The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, produced by Marvel Studios. It is the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man (2014). The film is directed by Greg Berlanti and stars Dylan O'Brien as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Sarah Fisher, Jason Isaacs, Shailene Woodley, Miles Heizer, Karl Urban, Dustin Hoffman, and Glenn Close. Set after the events of The Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America: Civil War, a new villain known as the Green Goblin wreaks chaos in New York City, and it is up to Spider-Man to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones.

Spider-Man comic book storylines such as The Night Gwen Stacy Died and How Green Was My Goblin were Berlanti's inspiration for the film. Principal photography began in June 2016 in New York City and concluded in October 2016.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 premiered in Hollywood on June 28, 2017, and was released in the United States on July 7, 2017, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film grossed $880 million worldwide and received mainly positive reviews from critics. A third film, The Amazing Spider-Man 3, was released on July 2, 2019.

Plot
Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker continues to fight crime as Spider-Man. He pursues and apprehends William Baker. Later, Peter meets with his best friend Harry Osborn and girlfriend Gwen Stacy at their high school graduation ceremony and, insisting he keeps his vow to her late father, ends their relationship. Later that night, Aunt May invites the next-door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson, over for dinner.

Sent to Rikers Island, William Baker finds himself in the same prison as his father. Wanting to know who his father is, but ashamed to reveal his identity, William introduces himself as "Flint Marko". Flint eventually breaks out of prison.

Harry's father, Norman, learns that he is seriously ill, so he begins looking for a cure. Coming across a formula from his former colleague, Norman attempts to recreate it. However, when he tests it, something goes wrong and the chemicals explode in his face. Later, at the hospital, Norman finds himself thinking more clearly than ever before, not knowing that he will slowly reach insanity. He later escapes from the hospital and steals armor and other equipment he made at Oscorp.

Meanwhile, Peter and Mary Jane meet up with Gwen and Harry at The Coffee Bean. Gwen reveals that she may move to England if she earns a scholarship to Oxford University. Before they can discuss it, Norman flies through Times Square on his glider as the Green Goblin, causing havoc. Spider-Man arrives and battles the Green Goblin. As they're fighting, they end up near a nuclear reactor, where Flint is hiding from the authorities. Green Goblin attempts to throw a pumpkin bomb at Spider-Man but misses. The bomb drops at the nuclear reactor, causing it to detonate. Green Goblin sprays Spider-Man with a gas that nullifies his spider-sense. Ultimately, Spider-Man defeats Goblin in this battle.

Having been exposed to radiation, Flint's body interacts with the sand under his feet, mutating him in such a way that he can turn his body into sand and manipulate each grain to shape any form he desires. While on the run in New York City, Flint, now calling himself the Sandman, begins a crime spree and crosses paths with Spider-Man. Spider-Man battles the Sandman but is forced to flee when his mask rips open in order to protect his secret identity. Later, Green Goblin manages to capture Spider-Man with ease. He brings him to his hideout and reveals himself to be Norman Osborn. Spider-Man manages to escape and defeat the Goblin by sending him into a bunch of disconnected, high-voltage wires that are drenched in chemicals. Suffering amnesia, Osborn loses all memory up to the years that his son was in high school. Back in prison, Flint breaks himself and his father out. They then flee to Coney Island.

With the bills mounting up it becomes a problem for Peter. Gwen tells him that she was offered the Oxford scholarship and is throwing a farewell party at The Coffee Bean, but he eventually storms out. Gwen catches up with Peter, where they talk about his insecurities and inability to balance his life and they make up once more. Meanwhile, Harry takes LSD, which makes him fall into a clinical psychosis. When Norman leaves his son's bedside he begins to think about how he has failed him as a father. Then he starts to hallucinate and sees his enemy Spider-Man coming at him, soon he flees from the apartment out into the street. Returning to his Green Goblin persona, he locates the Sandman and offers him a chance to defeat Spider-Man.

To torture Spider-Man, Green Goblin kidnaps Gwen. When Peter comes back to Harry's house, all he finds is a pumpkin lantern and satchel left behind by the Green Goblin. He finds him on top of the Brooklyn Bridge standing next to a motionless Gwen Stacy. At the bridge, Spider-Man attempts to get to Gwen but must fight the Sandman with everything he has. Once Sandman is defeated, both Spider-Man and the Goblin fight until the Goblin swoops down knocking Gwen off the side of the bridge. Spider-Man then goes to save her and as his webbing catches her, her neck breaks and she dies instantly. Holding the lifeless body of Gwen in one arm, Spider-Man, filled with rage, chases after his mortal foe. He manages to hop on the Goblin's back and pummel him. However, the Goblin manages to get away when he slams Spider-Man into the side of the bridge. Spider-Man battles the Goblin, determined to bring him to justice. However, during the fight, the Goblin's glider is reactivated and when the Goblin tries to impale Peter with it, he only succeeds in impaling himself when Spider-Man dodges out of the way.

