Marvel's The Spectacular Spider-Man is a 2019 live-action superhero movie produced by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios based on the popular superhero by the same name as well as a sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man. It is the twenty-eighth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the final film of Phase 3, and therefore the Infinity Saga. It was released on July 14th 2019.
Production
In August of 2017 after The Amazing Spider-Man had proven to be a critical and Box Office smash, Marvel Studios announced that a Spider-Man sequel was being fast tracked to be released in summer of 2019, directly after Avengers: Forever where it would cap off Phase 3. This decision caused concern amongst fans after the release of Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet in which Peter Parker dies during the climax of the film, believing that the confirmation of a Spider-Man film coming at the end of Phase 3 spoiled that he would be resurrected. Phil Lord and Chris Miller however went on record to appease these concerns by stating that the Spider-Man sequel would be a prequel to the events of Infinity Gauntlet and Forever, taking place over a year after The Amazing Spider-Man and dealing with Peter's High School graduation and summer break, before he was affected by Thanos or the snap.
Later that year the film's title was finally confirmed to be The Spectacular Spider-Man and that Damian Lewis' Norman Osborn would take on his comic book alter ego the Green Goblin, being the main villain as teased in the end credits of Amazing Spider-Man. Shortly after more villain announcements came in revealing Michael Mando to have also been cast as the Scorpion and Kevin Durand to be the Rhino. When the first trailer dropped in January of 2019 it was shown for the first time that Charlie Cox would be reprising his role as Daredevil from the R-Rated Netflix series by the same name to star alongside Spider-Man. Filming began and finished in mid 2018 and the Spectacular Spider-Man was released worldwide on July 14th 2019.
Cast
- Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
- Damian Lewis as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
- Michael Mando as Donald Gargan/Scorpion
- Kevin Durand as Alex O'Hirn/Rhino
- Charlie Cox as Matthew "Matt" Murdock/Daredevil
- Halston Sage as Gwen Stacy
- Harrison Osterfield as Harry Osborn
- Marisa Tomei as May Parker
- J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
- Kiefer Sutherland as Captain George Stacy
- Dennis Haysbert as Doctor Bart Hamilton
- Peter Billingsley as Mendel Stromm
- Helen Slater as Helen Stacy
- Whoopi Goldberg as Principal Kelly Cox
- Oscar Isaac as Oliver Octavius
- Numan Acar as Dmitri Smerdyakov (Flashback)
Plot
The film starts with Norman Osborn completing a puzzle with his young son, Harry. Exaggeratedly telling him how good he did before Harry hugs him and then leaves to go play. Norman starts relaxing until hearing someone come in, he thinks it's Harry but after turning around sees it's his Butler, Dmitri. He reminds Norman it's time for his afternoon Tea and he politely tells him that would be lovely. Dmitri then begins making it until letting out a feral growl and attacking Norman, almost killing him until he manages to stab Dmitri in the chest with a kitchen knife a dozen times, falling to the ground and transforming into a hairless green alien with pointed ears, who simply shapeshifted into Dmitri. Osborn is horrified and about to call the police until stopping himself only to call Oliver Octavius instead, telling him to come to the house, alone. Only for him to then hang up and start dragging the corpse away.
The credits begin to roll.
In the present day, Spider-Man is falling through the sky into New York City until webbing onto one of the buildings, swinging through Manhattan in his usual fashion as J. Jonah Jameson rants about him on the Daily Bugle playing in the background. Spider-Man then eventually stops by Midtown High where the class of 2018's Graduation Ceremony is commencing. There, Harry Osborn is shown to be in the audience asking Gwen Stacy where Peter is only to him to rush into his seat, insisting that there was a ton of traffic. Gwen though insists he's right on time just as Principal Kelly Cox announces Harry as this year’s Valedictorian and calls him up for his speech. Harry proceeds to take out a script and starts reading from it until noticing his father's seat in the audience is empty, he never showed up to the Graduation. Harry then starts to ignore his script and instead speaks from his heart, saying that he knows it’s easy to feel hopeful on a bright, sunny day like today, but there will be dark days ahead of them too. Days when you feel empty, scared, and alone, but that’s when hope is needed most. No matter how buried it gets Harry asks the graduating class to promise him that they will keep their hope alive, to become greater than what they suffer, because even if they fail, what better way is there to live. Everyone cheers at his inspiring and momentous speech, especially Peter and Gwen.
At Oscorp, Norman Osborn is impressed looking over his company's latest invention, a fully functional aerospace Glider. Mendel Stromm though points out the Glider is impractical, it lacks any sort of overhead protection from projectiles and it's a falling hazard, they can't sell it as a commercial vehicle like this. Norman sighs and instructs Mendel to take it back to the drawing board then. Afterwards, he looks at his watch and realizing what time it is tells Stromm that he's late for something very important and leaves. Osborn is then shown being chauffeured across New York City only to stop at his Therapist, Doctor Bart Hamilton's office, where he sits down for a session. Back at Midtown, everyone throws their hat into the air after graduating as Peter goes to celebrate with his friends. Gwen excitedly tells him that she can't believe it's finally here, Juilliard class of 2022. He insists that she's going to rock the halls at that place until Harry then walks over and starts kissing her, Peter trying his best to hide his disappointment. Gwen's Dad George eventually tells them to stop as Harry instantly does and apologizes to him. Gwen, though realizing they've never met, introduces Peter to her father, who casually shakes his hand before leaving to take a phone call. Peter asks if he's always that pissed and Harry reminds him he's the Captain of the NYPD and he's dating his daughter, so yes.
Peter then goes to his Mom who says that she's so proud of him and wishes his Father could've been here to see it. He says that he is too, he would've been really happy seeing him get into Empire State University. May then talks about how they're having money troubles and Peter's going to need to get a job to help support his tuition. Peter though is resistant to the idea since he knows it would interfere with his Spider-Man duties. May suggests that he should just find a way to make money off Spider-Man but Peter asks how he'd do that without revealing his identity to the whole world and May, not having an answer, insists she could work double shifts at the office. Back at the Therapy Session, Norman talks about how he's still been afraid that what happened with Doctor Octopus could happen again. Bart Hamilton reminds him that it was almost two years ago but Norman responds by asking why it feels like it was yesterday. Oliver was supposed to be his friend, they should've kept building Oscorp together. He lied to him, betrayed him, he can't trust anyone. Bart asks if he's ready to talk about why Oliver left Oscorp but Norman says it's not important. Hamilton then tells Norman he's putting him on a higher dose of Antidepressants, see if that doesn't give him some relief.
Act 1
Spider-Man is then shown that night to be fighting thugs from the Yancy Street Gang. Just as he's nearly about to be overwhelmed by their numbers Daredevil joins the fight and helps Peter take down the rest of the thugs. Spider-Man and Daredevil then tell each other good job as they start interrogating a Yancy Street thug named Alex O'Hirn, who's webbed to a brick wall. Peter insists to Daredevil not worry, he'll be bad cop and asks Alex where the Yancy Street Gang's been holding up. O'Hirn tells Spider-Man to kiss his ass until Daredevil violently grabs his testicles and responds that they asked him a question, much to Spider-Man's shock. He continues to squeeze before O'Hirn finally cracks and says the location. Daredevil, despite hearing his heartbeat and realizing it's the truth, continues hanging on until Peter reminds him they got what they came for and to "Hakuna his tatas". The Devil does as told as it then cuts to the police arresting all the thugs while Daredevil and Spider-Man both watch from the roof of a nearby building. Spider-Man tells Daredevil not to be so hard on criminals and he responds by asking how old he is, only for Peter to insist "old enough". Daredevil explains how when he gets a little older he's going to realize the world is meaner than he seems to think, and you can't afford to keep seeing the best in people.
