-Man, one of its screenwriters, James Vanderbilt, was hired to write a sequel. Vanderbilt's first draft was eventually rewritten by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Jeff Pinkner, all of whom would receive screenwriting credits. Following the release of the first film, there was uncertainty that director Marc Webb would return for the sequel. He had been paid roughly $1 million to direct The Amazing Spider-Man, and was seeking a pay raise in the wake of the first film's success. By September 2012, it was confirmed that Webb would return to direct The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and that Andrew Garfield would reprise his role as Spider-Man. For this film, Spider-Man's costume was redesigned to be more faithful to the comics.
In December 2012, it was confirmed that the film's villain, Electro, would be played by Jamie Foxx, who said the character's design was based on the Ultimate Marvel version of Electro. Douglas Booth, Sam Claflin, Brady Corbet, Alden Ehrenreich, Boyd Holbrook, Michael B. Jordan and Eddie Redmayne were considered for the role of Harry Osborn before Dane DeHaan was ultimately cast. In February 2013, Chris Cooper was cast as Norman Osborn.
Shailene Woodley was cast as Mary Jane Watson, and her scenes were filmed by March 2013. However, by mid-June the decision was made to cut the character from the film, in order to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen's relationship. During production, Garfield suggested that the film could explore Peter's sexuality, desiring a stronger amount of representation in the Spider-Man films, and joked that Peter could have a romance with a gender-swapped version of Watson portrayed by Michael B. Jordan.
Filming Principal photography for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 began on February 4, 2013 and ended on June 25. The film was shot on 35mm film in the anamorphic format, instead of being shot digitally like the preceding film. It was the first Spider-Man film to be shot entirely in New York state, and was the largest film production ever in the state at the time.
Several scenes were shot on Main Street in Rochester and then digitally altered to look like they occurred in New York City. A car chase scene was also filmed in Rochester, which had less restrictive speed laws than New York City. Another scene was shot in Nom Wah Tea Parlor in Manhattan's Chinatown. The decision to film in Williamsburg, Brooklyn during the Passover holiday threatened to cause problems with parking and was criticized for being culturally insensitive. After feedback from residents and Jewish leaders, the filmmakers adjusted their production schedule. Soundstage filming was done at Grumman Studios and Gold Coast Studios, both in Bethpage, New York, and at the Marcy Armory in Brooklyn.
To transform Foxx into Electro, makeup artists would spend four and a half hours to applying blue paint and prosthetics to his body. While filming the scene in which Spider-Man binds Gwen's hand to a car, Stone went off script and blurted out, "Peter!" The ad-libbed line made it into the finished film.
The scene in which Gustav Fiers visits Harry while he is incarcerated at Ravencroft was a late addition to the film. During test screenings without the scene, viewers found it unclear whether Harry had died in battle with Spider-Man, been incarcerated, or escaped, so the filmmakers added the scene to establish Harry's fate. Another change was the removal of a scene in which Richard Parker meets Peter at Gwen's grave. After much deliberation, the scene was cut because it made the story too complicated and made Peter seem infantile, as he needed his father's support to resume being Spider-Man.
Visual effects