Five months pass and Spider-Man is nowhere to be seen in New York, as Peter spends every day at Gwen's grave. Tony Stark finds Peter at the gravesite one day where he gives a motivational speech to reenergize the young hero. Upon watching Gwen's graduation speech, the movie ends with Spider-Man doing a final swing through the city.

Cast

 * Dylan O'Brien as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
 * Sarah Fisher as Gwen Stacy
 * Jason Isaacs as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
 * Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane Watson
 * Miles Heizer as Harry Osborn
 * Karl Urban as William Baker / Flint Marko / Sandman
 * Dustin Hoffman as Floyd Baker
 * Glenn Close as Aunt May

J.K. Simmons appears as J. Jonah Jameson, marking the first time an actor has reprised a non-MCU role in an MCU film after Simmons portrayed a different incarnation of Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy. Adrian Lester portrays Robbie Robertson, Samantha Barks appears as Betty Brant, and Connor Jessup portrays Ned Leeds. Kevin Connolly has a brief appearance as Frederick Foswell. Jenna Elfman appears as Joy Mercado, a reporter for the Daily Bugle who often comes in contact with Spider-Man. Rob McElhenney portrays Ken Ellis, who writes on the Green Goblin for the Bugle.

Spider-Man co-creator, Stan Lee, has a cameo appearance as a guest at Peter and Gwen's graduation ceremony. Billy Connolly makes a brief appearance as Arthur Stacy, Gwen's uncle. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Downey_Jr. Robert Downey Jr.] reprises his role as Tony Stark in an uncredited appearance in which he has a conversation with Peter at Gwen's gravesite. Liam Cunningham, also uncredited, reprises his role as George Stacy, appearing as a ghost in Peter's visions.

Marketing
Berlanti, O'Brien, Fisher, Isaacs, Woodley, Heizer, and Urban appeared at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con to show an exclusive clip of the film, which also had a panel at Comic Con Experience 2016. The first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 premiered on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 8, 2016, and was released online alongside an international version.

On March 28, 2017, a second trailer debuted after screening at CinemaCon 2017 the night before. An exclusive clip from the film was seen during the 2017 MTV Movie &amp; TV Awards. On May 24, Marvel released a third domestic and international trailer. Ethan Anderton of /Film enjoyed both trailers, stating The Amazing Spider-Man 2 "has the potential to be the best Spider-Man movie yet. Ana Dumaraog for ScreenRant said the second trailer "arguably showed too much of the movie's overarching narrative", but the third "perfectly shows the right amount of new and old footage". She also appreciated the attention to detail that Berlanti and the writers put into the film, as highlighted by the trailers. Siddhant Adlakha of Birth.Movies.Death also felt the trailers were giving away too many details, but enjoyed them overall. Collider's Dave Trombore expressed similar sentiments to Adlakha. After the trailers' release, comScore and its PreAct service noted The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the top film for new social media conversations, that week and the week of May 29.

Marvel partnered with ESPN CreativeWorks to create cross-promotional television ads for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the 2017 NBA Finals, which were filmed by Berlanti. The ads were made to "weave in a highlight from the game just moments" after it occurred. The promos see O'Brien, Downey Jr., and Favreau reprise their roles, with cameo appearances from Stan Lee, DJ Khaled, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson, and Cari Champion. The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf served as an advertising partner. Placement of The Coffee Bean was featured in the film.

For the week ending on June 11, comScore and its PreAct service noted that new social media conversations for the film were second only to Black Panther and its new trailer; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was then the number one film in the next two weeks. That month, Marvel and Dave &amp; Buster's announced an arcade game based on the film, playable exclusively at Dave & Buster's locations. On June 28, in partnership with Thinkmodo, a promotional prank was released in which Spider-Man dropped from the ceiling in a coffee shop to scare customers; the video also featured a cameo appearance from Lee. Marvel also partnered with the mobile app Holo to let users add 3D holograms of Spider-Man, with O'Brien's voice and lines from the film, to real-world photos and videos.

Ahead of the film's release, for the week ending on July 2, the film was the top film for the third consecutive week for new social media conversations, according to comScore, which also noted that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had produced a total of 2.67 million conversations to date. Other promotions included Pizza Hut, General Mills, Synchrony Bank, Movietickets.com, Goodwill, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin' Donuts, Danone Waters, Panasonic Batteries, M&amp;M's, Mondelez, Asus, Bimbo, Jetstar, KEF, Kellogg's, Lieferheld, PepsiCo, Plus, Roady, Snickers, Oppo, Optus, and Doritos. Goodwill hosted a build-your-own Spider-Man suit contest, with the winner attending the film's premiere. Overall, the campaign generated over $140 million in media value, greater than those for all previous Spider-Man films and Marvel Studios' first 2017 release, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. This does not include merchandising for the film, which is controlled by Marvel and Disney. Marketing of the film in China included partnering with Momo, iQiyi, Tencent QQ, Baidu, Mizone, CapitaLand, Xiaomi, HTC Vive, and Sony.

Critical reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 300 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film has a normalized score of 75 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". PostTrak reported that over 90% of audience members gave the film a rating of either "excellent" or "very good".