Peter responds by pointing out his whole life he's been told that, but maybe those parts of being a kid are what makes him Spider-Man. He can't give those up, and if he has to, maybe he just shouldn't grow up at all then. Daredevil says it's nice what he's trying to do, what wouldn't give to have some of that innocence again, but he's gotta look at it the same way as being Spider-Man, it's not something he does for himself, it's something he does for everyone else. Kids need to be taken care of, and he's not always going to be here to do it for him. Peter says that's not fair, he's a lawyer, he argues stuff like this for fun. He then webs off and while swinging through the city thinks about what Daredevil said, deciding to call Harry Osborn asking him if he could talk to his Dad about a possible summer job opportunity, as the camera then pans to the Oscorp Headquarters in the skyline.
Inside Norman uses a special keycard to enter a highly classified wing of the building. After walking through the hallway he comes face to face with an aquarium labeled OZ containing the alien corpse that attacked him all those years ago, still preserved.
Mendel Stromm asks Norman what he called him in here for and Osborn insists that he wants to perform a Xenotransfusion on OZ, find out personally what makes it tick. Stromm is skeptical, claiming that's not a good idea, nobody else at Oscorp knows it even exists and if they did it would only be a matter of time before S.H.I.E.L.D. confiscated it. Norman suggests they don't tell anyone then and just do it themselves but Stromm says they can't do Xenotransfusion with an unknown alien blood on themselves to which Osborn claims of course they can, or he can anyway. They both checked the numbers themselves working together this past year, OZ isn't a carrier for any known bacterial diseases but has countless proteins that if exposed to the human body could hypothetically lead to self replication in his own immune system. Mendel reminds him hypothetically, that they're still dealing with a compound here that hasn't been fully mapped out yet. Osborn insists he can kiss his job goodbye if he walks away, Stromm claims he’ll tell everyone about this then and Norman points out not with the nondisclosure agreements he signed when he started working here.
Feeling little choice but to comply, Stromm agrees to do it with him. Osborn and him then work together to draw blood from OZ and synthesize it into a formula that can enter the bloodstream. As Stromm readies the needle he asks Norman one last time if he’s sure he really wants to do this, and Osborn replies that he just wants to feel safe again. Stromm then finally injects the OZ Formula into him and they both just stand there expecting something to happen, but nothing does. Norman and Mendel do a body scan which shows no significant changes to his metabolism seem to have occurred, both of them coming to the chilling realization that it was a dud. Stromm claims they need to look over the corpse alongside Norman's X-Rays to see why it's not working but Osborn, unable to hide his disappointment, tells Mendel to go home for the night, they’ll just continue the research tomorrow morning.
At his house, a disgruntled and exhausted Norman walks inside where he sees Harry and asks him how the Graduation went, the younger Osborn confirming he made sure his speech was recorded. Norman then says he'll watch it soon as he can and Harry asks what about right now but Norman insists he's feeling tired and is going to go to sleep early tonight. Just as he's about to enter his bedroom though Harry remembers that Peter’s looking for a job and asks if there’s anything he could do at Oscorp, Norman responds that's no problem, he'll pull some strings, figure something out. He then shuts the door and finally falls into bed, passing out. As Norman sleeps he tosses and turns before seeing flashy images of himself returning to the secret wing and laughing sadistically while brutally killing Mendel Stromm. Meanwhile on the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson is talking to Captain George Stacy about how Spider-Man is a menace who's been actively hindering police efforts. Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker are shown to be watching it on a screen in the middle of the city with Gwen frustrated that her father is helping Jonah spread these lies, crime has gone down twenty three percent since Spider-Man showed up and that's a fact. Peter blurts out thanking her until Gwen gets confused and Peter then quickly asks how she knew that and Gwen explains her house literally has access to all the NYPD statistics and records. Peter teases that she's still hung up on Spider-Man only to then ask what Harry would think about that. Gwen changes the subject by telling Peter she knows they had a "thing" back in Junior year, but that she hopes it doesn't make things weird between the three of them. Peter though insists that he understands, Harry's a great guy, stable, not like him.
They then walk into Oscorp where Harry meets up with them for the job interview, warning Peter that his Dad can be a little intimidating, but it's just a power play, if Peter stands his ground and doesn’t let it get to him he’ll be fine. Parker then jokingly says if he nails this interview twenty years down the line they'll both be running this place. Harry humorously responds back telling him that he's dreaming if he doesn't think he's gonna get fired sometime after summer break. In his office, Norman Osborn is on a phone call where he's informed Mendel Stromm didn't show up to work today and isn't answering any of his Emails until Peter walks in and Norman tells his colleague he'll call them back. Parker introduces himself and Norman tells Peter to address him as "Mr. Osborn" before jokingly admitting that Norman is just fine. Peter awkwardly chuckles and Norman claims when he heard one of Harry's friends from Midtown was coming to interview, he didn't expect it to be him. Peter exclaims how working here would be a dream come true, he wrote his Honor’s Thesis on Oscorp’s latest research project. Norman claims there aren’t many High Schoolers who understand those concepts and Peter says he's gonna study Engineering at Empire State, that's actually part of the reason he wanted this job, tuition's a little tight since his Father passed. He and his Mom need all the help they can get. Norman is so impressed by Peter wanting to help earn his keep that he hires him on the spot, insisting he can work part time with flexible hours.
Peter is ecstatic to hear that thanking Norman for the opportunity but Osborn insists he's like a brother to Harry, which makes him family, and the Osborns look after their own. Peter leaves the office where he tells Harry and Gwen that he got the Job, Gwen hugs him and Harry reluctantly pats Peter on the back. Gwen then asks if he likes Branzino, Peter wonders what that means and Gwen explains it's a fish, that she and Harry were going to have dinner this weekend at her house, that Peter should come with them to celebrate. Back in his office, Norman Osborn tries to get work done until he begins compulsively twitching and then gets up to enter his secret wing. There he's shown making weapons modifications to the Glider so that it's no longer recognizable and then steals it along with orange colored hand grenades and a high tech body armor with yellow eyes on it. He then drains the aquarium and takes out OZ, where he begins skinning it for all its green flesh. That night inside a bar on Yancy street, Donald Gargan is yelling at Alex O'Hirn for giving up their location to Spider-Man, now they have to relocate again! Alex starts trying to explain that Daredevil was with him, he didn't have a choice. Gargan though claims the only reason he was keeping him around was for his muscle, but if he can't even defend their territory maybe there's no room for him here anymore. Suddenly, everyone hears sadistic laughter as Norman Osborn flies into the bar on his Glider disguised in a suit made from the OZ flesh.
