Spider-Man: Requiem
Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Damien Chazelle
Writers: D.R. Cobb & Chad Taylor
Based on Marvel Comics characters
Cast: Lucas Hedges, Elle Fanning, Matthew McConaughey, Javier Bardem, Ansel Elgort, Sissy Spacek, Kiefer Sutherland, Zoey Deutch, Ron Perlman, Sarah Silverman, Alan Ruck
Plot: In a dimly lit lab in the upper levels of OsCorp Tower, Norman Osborn (Matthew McConaughey) looks at his unconscious son Harry (Ansel Elgort). Harry's body has been left badly broken after Spider-Man's battle with the Kingpin on the ESU campus. Norman quietly tells Harry that OsCorp's best scientists have managed to extract a symbiote that they believe can adapt to and heal its host - they just have to figure out how to harness it now. Norman begins cursing Spider-Man for Harry's predicament. Norman retires to his office and injects himself with more Goblin serum.
“And….go.” A timer starts counting down from three minutes. Peter Parker (Lucas Hedges) practices a presentation in a small room with an audience of one, his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Elle Fanning). They are both interns at OsCorp and Peter is about to make a presentation to their unit. Peter keeps tripping over his lines while Gwen, who has watched him practice many times, is always there to correct him. Just before the start of the meeting, they see on TV that a bank robbery is in progress. He apologizes to Gwen before asking if she can cover for him. She gives him a look before shooing him away and telling him to be safe.
Gwen stands before a table of scientists, headed by Dr. Otto Octavius (Javier Bardem). She informs them that Peter is feeling under the weather so she will be doing his portion of the presentation instead. Meanwhile, Spider-Man swings through the Manhattan skyline in a race to get to the bank in time. While she starts out fine in her presentation, Gwen freezes up when she forgets her next line and watches her time tick away. She begins improvising and it works as Octavius is visually impressed with her recovery.
Spider-Man is blocks away from the robbery when his spider-sense tingles. He notices a stroller by itself in the road. After a moment of thought, he abandons his chase to the bank, veering off toward the stroller so he can check on the baby. But when he gets to the stroller, there is no baby inside. Instead, he finds a small pumpkin-shaped device. Before he can react, it explodes. The blast sends him careening into a storefront. His ears ring, blood trickles from his temple. He tears off his mask, vision blurry. He stumbles away from the scene to find a safe place to recover.
Octavius, impressed with Gwen, takes on her a tour of the new OsCorp fusion reactor. He boasts that it currently powers the entire building, but he believes it could power the entire city. Octavius wears four large metal arms to manipulate the reactor, briefly removing a power cell to show Gwen. She comments that the reactor is quite the technological feat, but asks if having such an energy source in the middle of the country's biggest metropolis is the smartest idea. Octavius assures her that he has complete control over the power of the reactor. Gwen is torn between awe and caution.
Aunt May Parker (Sissy Spacek) sets out a pot roast on the dining table of her little house in Queens. Gwen's father, NYPD Captain George Stacy (Kiefer Sutherland) and Peter sit awkwardly across from each other - both having been tricked into attending a big family dinner by Gwen. George eyes Peter suspiciously while Aunt May chatters away with Gwen about the recipe she used for the meal. George asks Peter about his injuries, and Peter makes up a story about being hit by an out of control bike messenger. The dinner is awkward, but Gwen is happy to have both the men she loves under the same roof for a meal. After dinner, Gwen tells Peter that she is worried that he is pushing himself too hard in order to live up to some ideal as Spider-Man. Peter explains that his Uncle Ben always said that "with great power comes great responsibility." Gwen kisses Peter on the cheek and suggests he simply take a little break. Peter is unsure.
Norman Osborn sits in a control room, eyes fixed on security footage of the explosion. The footage shows Spider-Man stumble away and remove his mask revealing the face of Peter Parker underneath. Norman cannot believe his eyes at first and enhances the image until there is no doubt that Peter Parker IS Spider-Man. Norman clenches his fists, with his skin turning green for a split second. Norman erases all of the footage. Norman realizes that he must be proactive with this information. Spider-Man's identity was his to wield.
