Shortly before hitting the stage at Comic-Con, I landed an exclusive video interview with Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb.  He talked about promoting the film while not revealing the big secrets, why Mary Jane Watson was moved to the third film, whether they will recast Shailene Woodley, how they came up with the architecture for three Spider-Man films when they were planning the first one, his uncertainly about the story for The Amazing Spider-Man 4 except that “there’s a lot of ancillary characters that have a lot of cinematic potential that could exist in their own right,” and much more.  He went on to talk about Easter Eggs, the editing process, deleted scenes, what will be on the eventual Blu-ray, the challenges faced with getting Spider-Man, The Avengers, and Wolverine in the same movie, and when I asked if he has already signed on to direct The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Webb  said:

“I’m incredibly excited about the possibility of a third movie.  I had a blast making this and working with Andrew and Emma has been one of the great delights of my career, and Sally and Jamie and Dane and Chris.  It’s really, really fun and it’d be hard to resist not doing it again.”

Hit the jump to watch the interview with a full time index.

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Image via Sony

Marc Webb Time Index:

  • :03 – Teasing fans and not spoiling the experience of learning the film’s secrets when watching the movie.
  • 1:05 – Mary Jane being moved to the third film.  Says he wanted to focus on the relationship between Peter and Gwen and didn’t want to distract from that.
  • 1:54 – Are they recasting Shailene Woodley for The Amazing Spider-Man 3?
  • 2:12 – They came up with the architecture for three Spider-Man films when they were planning the first one.  He’s not sure what they’ll be doing in the fourth film, but “there’s a lot of ancillary characters that have a lot of cinematic potential that could exist in their own right.”  Says if you pay attention to Spider-Man 2, you’ll notice some directions they might go in future films.
  • 3:16 – Easter Eggs.  Says there aren’t any in Peter’s bedroom this time around, but there are some in Oscorp.
  • 3:45 – They’re testing the waters in Spider-Man 2: “There are elements of the story that may raise eyebrows and that may be a fun thing to play with in the future.”
  • 4:00 – They edited while shooting, which is how he made the decision to move Mary Jane to the third film.
  • 4:33 – How long is the assembly cut?  Talks again about Mary Jane.  Says her character wasn’t a big deal, “just a simple script nod.”
  • 5:12 – Have there been any other scenes that they have completely cut out already?  Talks about allowing his actors to improvise some of the scenes.
  • 6:10 – He loves the idea of having the studios team up and getting Spider-Man, The Avengers, and Wolverine in the same movie.
  • 6:33 – What characters would he like to play with from other Marvel series?  Talks about the cohesion problem presented by the different universes that have been established in the other franchises.
  • 7:13 – On directing The Amazing Spider-Man 3: “I’m incredibly excited about the possibility of a third movie.  I had a blast making this and working with Andrew and Emma has been one of the great delights of my career, and Sally and Jamie and Dane and Chris.  It’s really, really fun and it’d be hard to resist not doing it again.”
  • 8:05 – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Blu-ray.
  • 8:41 – Are there deleted scenes from the first film that haven’t been released yet?

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Image via Sony