AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Movie Presentation Shows "Untold Story"

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"If you want to steal cars, maybe don't dress like a car thief!"

That line, uttered by Spider-Man in the Amazing Spider-Man footage shown Monday at an international promotional event, showed that the new film looks to have a good handle on the title character's trademark wisecracks. Nearly five months away from the July 3 release date of Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man, fans across the globe got an early look at the film on at a simulcasted promotional event, held at multiple cities across the globe.

With director Marc Webb in Los Angeles, lead actor Andrew Garfield in New York City, Rhys Ifans (The Lizard) in London, Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) and producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach in Rio de Janeiro, both a new trailer and extended sizzle reel debuted in front of the gathered crowds.

The new trailer featured much more shots of Spider-Man in costume than the original that debuted last July and much more humor. The sizzle reel showed off the humor in an extended sequence showing Spider-man taking down a thug, toying with him and joking the entire time. When the thug pulls a knife, Spidey collapses to the ground saying "Oh no, a knife! My one weakness!" before sending the criminal's hand, knife and all, into a wall with a ball of webbing. Denis Leary's Captain George Stacy was featured prominently, seen at a dinner table argument with Peter Parker about Spider-Man, with Peter defending his alter ego and Stacy condemning him as a masked vigilante.

Also evident from both the trailer and the sizzle reel is an emphasis on Peter Parker's parents, and a connection between Peter's father and the movie's antagonist, Dr. Curt Connors. Peter's father and Connors worked together at Oscorp, the lab the future Lizard is still employed by. Unlike in the previous Spider-Man films and most Marvel comics, based on the footage Ifans' Connors appears to have a sinister vibe to him even before transforming into The Lizard.

While the trailer was shown in 3D (and showed off 3D effects that were well-received by the crowd, including over-the-shoulder perspectives while Spider-Man swung through the city), due to effects not being entirely finished (Webb stressed to the crowd that the movie was indeed shot with 3D cameras rather than converted after filming), the longer montage sequence was presented in 2D. It opened with a scene of a skateboard-wielding Peter Parker in school, with Flash Thompson, mid-bullying, asking Peter to "take a picture" of him tormenting a fellow student, and Peter refusing. Thompson takes that opportunity to beat down Peter for standing up for the other kid.

Martin Sheen's Uncle Ben also featured heavily, in a scene where he arrives at Peter's high school after another conflict with Flash, this time seemingly post-bite, as Pete really manhandles Flash, slamming him hard into a locker. In the sequence, Uncle Ben tells Peter that he had to switch shifts due to the incident — which could possibly indicate a new motivation point for Spider-Man's character rather than the classic "failing to stop a burglar."

After Uncle Ben ribs Peter a bit for having a "picture of Gwen on his computer," Gwen and Peter had a very cute, natural, and full-of-chemistry scene in the school hallway. The two had great, if awkward, give and take, and Emma Stone's trademark awkward conversation despite being gorgeous worked great as Stacy.

The footage also showed a sequence of Peter Parker discovering his powers, fighting unmasked, what looked like a glimpse at a high-tech webshooter with a digital display, and Aunt May calling Peter's father a "very secretive man." The webshooters will play heavily into the story, it seemed; footage of Peter studying and inventing the shooters was shown, with him triumphant when he seems to figure it out. A flash from the shooters attached to his wrist bursts out every time he used them during action sequences as well.

During the event, Webb elaborated on the role played by Peter Parker's parents in the film, saying that the movie aimed to deal with the "emotional component of what it means to be an orphan." The director also stated that he wanted to approach Peter Parker in a "more realistic, more naturalistic way." This directly ties to the film's marketing campaign, claiming "the untold story," which seems to directly attack the idea that this is just another origin story.

When asked the differences between Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane, Stone called Gwen "the yin to Mary Jane's yang," and that said from her perspective a fundamental difference was that Gwen falls in love with Peter Parker, where MJ fell for Spider-Man. The extended footage showed that Peter definitely reveals his secret identity to Gwen at some point during the movie, apparently after an injury.

Ifans kept his comments brief, saying that The Lizard's connection to Peter Parker's father makes him unique among the annals of Spider-Man villains. As for The Lizard's look, the leaked shots based off of concept art and the action figures that will accompany the film's release are accurate, complete with the reptilian Voldemort-like nose. Lizard looks big and strong, someone that will be a clear threat, even throwing cars off a bridge (which Spidey then hangs by webbing like ornaments on a tree).

In Spidey's hometown of New York City, Garfield said he realizes Spider-Man's power is a symbol, and that he's "just the guy in the suit" right now. In a shout-out to Miles Morales, the much-publicized current Ultimate Spider-Man, Garfield said he hopes that the next Spider-Man will be played by a "half-hispanic, half-African American actor."