Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the film was produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Enterprises and Laura Ziskin Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the second installment in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and the sequel to Spider-Man (2002). The film stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, and Donna Murphy. Set two years after the events of Spider-Man, the film finds Peter Parker struggling to stop scientist Dr. Otto Octavius from recreating the dangerous experiment that killed his wife and left him neurologically fused to mechanical tentacles, while also dealing with an existential crisis between his dual identities that appears to be stripping him of his powers.
This article is about the 2004 film directed by Sam Raimi. For other uses, see Spider-Man 2 (disambiguation).Spider-Man 2
- Columbia Pictures[1]
- Marvel Enterprises[1]
- Laura Ziskin Productions[2]
- June 25, 2004 (Mann Village Theater)
- June 30, 2004 (United States)
127 minutes[3]
United States
English
$200 million[4]
$789.7 million[4]
Principal photography began in April 2003 in New York City and also took place in Los Angeles. Reshoots took place later that year and concluded in December. Danny Elfman returned to compose the score.
Spider-Man 2 premiered at the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles on June 25, 2004, and was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on June 30. It received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its emotional weight and visual effects, as well as Maguire and Molina's performances and Raimi's direction, and grossed $789 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of the year. It was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of 2004.
The film won Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards, and was also nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing; it also received five awards at the Saturn Awards, including Best Fantasy Film and Best Director for Raimi. The film is widely regarded as one of the greatest superhero films ever made and a blueprint for future movies in the genre.[a] Its success led to Spider-Man 3 (2007). The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) explored the concept of the multiverse to connect the previous Spider-Man films to the MCU, with Maguire and Molina reprising their roles.
Plot[edit]
Two years after becoming Spider-Man,[b] Peter Parker is estranged from both his love interest Mary Jane Watson and his best friend, Harry Osborn, and discovers that his Aunt May is facing eviction. He finds himself suffering temporary but recurring losses of his powers, often in life-threatening situations.
Harry, who is now head of Oscorp's genetic and scientific research division, is sponsoring a fusion power project by nuclear scientist Otto Octavius, who befriends and mentors Peter. While handling hazardous materials, Octavius wears a harness of powerful mechanical tentacles with artificial intelligence. During a public demonstration that Peter and Harry attend, a power spike causes the fusion reactor to destabilize. Octavius refuses to shut down the reactor, which goes critical, killing his wife and burning the inhibitor chip blocking the arms from his nervous system. As Spider-Man, Peter manages to shut the experiment down. At a hospital, doctors prepare to surgically remove Octavius' harness. Without the inhibitor chip, the tentacles have become sentient and defend themselves by killing the doctors. Afterward, Octavius takes refuge at a harbor. Now corrupted by the arms' AI, he decides to re-try his experiment and robs a bank to fund it. The Daily Bugle dubs the scientist "Doctor Octopus".
Mary Jane becomes engaged to astronaut John Jameson, the son of Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. Peter suffers an emotional breakdown over his inability to balance his life, with the stress stripping him of his powers as a result. He quits being Spider-Man, returns to his normal life, and attempts to reconcile with Mary Jane. He also finally confesses to Aunt May the truth about Uncle Ben's death.[b] Aunt May forgives him, but the rise in the city's crime rates worries Peter.
Requiring the isotope tritium to fuel his reactor, Octavius visits Harry to demand it, threatening to kill him if he does not comply. Harry agrees in exchange for Spider-Man, whom he still believes is responsible for his father's death.[b] He tells Octavius to seek Peter, whom Harry believes is friends with Spider-Man, but tells him to not hurt Peter. Octavius locates Peter, tells him to find Spider-Man, and captures Mary Jane. Her endangerment leads to Peter's powers returning, and he goes after Octavius as Spider-Man. As they battle, they fall onto a New York City Subway train. Octavius sabotages it and leaves Peter to save the runaway train. After multiple attempts, he does so just before the train plunges into New York Harbor, but at a great physical toll. Octavius captures the now-weakened Peter and delivers him to Harry.
Harry prepares to kill Spider-Man, only to be shocked to see Peter under the mask. Peter convinces Harry to put their conflict aside for Mary Jane's sake, and direct him to Octavius' lair. They battle again as the nuclear reaction starts threatening the city. Peter reveals his identity and persuades Octavius to let his dream go for the greater good. Octavius commands the tentacles to obey him and sacrifices himself to destroy the experiment. Mary Jane sees Peter's true identity, which he says is why they cannot be together.
