This page may contain one or more affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product through that link, I may receive compensation. The links will be identified with the text "affiliate link". Click to learn more.
In one of several Spider-Man movies called The Amazing Spider-Man we will look at the plot and relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, and how this movie evolved the on-screen magic of the comic book character becoming more real than ever before. There are many interesting aspects of this film such as The Lizard (Dr Connors) as well as finally seeing Parker’s first long-term girlfriend Gwen Stacy onscreen, where before we only got a glimpse of her in Spider-Man 3 from 2007. Let’s dive deeper into The Amazing Spider-Man movie and see if we can interpret some of the harder to understand points.
What Happened to Peter Parker’s Parents?
From the start of the movie there is a mystery of what happened to Peter Parker’s parents. We see him as a child and it appears that someone broke into his father’s office. His father Richard erases a blackboard which says on it “delivery agent arachnid genome”. They drop Peter off with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and they leave to an unspecified place. Later in the movie Peter is dealing with a flood in the basement and finds something interesting. This seems to be loosely based on the story in the comic Amazing Spider-Man Annual 5 where Peter finds a trunk in the basement with information about his parents. In the movie however things are a little different as Peter finds a briefcase with files implying that his father Richard Parker worked with Dr Connors. Peter also finds a hidden compartment in the briefcase with some files it. His father apparently hid the files in the briefcase and then hid the case in uncle Ben’s basement before he fled. A quick internet search by Peter shows that Richard Parker and Curt Connors worked at Oscorp (Norman Osborn’s corporation) and made a breakthrough together in cross species genetics. About an hour into the movie Connors has a conversation with his boss and after refusing to start human trials his boss says that Richard Parker said the same thing. It is implied that perhaps Richard may have had to flee for his life.
Gwen and Peter’s Relationship
About five and a half minutes into the Amazing Spider-Man movie we see Gwen Stacy for the first time played by Emma Stone. She is sitting on the table of an empty picnic bench at school, apparently an area to eat lunch. She is reading a book by herself, wearing a jacket and long sleeves, and also has a ridiculously short skirt. Everything about this scene makes no sense. Sitting on the table top, instead of resting against it, is not a good way to read a book. By sitting on the table Gwen is also broadcasting her presence, which is not good if she want to be left alone to read her book. A woman that attractive would make men and women alike want to hang around her.
When Peter stands up to a bully, Gwen shows interest by interacting with Peter first. Later in the movie Peter sneaks into Oscorp where Gwen happens to be Dr Connors’ assistant. During this scene there is some light flirting between the two of them. Around an hour into the movie Gwen Stacy runs down the hall and asks Peter Parker to come over to her home for dinner. She does this rather suddenly as if she strongly desires a relationship with him. This would never happen in real life, as the woman typically waits around for the man to interact with her. By the pretty girl asking out the socially awkward boy we see a sort of fantasy sequence where the boy doesn’t have to say a word or do any work at all to win her affection.
As far as Andrew Garfield playing Spider-Man, we can see some clear choices made with his casting and portrayal. He is tall (women love) muscular (women love) and rebellious (women love). He isn’t the book worm science nerd shown in the early comic books or in the Spider-Man movies Sam Raimi directed. Rather we get a kid who is cool from the get-go.
In summary, The Amazing Spider-Man movie was not only a reboot of our favorite wall-crawler’s origin but also dives deeper into explaining what could have happened to Peter’s parents, as well as making Gwen Stacy the focal point for the first time on film. Since she was Peter’s first and true love, it is quite interesting since Mary Jane Watson in other films is the person of interest in Peter’s life. What do you think of this movie? Did you know that there is a comic book adaptation (Affiliate Link) of the film? So yeah, a comic book based off a movie based off a comic book.