OsCorp scientist Dr. Spencer Smythe (Alan Ruck) is overseeing Harry's treatment. Harry finally wakes up. Smythe urgently notifies Norman Osborn that Harry has awoken from his comatose state. Norman arrives, hugging Harry, who is confused. Norman explains that Spider-Man is at fault for Harry's injuries. Flashes of memory return to Harry, enough that he knows Spider-Man is not the reason for his injuries. He tries to tell his father this, but Norman won't listen.
Aunt May has tickets to see Mary Jane Watson (Zoey Deutch) perform in an off-Broadway production. Peter has bowed out of going along with her due to his injuries and a backlog of work to catch up on, so Gwen agrees to go in his place. During the show, Mary Jane steps out into the spotlight. After the show, Aunt May gushes to Mary Jane about her performance. She asks why Peter didn't come, and May explains that he couldn't make it so his girlfriend Gwen came instead. Gwen feels a bit threatened by the glamor of Mary Jane.
Norman Osborn injects himself with a larger dose of the Goblin serum. His body convulses, skin changing. The Green Goblin emerges, cackling madly. Meanwhile, Aunt May and Gwen Stacy walk toward May's house after the play. The Goblin rides on a glider, soaring toward Aunt May. The Goblin's eyes glow. He swoops down to grab May, but Gwen sees him coming and screams out for Peter. Peter Parker's spider-sense goes haywire. Despite his bruises and recovering concussion, Peter quickly suits up and swings toward the danger. The Goblin throws a pumpkin bomb toward Gwen and May. Gwen kicks it away, back toward the Goblin, before it explodes. The Goblin decides to grab Gwen instead of May and flies away. Spider-Man gives chase after the Goblin's glider - through alleys, over rooftops. Spider-Man finally catches up with the Goblin at the highest point of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the tallest bridge in New York City. Spider-Man recognizes the Goblin as Norman Osborn despite the mutation. The Goblin then suddenly drops Gwen, sending her toward certain death. Goblin blocks Spider-Man from diving after her. Instead, Spider-Man is forced to shoot out a web to catch Gwen by the ankle. The whiplash from the fall breaks Gwen's neck, killing her. Spider-Man leaps down to try to futilely save Gwen. The Goblin glides off into the night, laughing victoriously. Spider-Man takes off his mask and begins weeping.
Norman Osborn, not simply content in killing Peter Parker's girlfriend, uses his vast reach to instigate a smear campaign through the Daily Bugle news organization, giving J. Jonah Jameson (Ron Perlman) fake evidence that paints Spider-Man as the murderer of Gwen Stacy, twisting the tragedy into a weapon against the webslinger. Peter, angry that his pictures are being used alongside the headlines in the hit-pieces, storms into the offices. Jameson's secretary Betty Brant (Sarah Silverman) tries to stop him, but Peter insists on speaking with Jameson. Peter insists that Jameson is not publishing the truth. Jameson laughs, telling Peter that the truth doesn't sell papers or get views online - fear does, menace sells. Peter slams his fist on Jameson's desk, cracking the wood in half, yelling that the Green Goblin killed Gwen Stacy, not Spider-Man. Jameson tells Peter to prove it. Until then, as far as the Daily Bugle is concerned, Spider-Man's a murderer. Frustrated, Peter leaves the office. Jameson yells for Betty to order him a new desk - one not made in China this time. Betty jokingly says that Jameson's going to have to pay a lot more for one then. Jameson bristles at the thought of having to spend money.
Peter's world is fractured without Gwen. He retreats from OsCorp and ESU, moving back home to Aunt May's house. Revenge simmers on his mind. Norman Osborn is the target. Peter begins trailing Norman, mapping out his daily routines, studying the security at OsCorp Tower. Gwen's words echo in Peter's head as he works his internship at OsCorp where he is startled by Octavius, who says he was sorry to hear about Gwen's death. He tells Peter that she clearly cared about him a lot. Peter is not comfortable talking about Gwen's death yet. Octavius then tells Peter that the big man, Mr. Norman Osborn, has requested a meeting between the three of them. Peter and Octavius attend the meeting. To Peter's surprise, a wheelchair-bound Harry is also there. Norman offers to elevate Peter's internship to a full-time job. Peter's spider-senses are activated and he realizes that Norman knows he is Spider-Man. He shakes Norman's hand. Norman notices a patch of green skin on his wrist and quickly pulls his sleeve down to cover it.