Meanwhile, Harry is visited by a vision of his father in a mirror, pleading for Harry to avenge his death, but Harry refuses to hurt Peter. Enraged, Harry shatters the mirror, inadvertently revealing a secret room containing his father's Green Goblin equipment. On her wedding day, Mary Jane abandons John at the altar and runs to Peter's apartment in her wedding dress. After they kiss, they hear police sirens, and Mary Jane encourages him to go help as Spider-Man.
J. K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson, the miserly manager and editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle,[17] while Daniel Gillies portrays his son John Jameson, an astronaut and Mary Jane's fiancé.[15] Christine Estabrook appears briefly as Jameson's wife and John's mother.
As with the previous film, Bruce Campbell has a cameo appearance, this time as an usher who refuses Peter entry for arriving late to Mary Jane Watson's show.[18] Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee portrays a man on the street who saves a woman from falling debris during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus.[19] Dylan Baker portrays Dr. Curt Connors, one of Peter's college physics professors and a colleague of Octavius,[16] while Willem Dafoe reprises his role as Norman Osborn, Harry's deceased father who appears to him as a hallucination. Dafoe came up with the idea during promotion for Spider-Man, which he compared to King Hamlet haunting his son to avenge him.[20] Elizabeth Banks, John Paxton, Ted Raimi and Bill Nunn reprise their roles as Betty Brant,[21] Osborn family butler Bernard Houseman,[22] Ted Hoffman,[17] and Robbie Robertson, respectively.[23] Elya Baskin portrays Mr. Ditkovitch, Peter's landlord, (whose name is a reference to Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko) and Mageina Tovah plays his daughter Ursula.[24] Cliff Robertson reprises his role as Peter's uncle Ben Parker in a dream sequence.[25]
Scott Spiegel portrays a man who attempts to eat some pizza Spider-Man is delivering, only to have it webbed from his hands.[26] Elyse Dinh portrays a violinist.[27] Joel McHale portrays Mr. Jacks, a bank teller.[28] Hal Sparks portrays an elevator passenger who has a conversation with Spider-Man.[28] Donnell Rawlings portrays the New Yorker who exclaims that Spider-Man "stole that guy's pizzas"[29] and Emily Deschanel portrays a receptionist.[28] Brent Briscoe plays the garbage man who finds Spider-Man's costume in the trash and gives it to Jameson.[30] Peter McRobbie plays an OsCorp representative.[24] Reed Diamond plays Algernon.[24] Daniel Dae Kim plays Raymond, an assistant of Otto Octavius working in his laboratory.[28] Aasif Mandvi portrays Mr. Aziz, the owner of Joe's Pizza.[28] Joey Diaz,[31] Dan Hicks and Chloe Dykstra portray train passengers.[24] Vanessa Ferlito portrays Louise, one of Mary Jane's co-stars.[32] Joy Bryant appears as a spectator that witnesses Spider-Man in action.[28] John Landis plays one of the doctors who operate on Doctor Octopus.[33] Phil LaMarr portrays a train passenger who is most easily seen to the left of Spider-Man (the viewer's right) while the hero uses webbing to slow the train down.[34] Gregg Edelman portrays Dr. Davis.[24] Twin actors, Peyton and Spencer List were to make their film debuts playing a little girl and boy playing on steps respectively,[35][36] but their scenes were cut from the final film.[37]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Immediately after finishing Spider-Man, director Sam Raimi with help from James Keltie signed into directing a sequel.[38] In April 2002, Sony hired Smallville alumni, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar to write a script of the film, as Raimi, Ziskin, and Maguire loved Smallville as they had seen the pilot episode.[39][40] On May 8, 2002, following Spider-Man's record-breaking $115 million opening weekend, Sony Pictures announced a sequel for 2004.[41] Entitled The Amazing Spider-Man, after the character's main comic book title, the film was given a budget of $200 million and aimed for a release date of May 7, 2004.[42][43] The following month, David Koepp was added to co-write with Gough and Millar.[40] Koepp originally wanted to do the Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn story and have Gwen to be killed in the middle of the second movie.[44]
In September 2002, Michael Chabon was hired to rewrite.[40] His draft had a younger Doc Ock, who becomes infatuated with Mary Jane. His mechanical limbs use endorphins to counteract the pain of being attached to his body, which he enjoys. When he injures two muggers on a date, this horrifies Mary Jane and in the resulting battle with Spider-Man his tentacles are fused together, and the fusion begins to kill him. In the script, Octavius is the creator of the genetically altered spider from the first film, and gives Peter an antidote to remove his powers: this means when Octavius is dying with his tentacles, he wants to extract Spider-Man's spine to save himself. This leads to an alliance with Harry (a detail which made it into the finished film). Beforehand, Harry and the Daily Bugle put a $10 million price on Spider-Man's head, causing the city's citizens to turn against him.[45][46]
