While director Sam Raimi was initially working on a fourth installment in his Spider-Man franchise, starring Tobey Maguire as the iconic hero, it wasn’t meant to be. After several creative differences with Sony Pictures, it was decided that the Raimi-verse wouldn’t continue. With Spider-Man 4 scrapped, the studio proceeded with a reboot in the form of The Amazing Spider-Man with director Marc Webb. Andrew Garfield was picked to bring Spider-Man to life in this newest incarnation.
With a solid success, a sequel was immediately worked on, but it didn’t take long for Sony Pictures to get too ambitious with the franchise. Not only did they have plans for three sequels, but they were also using this new universe as a way to launch franchises, including the Sinister Six spin-off. Following a mixed critical reception and several reported production problems, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 became the last chapter in Webb’s franchise. While the franchise came to a quick end, the two films had plenty of amazing (no pun intended) moments that are still enjoyable to this day. With so many to choose from, these are the ten best moments from Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man franchise.
Final Battle Versus Electro (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
While the second film had way too many villains, repeating the Spider-Man 3’s mistake, Jamie Foxx’s Electro was the better foe out of the ones we got. Max Dillon’s was a tragic antagonist for Peter as he looked up to Spider-Man. But once he was transformed into Electro and was disappointed by Spidey, things go completely south for the electric baddie.
Their final battle where we get to see Peter and Gwen (Emma Stone) use their intelligence to stop Electro which was absolutely brilliant.
Harry & Peter Reconnect (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
One of the many new faces we see in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is Peter’s best friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan.) In this version, Harry has been away at boarding school for a long time and basically not been in touch with Peter until he returned to New York. Harry’s introduction in the film got off to a pretty good start.
The scene where the two longtime friends are reunited is genuinely one of the best scenes in the movie. Even though Harry’s role goes down a weird path later in the story, his reunion with Peter was incredibly compelling.
Messing With the Car Thief (The Amazing Spider-Man)
In the first chapter, we get plenty of hilarious moments of Peter as Spider-Man, one of the hero’s iconic traits. As he is on the hunt to find his uncle’s killer, we get a hysterically hilarious moment between him and a car thief. Spider-Man lets the thief break into a car at first while sneaking into the backseat and then proceeds to scare the heck out of him.
What follows is some of Garfield’s greatest comedic beats as the character. To this day, it’s still hilarious that the thief thought that he was a cop at first, despite the fact that Peter was wearing this red-and-blue tight suit.
Uncle Ben’s Final Voice Message (The Amazing Spider-Man)
Sheen’s version of the character is, without doubt, one of the best portrayals of Uncle Ben in media. As he and Peter have a big fight before he is killed, Ben gets one of the best moments later on in the story.
Before his death, he had left a moving and heartbreaking voice mail for Peter as he was looking for his nephew that night. Once Peter listens to it later on in the movie, it brings out all the water works.
Adapting Gwen Stacy’s Iconic Death (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
It might look really weird to list Gwen Stacy’s death as one of the “best” moments in the franchise, but hear us out. While it’s absolutely devastating that Gwen dies in the second movie, the thing that stands out about her death is how they did it. Historically speaking, Gwen’s death is one of the biggest things to have ever happened in all of comic books. Throughout her press tour, Stone was very vocal about wanting to honor this tragic but iconic storyline in the Webb franchise.
That’s exactly what she gets in the second film as Peter’s battle with Harry puts her in the danger that eventually gets her killed. The execution of her death is faithfully adapted the comic with Peter’s web getting her killed catching her. From Stone wearing the exact outfit Gwen wore in the comic when she died to Garfield’s devastating performance, it’s a powerful execution of one the most horrific deaths in comics.
Final Battle Versus The Lizard (The Amazing Spider-Man)
One of the reasons why the first movie worked so well was because it focused on only one villain. In this story, Rhys Ifans brings the Lizard to life who becomes one of the best foes for Spider-Man on the big screen. After several clashes, their final battle goes down on the top of the Oscorp tower.
Visually, it’s remarkable to see Spider-Man taking on this human-sized lizard that really challenges Peter. Their showdown is genuinely a blast to watch as the suspense got higher and higher for every second.
Cranes To The Rescue (The Amazing Spider-Man)
Some of the citizens in New York really get to shine in a crucial moment during The Amazing Spider-Man. After getting shot in the leg by the NYPD, a construction worker whose son Spidey had saved sees that the hero needs help to get to the Oscorp Tower.
He gets his colleagues to position a bunch of cranes so that Spider-Man can swing easier to get to the tower faster. It’s an amazing sequence as we see our hero being given love and assistance to stop the Lizard.
Creating The Web-Shooters & Costume (The Amazing Spider-Man)
The Webb-verse spends a good amount of time with Peter’s creation of the Spider-Man identity. Unlike the Sam Raimi trilogy, this Spider-Man has mechanical web-shooters just like in the comics.
Seeing Peter actually working on them and going through a legitimate struggle was perfect before he finally got them to work. The same goes for his costume as he, hilariously, points out during his research that a lot of it is made out of spandex.
The Power Of Love (The Amazing Spider-Man)
While Captain Stacy (Denis Leary) has a tragic death in the first one, he asks our hero to keep Gwen out of his complicated dual-life. Later, Gwen figures out why Peter had been avoiding her following the captain’s death and is left heartbroken while mourning her father’s death.
But as the film reaches its end, Peter decides to be with Gwen after all. His final line about not being able to make promises that he can’t keep being the best kind is so adorkable.
Spider-Man Returns (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Following Gwen’s heartbreaking death in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, we see Peter end his time as Spider-Man for five months. But you can’t have a Spider-Man movie end like that, as Peter eventually returns to his life as Spider-Man in a powerful way.
The final scene features Paul Giamatti’s Aleksei Sytsevich now operating as the Rhino, terrorizing the streets of New York. As a young boy dressed up as Spider-Man tries to heroically stop the villain, we hear the sounds of webs coming through in this desperate time. Having been inspired by Gwen’s graduation speech, Peter decides to pick up the mantle as the franchise ends with Spidey going up against the Rhino.
