20 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies. LOOK OUT! Here comes 20 things you (probably) don't know about the Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Hmm, not entirely convinced that intro has worked...

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is out on DVD and Blu-ray now

(Images: Rex/YouTube)
 

1.

Emma Stone personally wrote this graduation speech at the beginning of the film.

2.

Shailene Woodley was cast as Mary-Jane Watson, and even filmed scenes. Her role was cut because the movie makers felt there were too many characters and wanted just one love interest for Parker. Prior to the decision, Kristen Stewart was considered for the role.

3.

Dane DeHaan lost seven pounds in weight in one day when shooting the final battle scene. He had to wear a 50lb suit and prosthetics for 3 and a half hours, in 46 degrees celsius weather. They eventually had to rig a tubing system to cool him off because buckets of ice being hurled on the poor guy just turned to steam. "My brain was literally melting," he told Vanity Fair.

4.

When Peter Parker spies on Gwen (you could call him... wait for it... A nosey Parker...) and she's walking a dog, the dog is Andrew Garfield's and Emma Stones's pet dog that they adopted the year before. The golden retriever is called Ren.

5.

The Rhino’s mechanised suit is entirely CGI, but Giamatti wore a rig on set.

6.

Weirdly, before being cast for the role, Paul Giamatti appeared on a 2011 episode of Conan O'Brien. He was asked what Spider-Man villain he would like to play one day and did indeed plump for Rhino.

7.

Max Dillon has a birthday cake in his fridge that is white with green icing and yellow lightning bolts (inset). This is an homage to the original Electro suit from the comics.

8.

This was the first Spidey film to be shot entirely in New York State, including a car-chase scene (the latter stages of this clip are worth a watch) that was filmed in Rochester because the speed laws are less restrictive in upstate New York. It became the largest film production ever in the state. 

9.

The Spider-Man costume is different in each movie and, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 they placed great emphasis on the eyes. The costume includes the original large white eyepieces, which have not been done in any major motion picture about Spider-Man. Each time, the costume eyes were thin, clear coloured frames - see Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man (left) compared to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (right). Garfield reportedly bumped into walls the first time he tried on the suit because he wasn't used to the costume without the clear frames.

10.

 The only differences from the costume for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the very first Spider-Man costume are the Spider insignia on his back and the lack of Web "wings" beneath his arms.

11.

As part of the viral marketing campaign Marc Webb tweeted a photo of a message in Dwarven language revealing that the first trailer would debut prior to 3D screenings of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The first comment rather amused us.

12.

A series of casts were made of Jamie Foxx for his Electro suit. It was eventually made up of 21 individual silicone pieces, to create the look of electricity coursing through his veins.

13.

VFX artists watched footage of nighttime thunderstorms and bioluminescent animals and photos of nebulae to achieve the look.

14.

The movie finished its opening weekend in first place with $91.6 million, almost $30 million more than the opening weekend gross of the first film. It grossed $202,853,933 in North America and $505,835,227 in other countries, for a total worldwide gross of $708,689,160. The original grossed $757,930,663, worldwide.

15.

The film's release in India is the biggest opening weekend of all time for a Hollywood movie. The Amazing Spider-Man held that title previously, too.

16.

In China, the film played on 11,002 screens, which is the biggest release of any film in history.

17.

Although they did shoot some parts of this scene in Times Square at night, the crew had to build a replica of the New York landmark at the studio in Long Island to film much of it. 

18.

In this scene where Parker, oblivious to the traffic, crosses the road to see Gwen, Andrew Garfield was clipped by a taxi. “In the take [that was] used, the taxi actually ran over my heel,” he recalls. “You can see a little facial recognition of that just as I’m about to step onto the pavement. Literally, a tire smacked my heel. It was really scary.”

19.

A black poster with The Ramones logo can be seen in Peter's room. The Ramones recorded a well known punk version of the original theme song from the 1960's cartoon. Give it a listen here. The video's ace, too.

20.

Several different, fairly gruesome endings were filmed, but were declined in fear of forcing the movie out of a PG-13 rating. One featured The Green Goblin snapping Gwen Stacy's neck with his bare hands, and the other showed the Goblin stabbing her. The more family-friendly version that they plumped for actually best resembles the comic book version of events.