Donald Gargan asks who the fuck he is and Norman jumps off the Glider insisting they can call him the Green Goblin. Donald takes out his gun and asks the Goblin to give him one good reason not to blow his head off. Green Goblin tells him to go ahead, commenting that the Yancy Street Gang hasn't had much luck against men like him these past few years, Spider-Man, Daredevil, they've all made them squeal! Green Goblin then tells Donald he can see it in him, he's a squealer, a few Gangsters then try to detain the Goblin but he manages to brutally kill everyone who touches him. Alex becomes scared but Donald is intrigued as the Green Goblin walks over to the pool table and knocks in every ball with one hit. Afterwards, asking Donald if he wants to be like him! To be powerful, to be feared, to have the whole city at his feet. Green Goblin then begins rolling in crates of Oscorp technology promising he can arm them all to the teeth in Avengers level hardware, the police and Spider-Man can be swatted out like the flies they are. Donald asks what's in it for him and the Green Goblin says they just have to promise they'll make this city burn. It then does a montage where the Yancy Street Gang relocate their operations to an Oscorp storage unit with the Green Goblin and all his technology. Alex O'Hirn gets fitted into a suit of armor designed to look like a Rhinoceros while Donald Gargan is fitted in one designed to look like a Scorpion, afterwards synthesizing the suit with radioactive Scorpion venom.
Spider-Man is then seen the next day webbing up a bunch of carjackers until remembering that he has to be at work soon. He quickly starts rushing to Oscorp, already apologizing to Norman for being late only for Osborn to insist it's no problem, you can't rush brilliance. They both then get started on their research inspired by research at Culver University which involves using radiation for genetic engineering in biological organisms. Across Town, Harry Osborn is then shown to be at the Admissions building for Juilliard until getting called into the office where his late application is accepted. As Harry's leaving Gwen is shown to be waiting for him outside and asks what he's doing here, Osborn explains that he doesn't want to wait until next summer to see her, he pulled some strings and was able to get into Juilliard too. Gwen is taken back pointing out that Caltech was his dream school but Harry insists he's got his new major and schedule all planned out, Peter can even visit whenever he wants, it'll all be worth it for them to be together. Gwen though claims she just needs some time to think about it.
Meanwhile, Peter is at his Apartment where his Mom is cooking him Wheatcakes in celebration of his first week at Oscorp. Peter gets ready to dig in until he starts hearing the TV that's on in the background playing a WHiH News report of a "calamity" going on in Hell's Kitchen. Just as May turns around she sees Peter already dressed in his Spider-Man suit, asking him if he just left his clothes on the floor. Peter stalls before picking them up and wondering where she wants them, May chuckles and insists in the Laundry Machine, she'll wash them when he gets back. Downtown, the Rhino is literally pummeling through police cars like nothing while endangering civilians until Spider-Man flies by and starts trying to stop him, demanding to know where Alex got the Rhino suit from! Before he can answer though a tail begins creeping up behind Spider-Man which he's only able to avoid on account of his Spider Sense. The tail is revealed to have come from Scorpion who tells Spider-Man he's waited a long time for this as he starts viciously beating on Peter alongside Rhino. Spider-Man continues to fight back with mixed results until Daredevil joins the fight and helps even the odds. He then asks Spider-Man what's going on here and Peter simply says the Yancy Street Gang is back. Daredevil then fights Rhino while Spider-Man deals with Scorpion. Just as the tides begin to turn in the hero's favor, Daredevil gets blasted with a pumpkin bomb as Green Goblin picks Spider-Man up, flying him into the air on his Glider. Peter tries to fight back but the Goblin is too strong as they tumble through the air bashing into skyscrapers.
Spider-Man jokingly tells the Green Goblin that it's a felony to fly an unlicensed Drone over New York and he responds that he certainly hopes so, he wouldn't be caught dead committing a misdemeanor. Spider-Man is taken off guard by the Goblin's response and they continue to quip back and fourth to one another until Green Goblin flies his Glider higher into the atmosphere that Spider-Man isn't able to breathe and ends up falling down, only being able to reorient himself at the last minute and using his webs to break his fall. Peter then catches up with Daredevil who says that the Yancy Street Gang got away with millions in cash, he couldn't stop them thanks to that maniac on the Glider. Spider-Man though insists they couldn't have gotten far, he's got a few hours to go look for them. Daredevil asks a few hours until what and Peter swings off yelling a big date tonight. At the Oscorp Storage Unit, Scorpion and Rhino are counting all the cash they stole until Green Goblin lands inside and quickly gets off his Glider, yelling that there's no better feeling than painting the town red! Scorpion though claims they still got held up by Spider-Man and Daredevil thanks to the "eight foot tall infant" getting in his way. Rhino responds by yelling he doesn't have to take that from him, he's not in charge anymore! Scorpion asks if he wants a piece of him and Green Goblin stands in between them yelling "Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!" afterwards telling them he doesn't care how big of idiots they are out there, insisting he just wants their undying loyalty, or the dying kind.
Act 2
That night outside, Spider-Man is continuing to search through the city for the Yancy Street Gang while also listening to the Daily Bugle. He eventually notices the time and realizes he's late for the dinner at Gwen's Apartment. There, Gwen and Harry are in her room together until they see Peter knocking on the window while standing in the fire escape dressed in an oversized "I Survived My Trip to New York" shirt. They let him in and Gwen asks what he's doing up here, Peter insisting that her Dad is intimidating, and he wanted to make a good impression. She points out the Apartment's twenty stories high but Peter responds that it wasn’t a problem. Harry then claims if he wants to make a good impression he's going to need to change out of that shirt, he can have the one under his sweatshirt. Peter then takes off his shirt as Harry unzips his pants to loosen his sweatshirt, Gwen slightly impressed by Peter's physique. Right at that very moment though George Stacy walks into the room and is taken aback by Peter and Harry's lack of modesty. Gwen tries to tell him it's not what it looks like but George's only response is recognizing Peter from the Graduation, telling him that dinner's ready downstairs. They all go downstairs and start eating as it becomes clear Peter has no idea how to eat his Branzino. Gwen's Mom, Helen, starts trying to tell him how to do it until George has Gwen’s little sister, Jill, get up and cut the Fish for him. Helen then quickly changes the subject and tells Gwen she heard the news about Harry going to Juilliard with her. Peter is surprised to hear it but Gwen tries to correct Helen that he's still trying to figure things out but Harry confirms he's definitely going, they're both really pumped for it.
Gwen reminds Harry she hates it when he speaks for her like that, and she thought he agreed to back off on that for a little. Harry responds he doesn't see why he needs to hide it, he's made up his mind. Helen once again changes the topic asking George how work is going. George claims he booked another meeting with J. Jonah Jameson to talk about Spider-Man, it's good for the Precinct to raise awareness against Vigilantes in the city. Gwen rolls her eyes while Peter bluntly asks him why he thinks that, one could say Spider-Man's been doing the city a service, protecting people from all these super powered villains that have been popping up recently. George responds that they'd be wrong then, Spider-Man doesn't follow the law or bring justice to these people he beats up, he's a one man judge, jury and executioner. Peter then says he doesn't see it that way, Spider-Man's just trying to help by stopping criminals the NYPD aren't able to catch. George gets frustrated and asks Peter what he's trying to imply about his men, that they just sit around all day eating Donuts while Spider-Man does their work for them. Peter afterwards apologizes but George says that he thinks he should leave despite Gwen's objections.
Peter does as told and walks outside where Gwen follows, telling him that she's sorry about her Dad, he's just an angry Boomer who doesn't understand that people can be heroes without being Cops. Peter though changes the subject asking about what's going on with her and Harry, Gwen explains it's not a big deal, she likes him a lot but he's just so clingy sometimes, and now they're going to go to school together, she just needs her space. Peter says he'll talk to him about it and Gwen wishes him a good night as he starts walking away, revealing that instead of going home to have gone to Oscorp instead where he starts using the technology there to work on his Spider-Man suit's flight capabilities, eventually falling asleep halfway through.
