Trailer Analysis: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

There have been plenty of trailers and TV spots coming out over the past month or so promoting the latest entry in the new Spider-Man trilogy. Sony looks to make the Spider-Man universe much more expansive as they are looking to add in the Sinister Six and Venom down the line. However, that is not entirely the focus of this new film, although they do drop hints of those two even in the trailer. The focus instead seems to be that of jealousy. We see in the trailer that Harry Osborn says to Peter, "My father took more time looking into you then me." This theme is continued even as Max Dillon, Electro, speaks of how New York idolizes the web-slinger. It also goes to show that New York has truly embraced him as their savior as we get multiple shots of him being very good as a super hero. Children are dressed as Spider-Man, some fire fighters even give him a fireman's hat which all goes to show the affection the city has grown towards him. However, as Williem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Heath Ledger's Joker explained, it is their nature to eventually turn on you.

Good villains are essential to any good story revolving around a hero, but that old adage means even more in the realm of superheroes. The Amazing Spider-Man promises just that with the inclusion of the Osborn family. It is shown that Harry and Peter are both friends and have been for sometime. Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, The Place Beyond the Pines) plays Harry Osborn and it seems that he is jealous of his father's affection being focused on Peter. This seems to be a driving factor in what leads him down the road of being the biggest of villains among Spider-Man's rogues. It also shows Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn, who runs OsCorp as well as the mastermind behind ending Spider-Man. It looks as if in the trailer he did try the Goblin serum on himself, as in the picture below his face has some scarring on it as well as a creepy orange pair of eyes. My guess is that the serum did not bond with his body the way he envisioned almost as if he was too weak or the serum was not perfected yet. Thus his health is declining faster now and in a fit of rage and jealousy I am sure it will lead Harry down the same path as his father. However, it seems Harry wants to use it to make the world a better place, you know because all villains have good intentions.

The other interesting aspect of the trailer and trailers before this one is that it seems Max Dillon starts off as a regular guy but has one hell of a creepy fascination with Spider-Man as evident in the picture to the side. Max also gets saved early on in the movie by Spider-Man and the two have a brief conversation which is most likely the start of Max's love for the hero. It all stems from the fact that someone actually took an interest in him, but all of that changes when he falls into a tub of electric eels that turns him into the villain we know as Electro. I am guessing this also has a negative affect on his mental health, which already was bad, and turns him against Spider-Man. Above that, it seems that he also wants to turn the city against him as well. OsCorp as usual seems to be behind Electro and I highly doubt that the Green Goblin would work with him to take down Spider-Man. I think in terms of all three villains that the main one will be Electro, while Harry slowly becomes Green Goblin and fights Spider-Man towards the end of the film after Electro had been dealt with. The final villain would be the first one introduced in the form of Paul Giamatti's Rhino. Rhino will be the villain that Spider-Man first deals with but eventually comes back in an actual rhino suit brought to him by none other than OsCorp. OsCorp certainly does not seem to have the world in their best interests.

Now, everyone assumed once Emma Stone was cast as Gwen Stacy that at some point we'd have the penultimate moment where she dies for being too close to Spider-Man. In the comics, the Green Goblin held her over a bridge as well as a group of innocent bystanders and he made Spider-Man make the decision as to who to save. This of course is very similar to what happened in Sam Raimi's Spiderman, but the main difference was incredibly brutal. Spider-Man saved group of innocent people but before Gwen fell he used his web to catch her. However, the momentum of the fall mixed with the sudden pull of the web made her head snap back viciously and instantly killed her. This moment has been teased a few times in the trailers up to this point, but we always see her caught by Spider-Man's webs and in the following shot the web does not hurt her. Due to the bridge scene being to similar to what Sam Raimi did in his first film of his trilogy, I highly doubt they would go in that direction. Thus, I think Gwen will go either in this film or the next as Mary Jane is already supposed to be in the next film. It is incredibly sad to say that as Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield have such great chemistry, which is most likely thanks to their real life romance.Comic book fans will wonder endlessly if Gwen will die in this film, and it'll certainly be an interesting thing too look out for as well as how it will impact Peter. Will it break him, or will it be a defining moment in his life?