Since opening on July 3, The Amazing Spider-Man has set a few box office records. It also set a few new records in relation to the amount of lingering questions that I still have about the plot of a movie.
It's been well documented that a large amount of the back story in relation to Peter Parker's parents -- and how that ties into Peter surviving the radioactive spider bite -- has been excised. Now, this amount of apparent re-editing will certainly lead to plot holes -- and it did -- but I'm not sure every lingering question can be blamed on this. So, Peter's parents aside, here are six lingering questions that I still have about The Amazing Spider-Man. (Spoiler alerts ahead, obviously)
What happened to Uncle Ben's killer?
I suppose the thought of a giant lizard running around the streets of Manhattan distracted Peter from his search for Uncle Ben's killer, but .... jeeze! I mean, this was a major, major plot point for about 20 minutes of the movie. Then it's just dropped. Sure, at the end of the movie we see that Peter still has a wanted poster of the suspect in his bedroom, but it's startling to have such a big aspect of a film forgotten about so suddenly.
What did Peter make his suit out of?
We did get to see Peter's frustration with the amount of spandex available on the internet in relation to other material, but we never did find out just exactly how Peter made his suit; the film pretty much jumps directly from the complaints about spandex to the final product. (I'm of the opinion that the best thing about Peter's suit is that he can operate his iPhone with his gloves still on. Or, perhaps that has something to do with Peter's spider powers. Either way, I would have that listed under "powers" on my superhero resume.)
What happened to Rajit Ratha?
Curt Connors, as The Lizard, unleashes an attack on the Williamsburg Bridge in an effort to locate Ratha, but the attack is cut short by the appearance of Spider-Man. The last we see Ratha, he's trapped in his car, hanging off of the side of the bridge as Spider-Man attends to C. Thomas Howell's child. Once the kid is safely returned to the former Soul Man, we never see Ratha again. Is he still there? Like, right now, is poor Ratha still in a car hanging off of the Williamsburg Bridge? (According to a production still released a few months before the film, Ratha was captured by Connors. How this helps someone who would like to know the answer by just watching the movie, I don't know.)
Where are all of these lizards coming from?
I've lived in New York City for eight years. I've seen a lot of strange creatures scurry past me on the sidewalk. I've seen wild turkeys running around Central Park. Do you know what I've never seen? Lizards hanging out near the subway. In The Amazing Spider-Man, Manhattan seems to be infested with them. Now, is this somehow because of Curt Connors' Lizard? In the film, it seems as if they are only around to give Peter a clue as to where a lizard might hide. Regardless, perhaps they are attracted to Connors' presence.
Is Peter a dick?
I mean, he kind of is, right? Look, I understand that Peter has to do a dickish thing in order to learn a lesson from the consequences of Uncle Ben's death. But, near the end of the movie, Peter makes a promise to a dying George Stacy that he will leave his daughter Gwen alone. The final pre-credits scene in the film is Peter joking to Gwen that the best promises are the ones that aren't kept. Obviously these two were going to get back together and obviously, for those who know what happens to Stacy in the comics, Peter has more lessons to learn. But just blatantly breaking a promise to a dying man -- going as far to joke about it -- makes me not like Peter very much.
Who is in the scene after the credits begin?
Director Marc Webb is on record stating that the identity of the man who visits Connors inside the cell is purposely ambiguous. And Rhys Ifans has stated that it's not Norman Osborn. Fine. I guess it's just frustrating because in past Marvel movies, the reveal is never just an ambiguous figure that's impossible to decipher without more information. In Iron Man, Nick Fury was not coy about his identity. Even in The Avengers, he may not have properly introduced himself, but that was clearly Thanos. This guy? I guess we will have to wait until The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to know for sure.
Mike Ryan is senior entertainment writer for The Huffington Post. He tends to needlessly overthink things. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.