Hours later, Peter gets woken up by Norman Osborn who asks what he's doing here so late until seeing him with the Spider-Man suit. Peter begins stammering for an explanation but Norman cuts him off claiming it all makes sense, a smart kid like him being the one to design Spider-Man's equipment. Peter becomes relieved but still asks Norman to keep it between them, if anyone finds out his family could be in danger. Norman insists they wouldn't want that, his secret is safe with him. Osborn then asks what he was working on and Peter explains Spider-Man asked him to design something for his suit that lets him glide through the air, to fly like the Green Goblin does. Norman remembers hearing about that today on the news, comparing the Goblin's Glider to one that was used in Oscorp, prompting him to start giving Peter the idea on how to make a set of wings. They both then spend the rest of the night working together to design Web Wings for the Spider-Man suit. Peter tests them out the next morning gliding through New York all the way back to his Apartment.
Once he gets inside, Peter yanks his mask off and gets a text from Norman Osborn about more possible upgrades for Spider-Man, rhetorically asking under his breath if he ever stops inventing. As Peter walks into the living room he sees his Mom waiting there for him, pointing out he never came home last night. Peter responds that he had dinner at Gwen's and then fell asleep at work excitedly telling her that Norman Osborn thinks he makes Spider-Man's equipment and totally respects him for it now. May cuts Peter off telling him she thinks he should maybe take a break from being Spider-Man for a while. Peter asks why and May explains that she's been worried sick about him ever since she found out, he's an eighteen year old boy who's going out risking his life every night. Peter argues he's not just an eighteen year old boy, he has amazing powers and a responsibility to use them to help other people. May insists if something happens to him, and she has to go through that again, she won't be able to live with herself. Peter points out he's been Spider-Man for almost three years now, she didn't even know for most it, how is it any different now, May insists that it just is.
At Therapy, Norman is talking to Bart Hamilton explaining how he hired a new assistant recently, Harry's friend Peter, great kid, reminds him of himself when he was young. Bart tells Norman he's glad to hear it, hoping that this has helped soothe his other troubles. Norman though insists not at all, there was an experiment he was working on with Stromm recently that he thought would make things better, but it didn’t pan out. He’s not been sleeping well either, keeps having these nightmares recently about turning into a horned monster, with green skin and yellow eyes, who just goes around ripping people apart for the fun of it. Hamilton explains he's subconsciously desiring a greater sense of control but Norman claims he's a Billionaire and the majority shareholder to one of the most successful companies in the world. He's crushed or consolidated anyone who ever got in his way, what more control could he possibly need and Bart insists closure. He can sue, bankrupt and imprison anyone who slights him, but he doesn't need revenge, he needs to find out why, demand it, only then will he have everything, he'll be complete.
Meanwhile, Peter and Harry are walking together until Parker asks him why he's switching from Caltech to Juilliard. Harry says that he just did it to be with him and Gwen, he didn't think it would make her so upset. Peter insists he knows that, if it was up to him they'd all stay in New York together for the next four years without changing a thing. But he and Gwen just want to make sure that's what Harry actually wants too. Osborn responds that he does, he loves Gwen, and Peter's alright too. Parker laughs realizing Harry's back to his regular self as they hang out the rest of the day before stopping at his Apartment where they watch cartoons on the small TV. Harry saying that this is the type of stuff he'd miss, in California he'd be stuck hanging out with a bunch of snotty trust fund brats watching reality shows in their huge mansions on flatscreens, not like this. Peter insists he agrees as they continue to enjoy themselves.
At Gwen's Apartment, she's with her mother who brushes her hair and asks how she's doing. Gwen responds she's still mad at Dad for kicking Peter out but is starting to feel better about Harry. Helen though claims she doesn't think Harry is right for her, insisting she doesn't "glow" when they're together. Gwen starts to get embarrassed but Helen explains she always acts different when she's around him but Gwen claims relationships are about compromise. Helen though insists that she shouldn't have to compromise herself. Gwen responds that she's not doing that, it was her idea for them all to go to the Sounds of Summer Festival tomorrow night.
At Rikers Island, Norman Osborn is visiting Oliver Octavius in his holding cell. Oliver asks if he's here to steal the clothes off his back for a quick buck, insisting he shouldn't bother, ALS is accelerating faster than anticipated. Norman responds he's not here to hurt him, he just wants to make peace, before... it's too late. Oliver says he's all ears and Norman begins to talk about how he has a lot of regrets about how their relationship turned out. Oliver claims it's hard to be nostalgic towards a man who took away his family, his freedom, his dignity but Norman shouts out he didn't want any of this, all he ever wanted was to understand OZ, and he turned on him for it, when he needed him most! Oliver shouts back asking if he thinks he wanted to!? After Emily died the last thing he wanted was to leave him too, but he was obsessed! OZ was dangerous, they were never going to understand it. He had no right to keep digging, pushing science past its ethical limits to satisfy some primal fear, just like he's doing now dragging him into it all over again.
Oliver then tells Norman to get out, he doesn't want to spend his last few days seeing him again. Norman is about to leave but decides to turn around and whispers in Oliver's ear confessing that he successfully synthesized and injected himself with a Formula made from OZ. Insisting perhaps he never needed him at all before finally leaving. At the Sounds of Summer Festival, Peter meets up with Gwen and Harry where they all start enjoying the festivities together. Harry and Gwen eventually both get up on stage to play as part of the orchestra for Juilliard. Gwen does well on the drums but Harry ends up doing poorly on the guitar and embarrasses himself, getting in a fight with the conductor over it. Peter and Gwen try to get him to calm down but Harry insists he's been trying to network at Juilliard and no one takes him seriously because he applied so late in the semester. This was his chance to make a good first impression and that "idiot" blew it by giving him material that he couldn't follow. Gwen tries to explain no one else had trouble with it but Harry doesn't listen and runs off in a huff. Peter tells Gwen he's starting to think Harry transferring to Juilliard might've been a mistake and she responds that she can't imagine another four years dealing with this. Peter says he and Harry had a great time together yesterday, it reminded him of those good times they used to have, how they're all going away. Gwen insists Harry's changing, but he keeps trying to hang on and turn himself into something he's not. Not like Peter, he's still the same adorable geek from High School.
Peter laughs and then turns somber confessing that's not the only thing that hasn't changed. They look at each other for a minute before Gwen realizes what he's talking about and responds that she wanted to be with him too, but he clearly had something going on. He's still so secretive about what he does when they're not together, she and Harry used to joke that he was an escort. Peter insists that he wishes he could tell her and Gwen quietly asks why he doesn't. He simply stands in place trying to formulate a sentence until finally telling Gwen they're gonna be late for the next concert. She starts walking away disappointed by his answer until Peter literally shoots out a web and spins her back over to him in his arms, Gwen is in shock realizing he's Spider-Man as they then passionately kiss one another. Suddenly, in the skyline everyone hears sadistic laughter as the Green Goblin arrives and begins terrorizing the entire Festival. Gwen looks at Peter who simply opens his shirt revealing the Spider-Man costume to be under it until cutting to him fully changed where he confronts the Green Goblin, telling him if he's going to make this sadistic criminal gig stick he's going to need a different color than green. The Goblin quips back nonsense, that Spider-Man should be green with envy that he doesn't have his fashion sense!
