What went wrong with Sony's Spider-Man 3, and as production on a fourth entry stalled, Sony opted to hit the big red reboot button.
Enter MCU.
It's vital to acknowledge that Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man movies were by no means an outright failure. Both offerings are visually stunning and better capture the humor of the comics, while Andrew Garfield is the undoubted highlight as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. There's a youthfulness that feels fresh compared to what came before and Emma Stone is a more rounded character than Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane Watson. Nevertheless, the fact that the famous red and blue suit is currently occupied by Tom Holland proves The Amazing Spider-Man series clearly didn't go to plan, and here's why:
Spider-Man's Movie Villain Woes Continue
Superhero movies so often boil down to the strength of their villains; it's no coincidence that the revered Thor: The Dark World, also had the franchise's most forgettable villain in Malekith. Subsequently, it's no surprise that a sizable chunk of The Amazing Spider-Man's woes can be attributed to lackluster villains.
The Lizard was an odd choice for a main antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man, not only because of his status as a solid but distinctly un-amazing 'B' baddie in the comic books, but also because the transformation necessitates heavy use of CGI. If there's one lesson comic book movies have repeatedly taught over the years, it's that CGI villains are extremely difficult to get right, with the more human adversaries almost always proving more popular. The anomalous The Incredible Hulk) are just a sample of the monsters that failed to connect by virtue of being drowned in special effects, and Curt Connors s that motley crew of undesirables.
If Lizard was underwhelming, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 overcompensated. Jamie Foxx starred as Electro, the main villain as far as the film's marketing was concerned, but the sequel also included Harry Osborn's proper debut as Green Goblin and Paul Giamatti as Rhino. One of the most frequent critiques leveled at Raimi's Spider-Man 3 is an overdose of evil, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 makes exactly the same error.
Not finding the right villain balance was damning for The Amazing Spider-Man, and the situation was worsened by poor casting. The talented Rhys Ifans was miscast as Curt Connors, coming as close to a generic comic mad scientist as it's possible to get. Similar sentiments apply to Jamie Foxx's Electro, who embarks on a rushed origin story and ultimately falls into very familiar 'angry social outcast' mold. Compare this to the MCU's Vulture and Mysterio. Neither are Spider-Man's most renowned foes, but the twists on both characters (Vulture as Spidey's prospective father-in-law and Mysterio as an elaborate technological conman) elevated them beyond mere faceless targets for the web-slinger to punch.
Amazing Spider-Man Was Too Close To Raimi's Trilogy
Coming only 5 years after Spider-Man 3, Marc Webb's movies were always going to be directly held up against Sam Raimi's work, and might've benefited from more of a tonal and narrative departure. When tasked with reviving the failing Batman movie franchise, for example, Christopher Nolan opted to take Raimi trilogy, and are more forgettable as a result.
Peter Parker struggles to balance his superhero antics with his love life, while a scientific mentor begins a slow descent into madness and villainy in pursuit of progress at any cost, forcing Spider-Man to fight a man he once held in high esteem. That description works as well for 2002's Spider-Man as it does for The Amazing Spider-Man and the similarities don't end there, with the Harry Osborn dynamic coming into play in both retellings of the story and the same tones and themes recurring time and again.
In contrast, Peter Parker's high school pals. MCU Spidey's villains are smart criminals rather than crazed monsters, and the love story doesn't come into full effect until the second movie. This is the gear shift The Amazing Spider-Man needed in order to differentiate itself - not just reinstate the mechanical web shooters and shave a few years off Aunt May.
Trying To Rewrite The Origin Story
In fairness, The Amazing Spider-Man does make one significant shake-up to the familiar formula but it's not one that lands as intended. Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man movies present the idea that Peter's parents were deeply involved in a scientific conspiracy that echoes into Peter's life as an adult and his superhero career. On paper, this had the potential to be a fascinating addition to the usual Spider-Man origin, and could've spiced up Webb's movies in a unique way, but The Amazing Spider-Man never figured out how to integrate this new building block with the pieces already in place.
After spending much of its first half setting up the Parker mystery, The Amazing Spider-Man rapidly abandons that quest in favor of the emerging Lizard story. In a fatal mistake to whatever intrigue the storyline held, Garfield's first Spidey offering never reveals the truth behind why Peter's parents disappeared, leaving the conclusion for the sequel. The eventual solution in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is overly convoluted, trying to connect Osborn, Connors, Peter, his powers and the safety of the entire world. Worse still, the answers come via an extremely convenient video message that Peter really should've found an entire film ago.
The Amazing Spider-Man also made adjustments to Spider-Man's (very) familiar origin story but, once again, the changes fall flat. Peter Parker's motivation for becoming Spider-Man feels out of character, Uncle Ben's death is entirely avoidable and the twist that only Peter could've developed powers from the Spider bite removes the 'everyman' quality that defines Spidey in the comic books. The MCU does exactly the same with Peter's Stark connections and, in both cases, Spider-Man is made far less relatable.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Buckled Under Franchise Building
If The Amazing Spider-Man was underwhelming, the sequel was overstuffed. Electro's introduction, the emergence of Green Goblin, Peter and Gwen's relationship woes, the Parker family's secrets, the true intentions of Oscorp, Gwen's death and various smaller side stories are all left battling for screen time. With far too much to cover, the villains' development feels rushed and the constant back-and-forth of Pete's relationship with Gwen becomes an annoying hindrance, rather than the emotional love story it could've been. Much time is devoted to the young couple deliberating about the future of their relationship, while the likes of Electro and Harry Osborn are left under-developed. By the midway point of the sequel, the audience doesn't care whether Pete and Gwen stay together, they just want them to make a damn decision.
In defense of Webb, it's very clear that Sony sought to use as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as a launch pad to other things. There's a very transparent effort to build towards a Sinister Six movie, which no doubt contributed to the glut of villains involved, and much of the Oscorp material is clearly intended to pay off further down the line, in films that were ultimately never made. Meanwhile, vital storylines are accelerated to set up further movies. Harry Osborn is rapidly established as Peter Parker's closest friend because the Green Goblin needs to appear before the third film, while Gwen has to die so Peter's gripe with the villain becomes personal - something that would've paid off more in later films than in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Style Over Heart
For all the technical and story analysis, perhaps the overriding reason The Amazing Spider-Man failed to make the same impact as Sam Raimi's trilogy or Tom Holland's MCU iteration is that fans simply aren't inclined to care about the characters. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's on-screen relationship might've been by-the-numbers, but Raimi's easily relatable Spider-Man combined with the unattainable Mary Jane was heartfelt. As cheesy as it might've been, the duo's upside-down kiss is an iconic cinematic moment. By contrast, Avengers: Infinity War.
The Amazing Spider-Man lacks anything that comes close to bottling that same magic, and it's a curious phenomenon. From the cast and director to the exemplary visuals and clean slate, The Amazing Spider-Man should've come out swinging, but the experiment got caught in its own web of unnecessarily elongated plots and overly ambitious world-building, and couldn't keep up with its predecessor.
