Spider-Man 2 (2004 film)

Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the second installment in the Spider-Man trilogy and a sequel to 2002's Spider-Man film, starring Tobey Maguire alongside Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, and Donna Murphy. Set two years after the events of Spider-Man, the film finds Peter Parker struggling to manage both his personal life and his duties as Spider-Man, which affects his civilian life dramatically. Meanwhile, Dr. Otto Octavius becomes a diabolical villain after a failed experiment kills his wife and leaves him neurologically fused to mechanical tentacles. Spider-Man must stop him from successfully recreating the dangerous experiment, while dealing with a subconscious desire to stop being Spider-Man that is stripping him of his powers.

Raimi's inspiration for the film came from the comic book debut of Doctor Octopus in 1964, the 1966 story arc ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_This_Be_My_Destiny...! If This Be My Destiny...!], and the 1967 story arc Spider-Man No More!''. Principal photography began in April 2003 in New York City and also took place in Los Angeles. Spider-Man 2 was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on June 30, 2004, to widespread critical acclaim and grossed $789 million worldwide, becoming the third highest-grossing film of the year. It won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was also nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing; it also received five awards at the Saturn Awards, including Best Fantasy Film and Best Director for Raimi. It is considered as one of the most influential and best superhero films of all-time. Its success led to Spider-Man 3 (2007).

Plot
Two years after Norman Osborn's death, Peter Parker, secretly the superhero Spider-Man, is estranged from both his love interest Mary Jane Watson and his best friend Harry Osborn; he also discovers that his aunt May is facing eviction. He finds himself suffering temporary, but recurring losses of his powers, often in life-threatening situations.

Harry, who is now head of Oscorp's genetic and scientific research division, is sponsoring a fusion power project by nuclear scientist Otto Octavius, who befriends and mentors Peter. While handling hazardous materials, Octavius wears a harness of powerful robotic tentacle arms with artificial intelligence. During a public demonstration that Peter and Harry attend, a power spike causes the fusion reactor to destabilize. Octavius refuses to shut down the reactor, which goes critical – killing his wife and burning the inhibitor chip blocking the arms from his nervous system. Peter, as Spider-Man, shuts the experiment down, destroying it in the process.

At a hospital, doctors prepare to surgically remove Octavius' harness. Without the inhibitor chip, the now sentient arms defend themselves by killing the doctors. Upon regaining consciousness and seeing the carnage, Octavius escapes and takes refuge at a harbor. Becoming increasingly influenced by the arms' AI, he decides to re-try his experiment. He robs a bank to fund a second experiment. Peter and May coincidentally are there, and Octavius takes May hostage. Peter rescues her, but Octavius flees with the stolen money. The Daily Bugle subsequently dubs the scientist Doctor Octopus.

Mary Jane becomes engaged to astronaut John Jameson, the son of Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. Peter suffers an emotional breakdown over his inability to balance his life and loses his powers. He abandons his Spider-Man identity, returns to his normal life, and attempts to reconcile with Mary Jane, but with little success. A garbageman brings Peter's Spider-Man costume to Jameson, who takes credit for driving Spider-Man into hiding. Peter tells May the truth behind his uncle Ben's death and how he is responsible. May forgives him, but the rise in New York City crime rates worries Peter.

Requiring the isotope tritium to fuel his reactor, Octavius visits Harry to demand it. Harry agrees in exchange for Spider-Man, whom he believes is responsible for Norman's death. He tells Octavius to seek Peter, who Harry believes is friends with Spider-Man, but tells Octavius not to harm him. Octavius locates Peter, tells him to find Spider-Man, and captures Mary Jane. Her endangerment leads to Peter's powers resurrecting. As Jameson admits that he was wrong about Spider-Man, Peter steals his costume back from the Bugle and goes after Octavius.

As Peter battles Octavius, they fall onto a New York City Subway train. Octavius sabotages the controls and leaves Peter to save the passengers, which he does at a great physical toll. When he faints from exhaustion, the grateful passengers save him from falling and bring him into the train, seeing his unmasked face but promising to keep their knowledge hidden. They unsuccessfully try to protect him when Octavius returns to capture Peter, whom Octavius delivers to Harry.

After giving Octavius the tritium, Harry prepares to kill Spider-Man, only to be shocked to see Peter under the mask. Peter convinces Harry to direct him to Octavius' lair, as bigger things are at stake. As Peter arrives at the doctor's waterfront laboratory and attempts to rescue Mary Jane discreetly, Octavius discovers him, and they battle as the nuclear reaction swells. Peter ultimately subdues Octavius, reveals his identity, and persuades Octavius to let his dream go for the greater good. Octavius commands the tentacles to obey him, and gives his life to destroy the experiment. Mary Jane sees Peter's true identity and feelings, which he says is why they cannot be together. Peter returns Mary Jane to John, and leaves.

