Comic-Con 2011: The Amazing Spider-Man, Starring Emma Stone And Some Dudes

We're told to put our 3D glasses on before the panel even starts, so it looks like they're going to get right into it. Long wait, though. Here's some 3D footage of the film. Oh, it's just the trailer, but actually in 3D. The POV sequence looks a lot better than it did in the original trailer, though; the little bits of Spidey's leg and hands do have a lot more pop when they're in 3D.

Andrew Garfield pops up by commandeering the mic used by audience questions, dressed of course as Spider-Man. He's here to introduce the panelists. He launches into what seems like a ridiculously sincere monologue about what Spider-man means to him; "This is the greatest moment of my life, thank you all for being here!"

Here are the panelists: Avi Arad, Marc Webb, and Emma Stone! She's magically delicious. Very cute, and back to the red hair, which...pleases me.

Webb, what brought you to the project? "There's something about Spider-man that keeps me up at night. It was too intoxicating an opportunity to pass up."

Here's another clip from the film, a few minutes' worth. It's in 2D because it came right out of Avid: Parker getting a basketball to the head from a big blonde kid; presumably Flash Thompson. Looks like he's having a rough time at chool. Gets hit in the face in the bathroom, bulied all around. "Peter's behavior is completely unacceptable." Turning the tables on his bullies after he gets his powers, though; looks like he starts bullying the bullies after he gets suped-up. "So all this is about getting even? You must feel pretty good about yourself right now." Uncle Ben is laying down the law. Earlier, we got a look at Peter editing pictures of debate club when Ben walked in; Gwen Stacy's face was front and center. Guess who walks up behind their conversation now? "Hey, you're that girl! Peter's got you on his computer. I'm his parole officer." AWK-WARD.

Emma Stone in classic Gwen Stacy garb, miniskirt and all. "That's my uncle, he's just joking around. He thought you were Gwen Stefani. I was just touching up some debate team photos." Masturbation joke from her; "Oh, you were touching it up, huh?". Super awkward high school conversation as he asks her out, super adorable. "So, uh, do you want to..." "Yeah!" "Oh, ok. Or we could..." "Hmm, yeah, one or the other." "So, we can..." "Sure, maybe..." "Ok, so..." Goes on like this for a few minutes, really funny. Obviously very hard to write down while you're trying to look at the screen and not your monitor.

Cut to Peter finding his father's bag buried in his aunt and uncle's house. "He asked us to keep it safe for you." His dad's glasses, his security badge at Oscorp. And...files. Lots of files. Looks like his dad was keeping secrets from old Oscorp. "Your father was a very secretive man, Peter."

Cut to Peter adjusting to his powers. Smashes his alarm clock trying to hit the button. Practicing web slinging in the school gym with those long ropes that hang from the ceiling, crashes through a wall into a classroom, but it's after hours so there's no one around. Rips his towel rack out of his bathroom wall by accident. Beats up muggers on a subway train by ripping out a pole, gets his skateboard broken when one of them smashes it against his arm. Kind of goofy, funny stuff, all a result of him not knowing his own strength.

Testing out his web fluid. Mocking a car thief by flinging him absolutely a huge amount of web fluid, via "sneezes", baseball pitches, etc. Kind of a hotshot cocky kid, like Parker was in the early comics before things got serious and Uncle Ben dies. "Your father thought it was your responsibiluty to help people to help people if you have the power to do so. Not an option, a responsibility!" Gwen Stacy's dad, a cop (Denis Leary), is going to be a problem. Looks like a dominant theme in the film will be Parker versus the police. Peter tells him "I think this guy's just trying to help people, just like you." "I have a gun and a badge, and this guy has a mask!" Doctor Connnors as well. "Peter...secrets have a cost."

Audience Q&A

Says Garfield: "We're approaching this like it's Shakespeare. It's a modern myth. It's another chapter in a long history of a comic book story which means so much to so many people."

Q: Did you ever make people listen to music to get into a mood for their characters? A: Actually, sometimes we played music while we shot, which our sound guy loved. Andrew loved getting into music to make things more real.

Q: I didn't see any villain in the footage. Comment? A: Dr. Kurt Conners. Another clip from his section.

Conners, played by Rhys Ifans, works for OsCorp. "The world's foremost authority on reptiles. I long to fix myself." Big green sleeve that he has to wear to cover up the CGI; this is pretty early footage, obviously. Do any of the high school students know how I intend to regrow my arm? "Cross-species genetics." Peter Parker knows the score. He's called away to another zone in the building; looks like he's been taking his research into the sewers and injecting himself on the down low. He's growing his arm back, but he's reptilian and scaly. And going crazy. "I'm better, I'm stronger, I'm beautiful!" All old-school yelling at the sky.

Wow, he's coming up through a bathroom stall in a high school from underneath a toilet which falls back down into the sewers. Presumably Peter Parker's school; I'm sure this is the first fight scene between them. Two girls inside, terrified against the wall, and he's...licking them. Ew! This section is all CGI, impressively scaley and green, reminds me a bit of Tom Hardy's body for some reason. And...cut to black.

"That is, of course, Rhys Ifans, who really wanted to be here today...so here he is!"

Q: Why make the changes to the outfit? A: We were looking to the Ultimates, and also, we wanted to imagine how a young man would make an outfit.

Q: A question about whether or not there was any trepidation about taking the role. Garfield took a month to decide; he loves being an actor and was worried about the crowds and the mayhem, but in the end his inner four-year-old took him aside and made him take the role.

Q: Did you want to make this film darker than the original Raimi film? A: In terms of style, I wanted to make it grounded in reality. But there is a humor and levity to Spider-man and I wanted to bring that out. The clip did show off a bunch of great humor on Peter's part, especially with the car theft. "With Emma and Andrew, we were behind the monitors, and we just knew that this was going to work."

Q: Did you ever talk to Tobey Maguire? A: Yeah, he was like a suicide hotline. No, I didn't speak to him until after shooting, but he was very gracious and gave me his blessing when the casting was announced. I met him afterwards, and yeah, he's the best! I'm team Tobey personally.

EDIT: I didn't give many impressions before, but overall the footage is pretty strong. They're definitely going to be doing a pretty lengthy retelling of the origin story, which might wind up working against the film since basically everyone knows it at this point, but I suppose that we'll have to wait for the final film to really judge it on that merit. It all looks pretty well-done! The crowd definitely ate it all up, but then again, this is Comic-Con. I'm positive on it, because, well, Emma Stone, but overall it looks like it should be more high-school focused than the first Raimi Spider-man was, for better or worse. Garfield, for his part, seems perfectly competent in the role, and is definitely charming in person.