The two of them then start fighting with Spider-Man trying his best to keep civilians out of harm's way all the while the Goblin does the opposite. Meanwhile, Captain George Stacy is in an NYPD Car chasing down the Yancy Street Gang until finally causing it to crash off road. George and his partner then both get out and try to place the gangsters under arrest until Scorpion jumps out of the crashed vehicle and brutally attacks them, killing Captain Stacy's partner by stabbing him with his tail. George tries to shoot him but all the bullets ricochet, he then takes out his nightstick and tries to bash Scorpion with it, breaking on impact. Scorpion telling Stacy none of that slows him down no more. He then almost stabs George with his tail until backup arrives and Scorpion gets distracted by them. Captain Stacy looks down at his gun realizing he had absolutely no way to defend himself before. Back at the Festival, Spider-Man continues battling Green Goblin until getting beaten by his superior equipment. The Goblin then begins placing bombs all over the Festival before flying off into the night as they burn down buildings and collapse attractions, Spider-Man trying to save as many people as possible. Afterwards, Harry then finds Gwen amidst the chaos and quickly hugs her, relieved she's alright, as Peter catches up with them changed back into his regular attire. Gwen then hugs Peter instead, appearing much more relieved that he's okay instead of Harry, much to Osborn's confusion.
Act 3
At the Oscorp Storage Unit, Green Goblin lands inside getting off his Glider while laughing hysterically like a maniac. Scorpion tells him the Gang had a good night, they own this town now. Rhino adds on that he busted into five titanium secured bank safes tonight and must've taken at least twenty million in cash. The Green Goblin groans, insisting all they care about is money, asking what ever happened to the gangsters who stole just for the sport, who killed just because it was fun. The world deserves those kinds of criminals again, and that's exactly what he's going to give them. Green Goblin then tells Scorpion he has a new plan, they'll go down to the docks, poison the city's water supply, and let them all choke on it. Rhino asks why they'd do that, what's in it for the Gang. The Green Goblin responds something money can't buy, the honor of being the villains that New York truly deserves. Gwen and Harry are then shown to be at the park together where Osborn is enjoying himself but Gwen seems off. Harry tells her he knows what happened at the Festival was scary, but it'll make her feel better if she talks about it. Gwen though confesses she wants to break up and Harry is gutted but nonetheless insists that he knew she was drifting away. It's Peter isn't it, that's who she's leaving him for, he sees the way they look at each other, how she always defends him from her father, how she was more relieved to see him after the attack. Gwen tells him she's so sorry but Harry responds he doesn't want her pity and leaves.
Meanwhile, Peter Parker and Norman Osborn are working together in the lab at Oscorp. They start testing their latest genetic radiation experiment on a cage of Cockroaches which quickly disintegrate shortly after the dosage. Norman is frustrated by their failure, asking what they could've missed. Peter jokingly suggests that everyone was wrong about Cockroaches being invincible he guesses. Norman is unamused and Peter quickly apologizes, claiming he makes bad jokes in uncomfortable situations. Osborn then chuckles telling Peter it was a good joke, and he knows this research has been cycling around the lab for years now, but they've all been waiting long enough, he wants a breakthrough. Peter points out Oscorp's had dozens of breakthroughs already but Norman replies it's never enough, he always wants more. His therapist thinks it's because of what happened to his wife, Harry's mother. Peter asks what did happen to her, he sees pictures all around their house but Harry never talks about it, and neither does he. Norman sighs and tells Peter she died from childbirth. He always wanted a son, they spent years to conceive, then when they found out they were going to have Harry he was so excited, and when the day finally came, just like that, the love of his life was gone, all because she was trying to give him what he wanted.
One tragedy, one failure, that's all it takes to define your whole life. Peter says he understands more than anyone how he feels, it's one thing to lose someone you love, it's another when you feel like it's your fault. But at least he got one good thing out of it, Harry. Osborn sighs and afterwards tells Peter if he wants to work under less, emotionally draining conditions, he'd understand if he transferred to another department. Peter responds he'd never dream of it, they're changing the world here, and he wants to be a part of it. Norman is so flattered by the sentiment he and Peter comfortingly hug each other. After his shift ends, Peter then walks outside where he sees Harry waiting for him. Parker asks what he's doing here and Harry yells it isn't enough to steal his father from him, he has to go after Gwen too. Peter begs Harry to let him explain but he cuts him off saying he should've known some broke kid from Queens would try to leech off of him, but the gig's up, he doesn't have to pretend anymore. Peter sorrowfully tells Harry he knows what he did wasn't right, but he has to believe him that their friendship was never about his money. Harry is his best friend because he's a great guy who's been through the same stuff he has. Peter then confesses how he knows about how Mom dying giving birth to him just like his Dad died in the shoot out, and how much guilt his family is holding over it. Harry screams for Peter not to talk about his mother, his Spider Sense going off as he sees Osborn's fist coming towards him but does nothing to avoid it, getting punched in the face. Harry then walks off leaving Peter there, on the pavement holding his face in shame.
At the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson is having a live debate with criminal lawyer, Matt Murdock, over the legality of Spider-Man's existence. Once the debate is over Jonah kicks him out of the recording studio and as Matt is walking through the hallway he gets stopped by George Stacy. Murdock tells him to save the proselytization for Jameson, he has real work to do. George though insists he wanted to tell him he agrees with everything he said, that he's been having cold feet recently and thinks he might've been defending the wrong side in the Spider-Man debate. George then asks Matt for Spider-Man's phone number to try and start building a relationship between him and the NYPD. Murdock tries to say he doesn't have it but George claims that he knows he does and all but begs him for it, Matt uses his enhanced hearing to detect George's heartbeat and realizing he's telling the truth, reluctantly gives him a card with the number on it. Only after Matt leaves does George wonder why a blind man would be carrying a card with writing on it. Meanwhile at the Stacy Apartment in the middle of the day, Peter and Gwen are in bed together gently making out. Peter though stops claiming he can't do this and when Gwen asks what's wrong and he tells her the story of what happened with Harry, that he feels really bad for hurting him.
Gwen says she does too but is just hoping things will be better once College starts. That Harry will calm down, realize he's not into Juilliard, probably use his father's connections to transfer to some other Ivy League school, and by Thanksgiving they'll have put all of this behind them. Peter hopes that she's right until getting a phone call which he picks up, Gwen asks who it is and Peter says it's her Dad, he's calling for Spider-Man. Peter then starts speaking on the phone in a more confident voice asking Captain Stacy if he's resorting to prank calling now, that he's only supposed to say who he is after the call. George on the other line ignores the joke saying how he thinks they got off on the wrong foot with everything he said on the Daily Bugle, but that times are changing, and the NYPD needs him in this fight against the Yancy Street Gang, there's a shootout going on right now at the docks and all his men are overwhelmed, Spider-Man's the only one strong enough to keep turn the tides in their favor again. Peter sarcastically says he’s honored it only took the entire NYPD nearly being overrun for them to ask for his help and George once again doesn't respond to the quips, demanding to know if he's in or not, Peter though promises he'll be there.