Captain Stacy, believing the media hyping that Spider-Man killed his daughter, organizes a special NYPD task force to take down the masked figure. Peter Parker dons his Spider-Man mask, believing he needs to get back into fighting shape if he's going to take on Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. He hears a woman calling for help. Spider-Man swings his way toward the cry for help, finding a man roughing up a woman in an alley way. Spider-Man easily dispatches the aggressor, tying him up with webbing. The woman thanks Spider-Man for his help, but police cars quickly surround the area, with their lights illuminating the alleyway in blue and red. Captain Stacy emerges from one of the police cars and aims a gun at Spider-Man. He tells Spider-Man that he is under arrest for the murder of his daughter. Spider-Man pleads his innocence. Stacy continues to approach Spider-Man. He pulls his mask off, revealing himself as Peter Parker. Stacy is stunned. Peter begs Captain Stacy to believe him. He would never hurt Gwen in a million years. Norman Osborn is the one responsible.
Spencer Smythe infuses a body suit with the symbiote to try to heal Harry's injuries, or at least allow him to walk despite them. Harry is wary of the idea. Norman emerges, telling Harry that there is a chance he will walk again if he gives in to the symbiote. Harry hesitates before agreeing to don the suit. The suit clings to Harry's body tightly, black tendrils weaving through the fabric. Then suddenly, Harry is able to stand up on his own. His eyes widen with excitement. The symbiote though is not content. It writhes, rejecting the suit as its host. Harry staggers and falls to the floor. Norman curses out Smythe, demanding that he figure out a way to make it work.
To try to cheer Peter up a bit, Mary Jane Watson invites him out for coffee. As they sip at their coffee, Mary Jane's gaze wanders over to the latest issue of the Daily Bugle on the counter. She is suddenly reminded that Peter takes pictures of Spider-Man for the paper. Mary Jane jokes that she has a crush on Spider-Man and his tight costume. Peter laughs nervously. She continues joking that Peter should tell Spider-Man to swing on over to her place sometime for a photo op. Peter, finally having a little fun with the conversation, offers to slip Spidey her number next time he sees him in action.
Norman Osborn stares at his reflection in the mirror. The Goblin serum has begun to permanently twist his appearance. He pulls out a makeup kit. Concealer masks the green scales, foundation smooths the ridges. When he is done he looks mostly the same as he always has - except for his eyes, which are still green.
J. Jonah Jameson arrives at his office and groans at his broken desk before noticing an anonymous package waiting for him. He promptly calls Betty in and asks why this wasn't opened with the rest of his mail. She says she never received that one and they both give each other a look. He hands it to her to open, which she does so cautiously. After taking a beat to observe its contents, she hands it back to Jameson. It is a dossier of photographic evidence revealing Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin. Betty says it looks like this has the potential to be the Bugle's biggest breaking news ever. Jameson stares intently out the window before saying he is not publishing this. Betty is astounded by this and says they have to publish it. He says that it will confuse their core readership and Norman is a very powerful enemy to make. The decision is final.
In Queens the following day, Peter monitors the Bugle's website and comes to the realization that the news is not going to be leaked. It's time for a last resort. As he is leaving the house, Peter is stopped by May, who just wants to remind him that she loves him. And to be careful. He gives her a long hug.
At OsCorp Tower, Captain Stacy and his unit are preparing to execute a warrant on Osborn but Norman has resorted to using stalling tactics, with the building security saying that the elevators are "malfunctioning." Spider-Man arrives and is met with a chorus of jeers from the group of onlookers growing near the entrance. A young boy asks his father why people are booing Spider-Man and the man doesn't have an answer. The boy nervously waves at Spider-Man, who gives him a head nod back.
Inside, Captain Stacy informs Spider-Man of the current situation. Spider-Man says he will take care of Osborn. When he reaches the executive floor, it is lined with Norman’s top security personnel. Spidey counts the dozens of men and knows the odds are against him as NYPD are far behind. Rather than getting physical, Spider-Man decides to use his environment to his advantage and uses the ventilation shaft to craft a series of web snare traps. Spider-Man calls out to the nearest guard, who triggers a trap and suspends the guard from the ceiling. This creates a domino effect as more security come to help and get trapped in traps themselves.