Raimi sifted through the previous drafts by Gough, Millar, Koepp and Chabon, picking what he liked with screenwriter Alvin Sargent.[47] He felt that thematically the film had to explore Peter's conflict with his personal wants against his responsibility, exploring the positive and negatives of his chosen path, and how he ultimately decides that he can be happy as a heroic figure.[38] Raimi said that he took inspiration from Superman II (1980) for the story of Peter giving up his responsibilities.[48] Although the story takes some partial influence from Doc Ock's debut in 1963 and the 1966 storyline If This Be My Destiny...!, the story was mostly inspired by the 1967 storyline Spider-Man No More!, specifically The Amazing Spider-Man #50. It was decided that Doctor Octopus would be kept as the villain, as he was both a visually interesting villain who was a physical match for Spider-Man, and a sympathetic figure with humanity, accompanied by the fact that the character had been repeatedly considered as a villain for the first film over the course of its 15-year development.[38] Raimi changed much of the character's backstory, however, adding the idea of Otto Octavius being a hero of Peter, and how their conflict was about trying to rescue him from his demons rather than kill him.[42]
Casting[edit]
When Tobey Maguire signed on to portray Spider-Man in 2000, he was given a three-film contract.[11] After filming Seabiscuit in late 2002, a pre-existing back condition that Maguire suffered from was bothering him.[40][49][50] Raimi heard that Maguire could be paralyzed if there was an injury in his back.[51] Jake Gyllenhaal was cast to replace Maguire; the two actors so resemble each other that "a source close to Maguire" reportedly said that, had Gyllenhaal taken over the role, "A year from now? The public wouldn't know the difference". Maguire's girlfriend's father Ronald Meyer—head of Universal Studios—helped the actor regain the role, with a salary of $17 million.[52][53] Gyllenhaal would later say in a 2019 interview saying that he was one of several actors considered to replace Maguire.[54] Raimi stated that prior to filming he was concerned that Maguire and Dunst weren't going to have the same chemistry, as they had since broken up.[55]
Several actors were considered for the part of Doctor Octopus, including Ed Harris, Chris Cooper, and Christopher Walken; Molina was cast as Octavius in February 2003 and underwent physical training for the role.[56][57][14] The reaction to his casting was mixed.[58] Raimi had been impressed by his performance in Frida and also felt that his large physical size was true to the comic book character.[59] Molina only briefly discussed the role and was not aware that he was a strong contender.[38] He was a big fan of Marvel Comics and was excited to get the part.[60] Although he was not familiar with Doc Ock, Molina found one element of the comics that he wanted to maintain, the character's cruel, sardonic sense of humor.[49]
Release[edit]
Marketing[edit]
The first teaser trailer was released in December 2003, being attached to the screenings of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.[77] The next trailer then premiered on April 8, 2004, during The Apprentice and in theaters with the release of The Alamo the day after.[78]
Promotional partners included Burger King, Dr Pepper, Kraft Foods, Major League Baseball, Kellogg's, and Embassy Suites Hotels.[79]
In March 2024, Sony announced that all of their live-action Spider-Man films will be re-released in theaters as part of Columbia Pictures' 100th anniversary celebration. Spider-Man 2 was re-released on April 22, 2024.[80]
Home media[edit]
The film was initially released on DVD and VHS on November 30, 2004, in United States, in Australia on November 17, and in the UK on November 26. The DVD was available in both anamorphic widescreen and Pan-and-scan "fullscreen", as well as a Superbit edition and in a box-set with the first film. The film was also the first Sony Pictures movie released in the US under the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment banner,[81] and one of the final titles released outside of North America under the Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment name. There was also a collector's DVD gift set including a reprint of The Amazing Spider-Man #50.[82] The DVD release sold 11,604,597 units and grossed $174,260,344 in the United States.[83] The film was also released on Sony's proprietary Universal Media Disc (UMD) format in 2005, with 1 million UMD copies of the film sold in the United States as part of a PlayStation Portable (PSP) bundle.[84] The film received a novelization written by Peter David.[85] The film was released on Blu-ray in October 2007 as a part of the Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy box set.[86] It was also released separately on Blu-ray in November 2010 as well as the previous film as part of Sony's Blu-ray Essentials Collection including both the theatrical release and the 2.1 extended cut. All three films were re-released on Blu-ray as part of the Spider-Man: Origins set in 2017.[87]
Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy was released on Disney+ on April 21, 2023.[88]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Spider-Man 2 grossed $373.6 million in the United States and Canada and $415 million in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $788.6 million, against a production budget of $200 million.[4]