At the docks, Rhino and Scorpion are murdering helpless police officers while accidentally getting in each other's way, both increasingly becoming annoyed by it. Spider-Man then shows up and jokingly tells them they sound like an old married couple, as both gangsters turn their attention to him. Spider-Man is able to dodge most of their attacks until getting slashed by Scorpion's tail and injected with green poison, Gargan telling him to always remember, Scorpions eat Spiders. Spider-Man feels his wound and demands to know what he injected him with and Scorpion explains it's a hallucinogenic neurotoxin, his brain will create nightmares that his body thinks are real, all to make his last moments just a little more exciting. He then bashes Spider-Man with his tail again and while he's falling notices the world around him turn distorted until landing inside of a hallway at Midtown High School again. Peter realizes this can't be real and tries to remind himself it isn't until the door burst open flooding the hallways with a sea of green poison. Spider-Man tries to run, climb, and web away from it through the narrow hallways continuing to tell himself this is all just a chemical stress response produced by his amygdala, afterwards though claiming it's starting to feel pretty real as the poison catches up to him. Peter then suddenly gets knocked back into reality by Rhino violently running into him.
He quickly scrambles to his feet and starts trying to regain his bearings as he hears Scorpion bicker at Rhino to keep looking for him. He bashes through more crates searching for him while Spider-Man hides, only making Scorpion more angry at Rhino's incompetence. Just as Peter thinks he's safe the world around him turns black as giant shards of glass fall by his side in every direction, casting Spider-Man's reflection as he mutters under his breath, "not again..." All the reflections then become real as a swarm of Spider-Man clones all begin attacking Peter until he finds himself falling through an endless abyss of webs hearing Scorpion and Rhino's distorted arguing in the background. Peter then finally reaches the bottom landing hard on a concrete ground made from the ruins of a giant stone Spider-Man statue which all act as islands floating above an empty void of orange cloud, Spider-Man notices them and recognizes it as an effigy of himself, saying "thanks brain."
Suddenly, Harry Osborn is seen standing on one of the destroyed statue islands telling Peter it used to be beautiful here, he's the one who broke it, they all would've been better off without him. Spider-Man asks Harry what he's doing here webbing over to him, only for Harry to disappear and Gwen Stacy to then appear on another island. She tells him that he only ever thought about himself, he'll never be able to give her what she wants being Spider-Man, he's a loser and he always will be. Peter swears he'd do anything for her as he webs to that island only for Gwen to disappear and Norman Osborn to take her place, as per usual, on another island. He screams that Peter can't do anything! He's a failure at life, love, career, just like Oliver was! Spider-Man begs Osborn not to leave him, even going as far as to call him "Dad" webbing over to his island. Norman disappears once Peter lands only for a Warehouse to emerge from the ground in his place, the same one he confronted his Dad’'s killer in, Norman's voice is heard echoing that if he were actually his father, he would've jumped in front of a bullet too! Norman's hand then reaches out from inside the warehouse, large enough to grab Spider-Man, and pulls him inside where he lands in front of a gravestone that says Benjamin Parker with small print under it that says murdered by his son.
Peter starts to cry apologizing over and over again to it until a zombie Ben Parker begins bursting its way out of the dirt and starts brutally attacking Spider-Man, knocking him back to reality as he finds himself at the docks once again where Scorpion is the one actually fighting him instead. Peter tries desperately to crawl away but Scorpion uses his tail to yank Spider-Man towards him yelling GET OVER HERE! After Spider-Man is too hurt to fight anymore Scorpion is about to finish him off until Rhino demands he be the one to do it. Scorpion tells Rhino that he had his chance before and to go suck his thumb instead, this is a man's job. Rhino becomes so enraged by his taunts that he threatens to show Scorpion the real way to crush a bug punching him across the docks. Rhino then starts charging after him and Spider-Man uses the last of his strength to pull down a shipping container which Rhino bashes Scorpion and himself into that Peter webs shut, the two both heard beating each other inside.
Spider-Man then falls to the ground again, shaking and traumatized from everything that just happened until the NYPD lead by Captain George Stacy all start clearing the area and surround him. Stacy tries to take Spider-Man's mask off until his Spider Sense warns him and he snaps out of his trance before swinging away, webbing from building to building all the way back to his apartment. His Mother immediately recognizes him and starts doing her best to treat his open wounds, Peter insisting that he needs to tell her something. May asks what and Peter says it's about Dad, that it wasn't his choice at first to become Spider-Man. When he first got his powers, he wanted to be a wrestler, to be the guy who beats other guys up for a change, but Dad told him he had to use his powers for good. Peter starts to tear up explaining that he didn't listen, he was out wrestling one night and Dad was coming to pick him up. He stopped by a bodega to get a Red Bull and it got robbed, but he let the robber go, the same one that shot Dad. He's only dead because of him! That's why he needs to be Spider-Man, it's not a choice or a luxury, it's a responsibility. May tells him that she knows, Peter surprised by her answer double takes, making sure that she does. She nods and claims when you love someone you know when something's wrong, she knew Peter had a secret before he told her he was Spider-Man, that it was eating him up inside.
Peter asks if she's not mad and May confirms of course not, he's just a kid, he shouldn't have to feel like this. They're the adults, it was always their responsibility, never his. Peter though argues that maybe they should've treated him like an adult, then Dad would've still been alive, because a kid doesn't deserve to have these powers. He then walks away and locks the door to his room, leaving May to sit by herself. At the Oscorp Storage Unit, Yancy Gangsters are continuing their operations while talking to each other about how Scorpion and the Rhino got arrested until the entire storage unit begins to got blown up by the Green Goblin flying above it in his glider, killing everyone inside while yelling that they're all idiots. It then cuts to Norman Osborn in his regular attire entering his house, he calls out to Harry that he's home but gets no reply. Norman keeps calling him while looking around until opening the door to Harry's room where he finds him snorting crushed up pills. Once Norman realizes what he was doing slaps him across the face in disgust, yelling that he should call the police on him right now. Harry begs him not to, claiming this was just a one time thing, he was having a bad night, please!
Norman asks if Harry wants him to feel bad for him, for being a junkie, for not being strong enough to handle his problems like an Osborn, like a man! Harry gets fed up with his father's insults and blurts out "WHY DO YOU HATE ME!?" Ever since he was little all he ever wanted to do was impress him, he used to be his best friend, but then he just turned on him. Norman callously tells him he doesn't hate him, he hates what he's become, a weak, spoiled, little baby, who'd rather sit in his room and get high than grow up! Harry then mockingly asks his Dad not like Peter, that he's the son he always wanted, the man Gwen loves. Harry confesses that he’s right, he is trash. Harry begins sobbing while Norman just watches over him without saying anything, Harry continuing to rant in his hysterical state about how Peter's no better. He's a flake who's always running off, even at the Music Festival he just left him and Gwen to die. Norman clarifies the one where Spider-Man saved them... also remembering that Spider-Man was there when Midtown got attacked by Doctor Octopus too. Harry continues to sob and rave while Norman figures out Peter's secret identity.
George Stacy is in his Den looking over CSI pictures of the incinerated Oscorp storage units, realizing that some of the equipment found inside of it is identical to the technology used by the Yancy Street Gang. At the Oscorp Headquarters, Norman and Peter finish performing genetic experiments on a cage of spiders with radiation. Norman comments that Spiders are excellent test subjects for radiation studies, their biological simplicity allows them to be granted high doses with minimal effects on their health, but still enough to observe and alter any possible mutations. Peter simply tells him "cool" and Norman bluntly tells Peter he knows that he was bitten by one of them before, that he knows he's Spider-Man. Peter asks how he found out and Norman explains that he figured it out through Harry. He caught him doing drugs last night ranting about how Peter was always tardy when Spider-Man showed up, and with that whole boondoggle about him making Spider-Man's equipment, he put the pieces together. Peter is surprised that Harry's doing drugs, claiming that he didn't know he was struggling that much. Norman responds that he's just being overdramatic, that he goes out everyday saving the city as Spider-Man and he doesn't have to resort to drugs to handle his stress, there's no excuse for Harry to do it.