Harry is visited by a vision of his father in a mirror, pleading for Harry to avenge his death. Harry shatters the mirror, inadvertently revealing a secret room containing prototypes of the Green Goblin's equipment. On her wedding day, Mary Jane abandons John at the altar and runs to Peter's apartment. After they kiss, they hear police sirens, and Mary Jane encourages him to go help as Spider-Man.

Cast
A superhero, Columbia University physics student, and photographer for the Daily Bugle. Juggling these separate lives means he briefly gives up his responsibilities as a superhero in a moment of adversity. When Maguire signed on to portray Spider-Man in 2000, he was given a three-film contract. While filming Seabiscuit (film) in late 2002, Maguire suffered injuries to his back and Sony was faced with the possibility of recasting their lead. Negotiations arose to replace Maguire with Jake Gyllenhaal, though Maguire recovered and was able to reprise his role, with a salary of $17 million. A scientist and Peter's role model who goes insane after his failure to create a self-sustaining fusion reaction. Octavius is bonded with his handling equipment, four artificially intelligent mechanical tentacles. Sam Neill, Robert De Niro, and Ed Harris were considered for the role of Doctor Octopus; Molina was cast as Octavius in February 2003 and immediately began physical training for the role. Raimi had been impressed by his performance in Frida and also felt he had the physicality. Molina only briefly discussed the role and was not aware that he was a strong contender, and was excited, being a big fan of Marvel Comics. Although he was not familiar with Doc Ock, Molina found one element of the comics that he wanted to maintain, and that was the character's cruel, sardonic sense of humor.
 * Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man:
 * Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson: A friend Peter has loved since he was a child, yet he gave up the chance of being with her out of concern for her safety.
 * James Franco as Harry Osborn: Oscorp's leader, Norman Osborn's son and Peter's best friend who holds Spider-Man responsible for his father's death.
 * Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus:
 * Rosemary Harris as May Parker: Ben Parker's widow and Peter's aunt.
 * Donna Murphy as Rosalie Octavius: Otto's wife and assistant.

J. K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson, the miserly manager and editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, while Daniel Gillies portrays his son John Jameson, an astronaut and Mary Jane's fiancé. As with the previous film, Bruce Campbell has a cameo appearance, this time as an usher in the doors of Mary Jane Watson's show. Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee portrays a man on the street who saves a woman from falling debris during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus. Dylan Baker portrays Curt Connors, one of Peter's college physics professors and a colleague of Octavius, while Willem Dafoe reprises his role as Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn's deceased father who appears to him as a hallucination. Dafoe came up with the idea during promotion for Spider-Man, which he compared to King Hamlet haunting his son to avenge him. Elizabeth Banks, John Paxton, Ted Raimi and Bill Nunn reprise their roles as Betty Brant, Bernard Houseman the Osborn family butler, Ted Hoffman, and Robbie Robertson respectively. Elya Baskin portrays Mr. Ditkovitch, Peter's landlord, and Mageina Tovah plays his daughter Ursula. Cliff Robertson reprises his role as Peter's uncle Ben Parker.

Scott Spiegel portrays a man who attempts to eat some pizza Spider-Man is delivering, only to have it webbed from his hands. Joel McHale portrays a bank teller. Hal Sparks portrays an elevator passenger who has a conversation with Spider-Man. Donnell Rawlings portrays the New Yorker who exclaims that Spider-Man "stole that guy's pizzas" and Emily Deschanel portrays a receptionist. Brent Briscoe plays the Garbage man who finds Spider-Man's costume in the trash and gives it to Jameson. Peter McRobbie plays an OsCorp representative. Reed Diamond plays Algernon. Peyton List and her brother Spencer List make their film debuts playing a little girl and boy playing on steps respectively. Daniel Dae Kim plays an assistant of Otto Octavius working in his laboratory. Aasif Mandvi portrays Mr. Aziz, the owner of Joe's Pizza. Joey Diaz, Dan Hicks and Chloe Dykstra portray train passengers. Vanessa Ferlito portrays one of Mary Jane's co-stars. Joy Bryant appears as a spectator that witnesses Spider-Man in action. John Landis plays one of the doctors who operate on Doctor Octopus. Phil LaMarr portrays a train passenger who is most easily seen to the left of Spider-Man (the viewer's right) while the hero uses webbing to slow the train down. Greg Edelman portrays Dr. Davis. Brianna Brown portrays a female train passenger with a baby.