The Amazing Spider-Man

Episode 246: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Theme: Spider-Men Month
Hosts: Oz & Curtis

This week, Oz and Curtis crawl out of the 2004 archives to check out the grittier, darker, and slightly more skateboard-accessible 2012 relaunch, The Amazing Spider-Man. It’s a film that asks us to throw out the Sam Raimi blueprint and completely rebuild a world we already knew, replacing Tobey Maguire's earnest, wide-eyed innocence with Andrew Garfield's dark, brooding, hair-flipping high school angst. Grab your organic web-shooters, make sure you double-check your decay rate algorithms, and remember: if you get into a fight on a train, it's totally normal to end up stuck to the ceiling.

The hosts break down:

• Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield): A science nerd who rides a skateboard and wears a hoodie, proving that he isn’t an outcast—he’s just a handsome guy trying to solve a 15-year-old biological mystery left in his father's briefcase.

• Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone): An Oscorp intern who possesses an unlimited corporate clearance card, allowing her to wander into highly restricted laboratories, host random tours, and casually mix up anti-lizard formulas on her lunch break.

• Dr. Kurt Connors (Rhys Ifans): A dedicated, single-armed scientist who turns to lizard DNA to perform some human trials, eventually transforming into a giant CGI reptile who plots to aerate the entire city of New York from the roof of a skyscraper.

• The Bridge Counselor: A beautifully executed sequence where Peter steps into his role as a first responder, taking off his mask to walk a terrified child out of a burning, dangling car by narrating the actions of crisis counseling.

• The Crane Relay: A highly convenient piece of structural engineering where every crane operator in Manhattan magically coordinates a linear path to swing a wounded Spider-Man straight to the top of Oscorp.

Final Verdict:

Oz — Seven John Arbuckles
Curtis — 70 Bodega Milks