Peter says it must hurt though, for both of them. Norman explains that it does, but they'll get through it, he has an appointment with Doctor Hamilton later about it. He then tells Peter that as a matter of fact, they can stop early for today, telling him to go and enjoy the rest of the day off. Peter asks if he's sure he's okay and Norman insists that he is, just as Peter is then about to leave, Norman shouts out telling him "thank you... for everything." Peter just smiles and then walks out the door. Osborn afterwards making his way to the secret wing of the building where he puts in his keycard and goes inside only to see the lab is a complete mess, with the dead body of Mendel Stromm lying on the floor and OZ removed from its aquarium. Norman begins to panic until he accidentally trips over and presses a button to unlock all the modules surrounding the lab, which contain the Glider, bombs, and costume used by the Green Goblin. When Norman sees them he realizes that he is the Green Goblin and begins to shout in agony until his cries begin turning into laughter.
In Doctor Hamilton's office, Bart asks a now much calmer Norman what's troubling him today. Norman says how he's been remembering something that happened in his childhood, how his parents were very superstitious and brought a green ornamental mask to hang up on the wall in his room. For good luck they said, but Norman thought it was terrifying. He'd lay in bed every night afraid, knowing that when they woke up he'd have to be plagued with that sight of that mask again, and then there was the thunderstorm. Bart wonders what happened and it does a flashback as Norman explains there was a thunderstorm one night when he was trying to sleep, every time the lightning struck it'd light up the whole room and he'd have to see the mask again! It lasted for hours as he prayed for the lightning to stop, but it never did. Looking back he's glad it didn't, because he learned a lesson that night. Hamilton asks which is, and Norman says that light is a curse which only illuminates that which shouldn't be seen, the darkness is where he's meant to thrive. The Goblin shined a light in his dark spots, and now they're free. Bart starts to become concerned, asking what that means as Norman slowly gets up and closes the office shades.
That night, Peter is in bed Facetiming Gwen Stacy about Harry's drug problem and what they can do to help him until suddenly an explosion on Gwen's line causes her screen to crash on the floor. Peter calls out her name and begins to panic until the Green Goblin picks up Gwen's screen, telling him that he knows he's Spider-Man and if he ever wants to see Gwen or Harry again he'll meet him on top of the Brooklyn Bridge, alone. Peter swears if he hurts them... and the Goblin asks if he’ll do “what?” Spider-Man’s a hero, he’d never cross that line, not even with him. The Green Goblin then sadistically laughs before hanging up. J. Jonah Jameson on the Daily Bugle meanwhile reports that the Green Goblin has struck New York at its heart by going after the children of this great city's famous figures, such as Industrialist Norman Osborn's son and Police Captain George Stacy's daughter, their whereabouts are unknown at the time. At the NYPD Station, Stacy is anxiously working with his officers to find his daughter, convincing them to start searching through Oscorp Storage Units, explaining his theory that the Green Goblin and Yancy Street Gang have been hiding out in them.
At the top of the Brooklyn Bridge, Gwen and Harry are tied up together both bleeding and scared. Harry tries to console Gwen by promising to protect her, he'll never let anything happen to her. Gwen though insists he should look at himself, it seems like he’s the one who needs protecting. Spider-Man is then shown swinging up to the top of the Bridge, calling out for Green Goblin to show himself, no response. Harry and Gwen call for help and Peter rushes over to go save them, until Gwen sees the Green Goblin on his Glider behind Spider-Man and just as his Spider-Sense goes off she instinctively tells "Peter" to look out! He isn't fast enough and gets hit by the Glider, Spider-Man and Green Goblin intensely fighting in the air while Harry asks Gwen if Peter is Spider-Man. She tells him it's not important, that she's almost got this rope, nearly having untied it. Spider-Man meanwhile begs Green Goblin to let Gwen and Harry go, they did nothing wrong! The Green Goblin though just tells him "a friend of my enemy is my enemy" rhetorically asking afterwards if that's how the saying goes.
George Stacy and the NYPD are raiding Oscorp Storage Units, destroying anything in their way, unable to find anything. They're then informed of a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin going on at the Brooklyn Bridge and start heading there, a radioactive spider from one of the shattered cages revealed to have stuck itself onto George's jacket. On the Brooklyn Bridge, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin keep fighting and Gwen finally unties herself, dealing with Harry's ropes as the NYPD and nearby civilians all begin gathering to witness the fight on the street below. Green Goblin and Spider-Man jump around all over the bridge through the wires and on the columns with Peter even getting his mask ripped off as their fight eventually returns them to the top once again. Gwen finishes untying Harry and starts leading him to the ladder so they can escape, but he gets distracted making eye contact with Peter, both of them displaying a range of emotions to one another before Green Goblin gets the upper hand and pummels Peter under his boot, taunting him that once he's finished with his friends his death will not come long after, and to rest assured it will be much more painful. The Green Goblin then throws a bomb at Harry and Gwen which shatters the concrete and causes them to both fly off the Bridge, George Stacy and the NYPD becoming horrified by the sight of it. Spider-Man rushes over and shoots out two webs to catch them, Gwen grabs onto the first web with her hand and a loud snap is heard as the second web makes contact with Harry's back. The NYPD and Stacy on the street cheering as it looks like he saved them both.
As Peter pulls Harry and Gwen back up he quietly assures himself that he saved them. Green Goblin then starts to cackle as he tells Peter that he might've saved his little girlfriend but to take a closer look at the third wheel, Peter does as told and sees that Harry isn't breathing. He and Gwen start to panic while doing CPR on him but nothing works. Gwen starts crying while Peter shouts out to the Green Goblin that he killed his best friend, he’s going to kill him for this! The Goblin insists that Harry was dead before he even hit the water. The web broke his neck, he killed him, "and now it's your turn!" Peter charges after the Green Goblin and they begin fighting again, their scuffle eventually leading under the Brooklyn Bridge where Spider-Man gets the upper hand and beats the Green Goblin into submission, punching his mask off and revealing Norman Osborn to be underneath. Spider-Man is shocked to see his true identity as Osborn returns to his normal self and seeing where he is, realizes he blacked out again.
Peter insists that he doesn't understand and Norman explains it's the OZ Formula, he experimented on himself and it caused this Goblin to start growing inside of him. Peter angrily lashes out that he's a murderer who killed all those innocent people, he deserves to rot in prison. Norman spits that he should've known Peter would turn on him just like everyone else did. Offended, Spider-Man insists that he worshipped him! His mind, his work, his conscience, he was everything he wanted to be, and then he threw it all away for what, an experiment!? Norman insists he needed it, men like them have a responsibility to use their intelligence to protect themselves from those beneath them. Peter screams out that he's wrong! Intelligence isn't a gift it's a privilege, you have to use it for the good of everyone, not for yourself! Norman tells Peter he's like a son to him, and only one who understands how dangerous this world is. Spider-Man tells him no, that he was so paranoid about it that he did nothing while his real son died! Norman confirms that Harry's dead and begins to sob hysterically over it as Peter then tells him goodbye and promises to get him the best help as he starts limping away.
