Just a few hours ago I sat down with The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb for an extended interview at WonderCon in Anaheim. During the wide ranging conversation we talked about editing the movie, deleted scenes, the music, what he learned from screening the movie, the running time, and a lot more. Here’s a few of the things I learned:

If anyone remembers Donald Glover’s Twitter campaign to play Spider-Man, Webb said Andrew Garfield put a Donald Glover picture in Peter Parker’s bedroom!

The movie will probably be around two-hours long.

When asked about Easter Eggs, Webb said “there are moments, there are distant mountains as J.R.R. Tolkien says that refer to…that are little winks and we’ll see if the audience likes it enough maybe they’ll get another movie.”

Webb learned after the first screening for friends and family that people really liked that the movie was funny, so they made sure to enhance it.

Regarding his use of 3D, Webb says some things were created to pop out of the screen, but his main goal was to enhance the sensations of velocity, volume, and vertigo with 3D.

Webb wanted to use a lot of practical effects to create a world that felt more grounded and realistic.

Says he already has a few deleted scenes that are fun but just don’t belong in the movie for various reasons.

Webb reveals that he just heard James Horner’s first cue for the film and he calls it “spectacular.” I also tried to find out what songs would be in the movie and if he went after any bands, but Webb just smiled and wouldn’t answer.

Hit the jump for more.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the interview came at the very end when he told me Andrew Garfield put a Donald Glover poster in Peter Parker’s bedroom. I really think that was an awesome thing to do and Glover fans will get a kick out of it.

As usual, I’ve time indexed the interview so you can watch the parts that interest you. Look for a lot more WonderCon interviews over the next few days.

Marc Webb Time Index

:03 His go-to karaoke song. Says it’s “Thunder Road” but it’s hard to find.

:03 His go-to karaoke song. Says it’s “Thunder Road” but it’s hard to find. :26 His favorite movie, director and actor.

1:38 Talks about the movie City Lights and how moments of the film feel transcendent and modern.

2:23 How much the project changed over the course of production. Said Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have an enormous talent for improvisation, so there was always a playfulness on set and they were able to create an emotional authenticity. The two came up with lines on their own that were oftentimes funnier than what was written. Story-wise, the film didn’t change much.

3:29 The 3D. Says there was a testing phase in terms of wanting to create the sensation of flight for the audience.

4:19 Says things pop out of the screen a couple times in the movie, but the main sensations that he tried to enhance were velocity, volume, and vertigo through 3D.

5:12 Says the movie will probably be around two hours long. Talks about the process of cutting the assembly down to a manageable cut.

6:05 Deleted scenes. Talks about things that he’s had to cut out. Says they found that some of the exposition on the page wasn’t needed once they saw everything on screen.

7:22 What did he learn from his first friends and family screening? Says people really liked that the movie was funny, so they went back and wanted to enhance some of the comedy. Says there’s a lot of levity, especially with the trickster quality of Spider-Man and the chemistry between Garfield and Stone.

8:50 Music in the film. He just heard James Horner’s first cue for the film, which he was really happy with. He wanted someone who could do both grandeur and intimacy. I also tried to find out what songs would be in the movie and if he went after any bands but Webb just smiled and wouldn’t answer.

10:30 His feelings on all the set photos that got out and practical versus CGI. In terms of the practical effects, says he wanted to create a world that felt more grounded. As a result of the practical effects, a lot of the webslinging stuff got out. They used the geometry of the practical stunt guy swinging to inform the visual effects-enhanced webslinging.

12:35 Easter eggs. Says there are moments that are winks and if the audience likes it enough, they’ll get another movie. Webb says he thinks Garfield put a picture of Donald Glover in Peter Parker’s bedroom.



