Andrew Garfield moved and thrilled Hall H at Comic-Con when he appeared at the main event for “The Amazing Spider-Man,” dressed in a Spidey suit and confessing: “Spider-Man saved my life.”
Garfield appeared in a Spidey suit at the microphone where fans asked questions and instead made a speech.
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Garfield, the new incarnation of the superhero – taking over when the series starring Tobey Maguire ended – made impassioned remarks about the character.
“Peter Parker has inspired me to be stronger,” he said. “He inspired Andrew, me, to be braver. It was worth the pain, the bruises and the blood. “
He added that Spider-Man "saved my life. I owe webhead a lot. And Stan (Lee) the man a lot. I’m humbled to be here."
The entire cast, including Emma Stone ("Easy A") and director Marc Webb ("500 Days of Summer"), were at Comic-Con to intoduce the rebooted franchise to thousands of core fans.
Rhys Ifans, normally known as the gently clueless foil in comedies, plays The Lizard, and they showed a freakish clip of that transformation. It's the first look at Spidey's new antagonist — a scaly secret that Sony has been keeping tightly under wraps.
Ifans too joined the crew on stage, scales-free.
Garfield didn't explain exactly how Spider-Man saved his life, but he did go into a heartfelt explanation of why he loves the superhero.
"I always dreamed of him," he said. And of the Spidey powers, he said: "He used it for good. We all wish we had the courage to stick up for ourselves more, or even a stranger."
Garfield said he was afraid to take the role. "I hesitated for a month," he said. "The four year old inside me was, ‘You’re doing this role. This is my decision.’ But I was scared of big crowds, I still am. But I couldn’t say no to it ultimately.”
As for the glimpse of the film, it was in 3D but didn't look terribly distinct from the predecessors.
Previously:
Sony also gave audiences a peek at its new thriller which just started principal photography, “Total Recall.”
In the film, Colin Farrell stars with Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, John Cho and Kate Beckinsale. The plot was not entirely clear, except that people in the future go on “brain vacations,” get attacked by white-helmeted storm troopers, and all kinds of computer thingies make it impossible to get away. They will find you.
The whole cast showed up, but everyone was focused on the lead, Colin Farrell.
Farrell, who seems to be having a kind of comeback (he’s also in “Fright Night,” which was also teased here), plays Douglas Quaid, described by Farrell as a man “who he basically has lost himself along the road of life. He’s living in a dream. He’s suspicious of everything around him. And he gets a rude awakening. “
Nicolas Cage showed up to greet fans and show a tease of his upcoming sequel to “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” and admitted to being “an extremist.”
Which he clearly is – on screen and in life.
The film looks to push the envelope in every way. Sony showed a clip of the two directors, Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine, skating at top speed alongside the cars during chases, dangling – camera in hand – from cliffs and buildings.
Said Cage: “They’re extremists. I’m an exremist. We pushed each other and became friends.”
Brian Taylor, one of two directors, admitted it: :”Our style is to bully, unnerve and endanger our actors at all possible. “
Cage reprises his role as a motorcycle vengeance-seeker as well as a ghost motorcycle rider with a burning skull where his head ought to be.