Norman begs Peter not to leave him but he continues walking until Osborn starts cackling again as he summons his Glider and has it start pursuing Spider-Man who desperately runs away from it as it chases him all through the underside of the bridge. Peter reaches a dead end but just as the Glider is about to impale him something jumps in front of it, Norman, getting stabbed in the chest by it. Coughing up blood as he tells Peter he won't lose another son, afterwards falling to the ground dead. Peter looks over his corpse at first feeling satisfied by it only to then feel saddened and alone, his Spider Sense goes off as the NYPD start approaching and he quickly swings away as they secure the area. Gwen meanwhile has been brought down from the top of Brooklyn Bridge and is sitting by herself on the back of a police van as Norman's body is carried on a gurney, disgusted to see he's the Green Goblin. George Stacy then drapes Gwen in his jacket assuring her it's going to be okay, but she doesn't say anything. Suddenly, the radioactive spider that was attached to the jacket from before crawls onto Gwen's neck and bites her.
Spider-Man returns to his apartment through the window only to see his Mother crying hysterically, saying she heard what happened to Harry and is relieved he's okay. She goes to hug him and Peter pushes her off, insulting her that she doesn't care. He's just a stupid kid who made a mistake, who isn't ready to be an adult or to be Spider-Man. Insisting that she just save the lecture and leave him the hell alone! Just as it looks like May is about to leave, she instead closes the door and goes to comfort Peter as he bawls in her arms, crying that he doesn't want to be an adult. It then fades out as it shows Peter at the Osborn funeral on a rainy day. He stands there next to his Mom and Gwen holding an umbrella as the Minister gives them their last rights, Norman and Harry shown to be buried together alongside Emily. After the service ends and it stops raining, Gwen and Peter stay at the cemetery together where they start talking. Gwen tells Peter she doesn’t envy him, how he keeps putting on that mask even when it costs him everything to do it. Peter tells her Spider-Man is his burden to bear, just like getting older, and he's not going to be afraid of it anymore. It's fear that killed Harry, that turned Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin, and he's not going to let change him too. This is what's happening and Spider-Man is going to embrace it, head on, no matter what. Gwen kisses him on the cheek and says that she wishes she was as strong as him.
At the Daily Bugle, Peter is then shown sitting in J. Jonah Jameson's office who asks him if he thinks Freelance Photography is easy money, because he's wrong! It's the most important job in the whole paper. Peter clarifies he thought that was the writing and Jonah gives him a dirty look warning him not to be a wise guy. Peter insists that he needs help paying for his tuition and thought the Bugle could use some pictures of Spider-Man too, he then shows Jonah an envelope full of high quality photographs of the Wallcrawler. He looks over them and instantly tells Parker he'll buy them all. Peter clarifies just like that and Jonah says to get out of his office before he changes his mind. Peter smiles with excitement as it then shows him swinging around the city taking pictures of himself with strategically positioned cameras until his HUD picks up a Police radio frequency of a crime nearby.
The film then ends with this song playing.
End Credits
Teasing Captain Marvel: Secret Invasion
Peter and his Mom are in an overcrowded Post Office where they're handed two slips of paper which they both sign, the worker afterwards telling them that by the state of New York they are no longer deceased from the Decimation. As they're walking out, Peter tells his Mom he'll meet her back at home later, he has to do something first. It then shows him walk to an apartment where he anxiously knocks on the door and rings the bell a dozen times only for Gwen Stacy to answer it, where she holds his face and cries seeing him before they both hug.
Inside, Peter is sitting with her explaining everything that happened, finishing the story with everyone coming back on this far away planet in another galaxy where they all worked together to beat Thanos. Gwen is delighted by the story but tells him there's something she needs to talk him about. Peter wonders what's up and Gwen explains after he vanished things started happening to her... physically. Peter asks like what and Gwen insists it's best if she just shows him, proceeding to literally jump onto the ceiling, sticking to it like a spider would, Peter staring in amazement.
Trivia
- Daredevil's role as a main character in the film is the first ever major crossover from television to movies in the MCU. As all other appearances from Marvel Television productions have either been cameos or characters who originally appeared in the movies.
- Dmitry Smerdyakov, Norman Osborn's butler and the stolen identity of the Skrull shapeshifter, is the real name of the supervillain Chameleon in the comics who also has the ability to shapeshift as Skrulls do.
- Mendel Stromm actually appeared in the first Iron Man movie as an unnamed scientist working under Obadiah Stane who was brought back in The Spectacular Spider-Man and retconned into being Mendel Stromm, who transferred from Stark Industries to Oscorp sometime in between the two films.
- The name of the Alien Corpse that Oscorp stores in the Secret Wing, OZ, is an homage to the name of the Green Goblin's super soldier serum used in the comics.
- The Yancy Street Gang in the comics are a criminal enterprise commonly associated with the Fantastic Four that Ben Grimm/The Thing served in during his youth.
- The Night Gwen Stacy Died, the story in which the The Spectacular Spider-Man was based on, as per its title had Gwen Stacy die from the Green Goblin's hands instead of Harry Osborn. This was changed in the MCU because Phil Lord and Chris Miller thought it would serve the narrative better to have Harry be killed as a result of his father's insanity and bring their relationship full circle.
- The genetic engineering experiments involving radiation that Peter and Norman worked on at Oscorp are said to be inspired by research at Culver University as seen in The Incredible Hulk, which proved how profound the effects of radiation can be by turning Bruce Banner into the Hulk.
- In the mainstream Marvel universe, Bart Hamilton is Harry Osborn's therapist instead of Norman's.
- When Spider-Man tells Daredevil he'll be bad cop while interrogating Alex O'Hirn it is the direct reference to his previous team up with Deadpool in The Amazing Spider-Man in which neither one wanted to be the bad cop. The joke is subverted however when Daredevil openly opts to be it without warning.
- Scorpion is an amalgamation between his 616 counterpart Mac Gargan and a gangster from the Ultimate Comics Maximus Gargan, the latter of whom never actually becomes an actual supervillain.
- Norman Osborn believing Peter Parker to be the man who designs Spider-Man's equipment instead of Spider-Man himself is the cover story Peter uses to deceive his boss at Horizon Labs, Max Modell, in the comics.
- Jill Stacy, Gwen's younger sister in the MCU, in the comics is her cousin who looks eerily similar to her with the exception of having dark hair. This is referenced by her MCU counterpart having brown hair, despite all her family being blonde.
- The nightmare Norman Osborn complains about having where he's a yellow eyed Goblin with horns is based directly on his appearance and behaviors as the Ultimate Green Goblin on Earth-1610.
- Scorpion yells "GET OVER HERE" to Spider-Man after dragging him towards him with his tail, this is a reference to the popular Mortal Kombat character of the same name's iconic catchphrase in the games.
- In the end credits scene, Peter Parker and his Mother sign paperwork at the Post Office to nullify their death certificates as a result of being brought back to life from the Decimation by Drax in the climax of Avengers: Forever.
- Gwen Stacy also reveals to Peter in the end credits scene that she too has spider powers now as a result of the radioactive spider bite she received during the events of the film. This is a foreshadowing to her becoming the superheroine affectionally nicknamed Spider-Gwen sometime in Phase 4.
