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Andrew Garfield in the audience at Comic-Con 2011

Jul 23, 2011 By Mark Redfern Photography by Wendy Lynch Redfern The Amazing Spider-Man

One of the most anticipated movies and panels presented at Comic-Con 2011 was for The Amazing Spider-Man, the reboot of the Spider-Man franchise to be released in July 2012. The film is directed by the fittingly-named Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and stars Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Emma Stone (Easy A) as Gwen Stacy, and Rhys Ifans as Curt Connors/The Lizard.

The panel began with a screening of the teaser trailer, which had already leaked online, but here it was shown in 3D. Then a fan in an old school Spider-Man costume stepped up to the audience microphone, even though questions aren’t generally taken from the audience until the end of the panel. The moderator objected, but the fan kept talking (“I’ve always wanted to come here as a fan”) and when he removed his mask we all realized it was Garfield, the new Spider-Man himself. He went on to deliver an impassioned statement about how important the character has been to him throughout his life. “I needed Spidey in my life when I was a kid…I owe Webhead a lot and Stan the Man a lot,” he said, referring to Spider-Man creator Stan Lee. “And I’m humbled to be here…. This is definitely the greatest moment of my life and thanks for sharing it with me.”

Garfield then removed his costume and took the stage as the rest of the panelists were introduced (including Emma Stone and Marc Webb). The inevitable question was, ‘Why reboot Spider-Man so soon after the three Sam Rami-directed Spider-Man movies of the last decade?’ “There’s such a wealth of material with Spider-Man that hasn’t been explored cinematically,” Webb responded, adding that he also wanted to tackle the Gwen Stacy saga, which wasn’t really handled in the other Spider-Man films. Garfield said that they are all fans of the Sam Rami films, but that “these are modern myths” and thus open to reinterpretation. Garfield said that former Spider-Man actor Tobey MacQuire gave him his blessing when he was announced as the new Spider-Man.

More clips from the movie were shown, including some of The Lizard (after which Rhys Ifans was brought out on stage). The scenes showed Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey flirting in high school, Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) giving Peter a lecture after he beat up a school bully with his new powers, Peter making and testing his web-shooters, Spider-Man being hunted by the police, Connors turning into The Lizard, and a CGI Lizard attacking two girls in a public bathroom. The film definitely seems to have a different vibe to the other three Spider-Man movies and Webb said he wanted it to be grounded in reality.

Webb and Garfield revealed that music played a big part in the filming of The Amazing Spider-Man. During some of the scenes of Garfield as Spider-Man swinging, for example, they blasted Sleigh Bells’ “A/B Machines” of huge speakers while filming.

Garfield seemed genuinely in awe of the whole experience of playing Spider-Man and being at Comic-Con. He said he took some time before accepting the part, but “the 4-year-old inside of me was like, ‘Yeah man, you’re doing this role, there’s no question.”

“Peter Parker’s always been the one fictional character I’ve related to growing up,” Garfield continued, also citing Holden Caufield. “I had my first Spider-Man outfit when I was two.”

Stone was also excited to be there (“Right now I’m sitting on stage at Comic-Con for Spider-Man. How awesome is that?!), but Garfield seemed to be a true fan. “To be here with you guys showing footage is scary,” he said, “because I’m one of you, I want to be out there with you.”