The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is quickly approaching and, with that, Sony is keeping a steady stream of materials for fans of good ol’ webhead to gawk at until the film is released. For starters, here’s a featurette called “Becoming Peter Parker” that gives us a behind the scenes look at the man under Spider-Man’s mask- Andrew Garfield.

In it, we get a glimpse at Garfield’s dedication to the role, how he views the character, and what he brings to the production. The actor has taken a very hands on approach to the portraying the dual role of Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and we see how- even within the suit- his performance shines through.

I also couldn’t help but notice, and appreciate, the way this Spider-Man seemingly hasn’t forgotten about how powerful a child’s sense of wonder is. It doesn’t discount what this iconic character means to kids, and that’s always nice to see- in an age of dark, jaded, conflicted heroes. Looks like director Marc Webb and company feel the need to embrace the character’s virtues, positive symbolism, and vibrancy. Definitely a more appealing approach than the Twilight/Nolan-lite approach of the first film in the rebooted franchise.

Speaking of embracing the colorful universe, at SXSW Webb spoke openly about wanting to dive deeply into Spidey’s comic book roots.

In a chat with THR, Webb spoke candidly about how he’s turning things around for the sequel. In the first film, where as he worked to keep the larger than life elements of Spider-Man’s universe smaller and grounded, this time he’s going full-out into the action-fantasy elements:

“There was a moment deep in the [first film’s] post-production process where a giant lizard smashed through a wall chasing a boy-man in a unitard and I said, ‘This is not grounded.’ [But this time] I’m going to embrace the spectacle. I’m not going to be beholden to smallness. I want it to be fantastic, to be big, to command and express that feeling when you’re a kid and reading the comics. … I didn’t want to hide or shy away from that.”

The director also took on his critics head-on. The critics I’m referring to, of course, are the folks that have pre-judged this sequel based on…not much. The director has heard all of the people murmuring about this being “another Spider-Man 3“- referring to the third film in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, which was perceived as over-stuffed and under-cooked. Here’s what he had to say about those concerns, which stem from the seeming over-abundance of villains:

“We’re obviously familiar with the complaints people had. We’re very careful to make sure the stories intertwine. For Peter Parker, it’s very important that you create obstacles that are difficult to overcome.”

He then even added that Paul Giamatti’s “Rhino” will only appear on screen for 4 minutes, total. Therefore, the folks who want to jump on the film just based on posters and teasers should take a deep breath, take a step back, and accept that they don’t really have any idea what’s going on in the film until they see it for themselves. I shall be doing the same…since I’m guilty of jumping to conclusions about TASM 2 also.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes out on May 2.

SOURCE: Sony / THR