9 Ways The Amazing Spider-Man Almost Turned Out Awesome

6. The Untold Story, Told

The big unique narrative shake-up The Amazing Spider-Man made (aside from not solving Uncle Ben's murder, although Sony wanted you to forget about that as easily as Peter did) was the boosting the absence of Richard and Mary Parker to a central plot point. What his father was up to (did he engineer Peter to become Spider-Man), how they died and what role the overbearingly sinister Oscorp played in all this were the big questions the advertising asked.

Irritatingly, in the finished film there was no sense of resolution to the conspiracy plot, with that entire part of the story feeling like it was written by Damon Lindelof; the first hour built it up, then it was forgotten until a cautionary mention in the mid-credits scene that only posed more questions.

However, it very nearly went a different way. Trailers featured scenes absent from the movie that showed a showdown between Spider-Man, Curt Conners and Oscorp stooge Dr. Ratha, where the purpose of the Peter's father's experiments was meant to be revealed and the latter met his end (rather than just disappearing partway through the film). But when Sony realised universe-building was the order of the day (The Avengers hit a couple of months before), they hastily cut it, hoping this intrigue would be enough to get people back for a sequel.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did try continue the arc, but as halfway through production that film became singularly about setting up The Sinister Six, it amounted to a rushed explanation that every fan had predicted when "The Untold Story" was first mentioned.