The Amazing Spider-Man (2012): Cast, Plot, Ending and Where to Watch

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) is about Peter Parker, a teenager who gains spider powers after an Oscorp spider bite and investigates why his scientist parents disappeared.

Peter is raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May after his parents vanish one night, and the story begins with him as a small boy. Years later he is a bullied, awkward teenager who likes photography and has a crush on his classmate Gwen Stacy. When he finds his father's old papers, the trail leads him to Oscorp, where Gwen works as an intern and where his father's former partner, Dr. Curt Connors, the future Lizard, still works. The bite from a genetically altered spider gives Peter strange new strength and agility, and it sets the rest of the film in motion.

That setup is a different emphasis from Spider-Man (2002), the first film in the Raimi universe, because here the mystery of Peter's parents drives the story as much as the powers do. If you want to place the film among the others before you press play, the Spider-Man movies in order guide shows where it sits.

In The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, fights Dr. Curt Connors as the Lizard and stops his plan to turn New York into lizard creatures. Spoilers follow.

Peter finds his father's briefcase and traces it to Oscorp and Dr. Curt Connors, a one-armed researcher who worked with his father. Inside the lab a genetically modified spider bites Peter, and he develops spider powers. He then gives Connors a piece of his father's research, which helps Connors move forward with his work on regrowing limbs.

Peter lets a thief get away, and that same man later kills Uncle Ben. Driven by that loss, Peter starts hunting criminals in a homemade mask and suit as Spider-Man. He grows close to Gwen, whose father, police captain George Stacy, wants the vigilante caught.

Under pressure from his Oscorp boss, Connors tests the formula on himself. He regrows his arm and turns into a violent reptilian creature called the Lizard. The Lizard attacks around New York, and Peter fights him several times.

Connors then plans to release a gas from Oscorp Tower that would turn the whole city into lizard creatures like him. Gwen and Peter work out an antidote, and Captain Stacy, who has learned who Spider-Man is, helps clear the way for him. Peter reaches the tower, battles the Lizard and spreads the antidote, which turns Connors back into a man.

Captain Stacy dies of his wounds and makes Peter promise to keep away from Gwen to protect her. Peter tries to keep that promise but tells Gwen he cannot stay away from her, and he returns to school and to life as Spider-Man.

The Amazing Spider-Man had its world premiere in Tokyo on June 13, 2012, at Roppongi Hills, three weeks before its US release.

The film then opened in US theaters on July 3, 2012, a date Sony announced alongside the Andrew Garfield casting in July 2010, when it also planned to begin production in December of that year.

The film opened on July 3, 2012 in the US, and the US date is confirmed by Sony's own press release. TMDB reports the same July 3, 2012 date for the UK and Australia.

In the ending of The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter cures Dr. Curt Connors, Captain Stacy dies after making Peter promise to stay away from Gwen, and the mystery of Peter's parents is left unresolved. Spoilers follow, and the interpretation below is opinion.

On the facts, Peter releases the antidote from the top of Oscorp Tower, and Connors is cured and taken into custody. Captain Stacy dies from his wounds after getting Peter to promise he will stay away from Gwen. Peter tries to keep that promise at first, but he ends up telling Gwen he cannot stay away. The film closes with Peter still working as Spider-Man and the story of his missing parents unresolved, which sets up a sequel.

So, what does it mean? One reading is that the promise is the real ending. It echoes the way Uncle Ben's death pushed Peter into the mask: another father figure dies with a demand on Peter's conscience, and this time Peter breaks it. It could be argued that this makes the film warmer than a standard origin story, because the hero's first big choice after the fight is to put a relationship ahead of a vow.

The unresolved parents plot is the other half. Perhaps the smartest thing the film does is refuse to explain the briefcase, which keeps the Oscorp connection alive for the next installment. The cost is that the central mystery feels parked rather than answered, and a viewer who watches only this film is left with a question and no payoff. The post-credits scene is where the film points hardest at what comes next.

Yes, The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) has one post-credits scene, set in Dr. Curt Connors' prison cell.

After the credits, a mysterious man visits Connors and asks if he told Peter the truth about his father. Connors says he did not and that he will not reveal anything, and the man warns that Peter is in danger.

The scene does not name the visitor or explain what the truth is. It reinforces the unresolved parents story from the ending. The sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, is where the series continues.

The Amazing Spider-Man was filmed in Los Angeles, California and New York City, New York.

Principal photography began in December 2010. That pairing suits the story, since the film is set around New York and its Oscorp finale plays out above the city.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) had its world premiere in Tokyo on June 13, 2012, three weeks before its US release on July 3, 2012.

• The film grossed about $759 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
• It is the first of two films in the Webb universe, followed by The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
• Max Charles plays Peter Parker (Age 4), so the film opens with Peter as a small boy.
• Chris Zylka is credited as Flash Thompson, ranking tenth in the billing.
• Its ratings differ by country: PG-13 in the US, 12A in the UK and M in Australia.

For where it lands in the wider story, see the Spider-Man timeline, and for the full list of films, the Spider-Man movies hub covers every release.