Spider-Man 2 opened in the United States on June 30, 2004, and grossed $40.4 million in its first day; this broke its predecessor's opening day record of $39.4 million until it was surpassed a year later by Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith ($50.0 million).[92] Playing at 4,152 theaters upon opening, it had the second-highest number of screenings, behind Shrek 2, which had an extra 11, bringing the total to 4,163.[93][94] The film also broke The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's record ($34.5 million) for the highest-grossing Wednesday of all time.[95] It held the Wednesday record for three years until it was topped by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ($44.2 million).[96] Its Friday-to-Sunday gross reached a total of $88.2 million, surpassing Austin Powers in Goldmember ($73.1 million) to have the largest July opening weekend. Moreover, Spider-Man 2 also defeated Men in Black II ($52.1 million) for having the biggest Fourth of July opening weekend at the time.[97][98] The film held the record until 2011 when it was broken by Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($97.9 million).[99] With a total gross of $152.6 million, it surpassed Shrek 2 ($129 million) to have the highest five-day Wednesday opening.[100] In its first six days, the film had grossed over $180 million, which surpassed the previous largest six-day opening record held by The Matrix Reloaded ($146.9 million).[98] Additionally, it had the highest Monday gross of any film, generating a total of $27.6 million. The film would hold this record for a decade until it was eclipsed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($40.1 million) in 2015.[101] Spider-Man 2 became the quickest film to hit the $200 million mark, taking eight days to do so.[102] This record would be tied with Revenge of the Sith and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. All three films were surpassed by The Dark Knight in 2008.[103]
Internationally, Spider-Man 2 opened in 28 territories and grossed $43 million in its first week. The film set opening records in Brazil, generating $3.1 million on 650 prints, claiming 62% of market share and beating its predecessor's opening weekend by 22%. It took in $6.6 million on 873 prints in Mexico, which was ranked as the country's third largest opening, coming in at 10% less than the original. Spider-Man 2 produced $1.3 million in Malaysia, smashing Godzilla's record for having the biggest movie opening in the country.[104] In Indonesia, it was the first film in the country's history to reach $2.3 million, surpassing the previous record held by Titanic.[105] In total, the international grosses include Australia ($17.8 million), France ($40.2 million), Germany ($24.2 million), Italy ($24.4 million), Japan ($59.5 million), Mexico ($20.5 million), South Korea ($13 million), Spain ($18.8 million), and the United Kingdom ($49.7 million).[4]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Spider-Man 2 holds an approval rating of 93% based on 276 reviews, with an average score of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Boasting an entertaining villain and deeper emotional focus, this is a nimble sequel that improves upon the original."[106] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gives the film a score of 83 out of 100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[107] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, the same grade earned by the previous film.[108]
Chicago Tribune gave the film three and a half stars out of four, and Mark Caro stated that Alfred Molina was a "pleasingly complex" villain, and the film as a whole "improves upon its predecessor in almost every way."[109] Kenneth Turan, of the Los Angeles Times, gave the film four stars out of five and concurred with Caro when he stated, "Doc Ock grabs this film with his quartet of sinisterly serpentine mechanical arms and refuses to let go."[110] Roger Ebert gave Spider-Man 2 four stars out of four, calling it "the best superhero movie since the modern genre was launched with Superman (1978)", and praising the film for "effortlessly [combining] special effects and a human story, keeping its parallel plots alive and moving."[111] He later called it the fourth best film of 2004."[112] IGN's Richard George felt "Sam Raimi and his writing team delivered an iconic, compelling version of Spider-Man's classic foe... We almost wish there was a way to retroactively add some of these elements to the original character."[113] In 2016, James Charisma of Playboy ranked the film #9 on a list of "15 Sequels That Are Way Better Than The Originals".[114] Conversely, J. Hoberman, of The Village Voice, thought the first half of the film was "talky bordering on tiresome", with the film often stopping to showcase Raimi's idea of humor.[115]
Spider-Man 2 has frequently been listed among rankings of the best superhero films.[c] The film was placed 411th on Empire magazine's top 500 movies list, describing the film as "Bigger and better than its predecessor, with a superior villain in Alfred Molina's Doc Ock, and a more confident Raimi sneaking in some of his own trademarks."[120] In 2013, Forbes described it as "Not just one of the greatest sequels, but one of the best films of the genre, period."[121] In 2018, Film School Rejects called it "the best summer movie ever" and said that its "emotional and calculated story stands above modern summer flicks" like those of The Avengers and The Dark Knight.[122]