Spider-Man arrives at Osborn’s executive suite but no one seems to be there. His senses tingle so he knows that a threat is near. He calls out to Norman, telling him that soon the entire world will know the truth and there’s no more running from it. This is met with a maniacal laugh from the Green Goblin, who says Spider-Man walked right into his trap. From the corner of his eye, Spider-Man sees the Goblin’s glider coming at him at full speed and he is barely able to evade it. The Goblin emerges to board the glider and throw a series of pumpkin bombs at Spider-Man, causing debris to go flying from the building. Spider-Man quickly exits out the explosion’s hole and uses his webs to catch the debris before it falls on the onlookers below. The Goblin follows him out and begins chasing Spider-Man through the nearby skies.
Their fight eventually leads them back to OsCorp tower where they come crashing into the massive fusion reactor chamber, startling Dr. Octavius. The Green Goblin continues to throw pumpkin bombs recklessly in Spidey’s direction until one of them hits next to the reactor, which destabilizes its power cells. Otto, in a panic, directs his team to work on stabilizing it.
Spider-Man sets up a trip wire with his web that dislodges Green Goblin from his glider. Spider-Man’s anger hits a boiling point and he delivers a series of furious punches at the Goblin, who counters by sending his glider in Spider-Man’s direction. Spidey leaps through the chamber evading the glider, trying to lead it away from the reactor. He circles back to the Goblin, who is able to land a hard blow of his own. He proudly stands over Spider-Man, telling them it ends here before realizing the glider is coming full speed in his direction. The Goblin is pierce by his own glider, knocking him to the ground and badly injuring him.
Otto finds the reactor to be dangerously close to exploding so he orders an immediate evacuation of the building. He stays behind himself and equips his mechanical arms to make one last attempt to calm things. Spider-Man approaches the downed Goblin and, instead of inflicting more damage, he offers a hand to help him escape the tower. The Goblin hesitates before taking Spider-Man’s hand. However, he pulls him down with the strength he has left and stabs him in the arm with a razor bat. Spider-Man gets up in disgust and as he walks away, he can hear Norman’s voice mutter “Harry”.
Spider-Man springs into action, racing through the tower to find Harry and help him evacuate. However, these efforts end up fruitless as Harry is nowhere to be found so Spidey turns his attention to helping Cpt. Stacy, the NYPD, and the NYFD evacuate everyone from the area. As the crowd panics, the boy gets separated from his dad and shells up in fear. Spider-Man sees this from the corner of his eye and rescues the boy, returning him to his father. Spidey makes a small spider toy made from his web and thanks him for being a true believer.
In the tower, Octavius furiously works on the reactor but the energy forces are so strong that they end up fusing the mechanical arms to his body, causing him to scream in agony and fail at his task.
Perched above a skyscraper blocks away, Peter removes his mask and watches solemnly as the reactor explodes and takes OsCorp tower with it. He looks at the empty streets and buildings in the surrounding areas and is relieved at the minimal collateral damage.
The next day, Peter is out for a walk. He passes by a newsstand that is selling out of many papers covering the OsCorp story. He notices that there is a surplus of copies of the Daily Bugle, which is promoting the exclusive story about Osborn being the Goblin. The vendor jokes that the Bugle is always a day behind and all of their bigger competitors have already beat them to their scoop. Peter chuckles to himself and buys a copy out of pity.
He winds up at his intended destination: the local graveyard. His first stop is at Uncle Ben’s grave and catches him up on what happened. He jokes that Ben’s old wetsuit was his first ever Spider-Man suit. He finishes by saying that he misses him everyday. He then wanders over to Gwen’s grave, with a freshly-installed headstone. Peter is soon joined by Captain Stacy arriving with flowers for his daughter's grave. Peter holds his head down, not sure what he should say. Stacy tells Peter that he can see why his daughter liked him so much. Peter manages half a smile thinking about Gwen. Peter begins to walk away, but Stacy stops him. Stacy gives Peter and Spider-Man his blessing. Peter can’t bring himself to say anything and quietly sheds a tear instead.
In voiceover over the Manhattan skyline, Peter says that he doesn’t know why fate chose him to face this unrelenting string of challenges, chaos, and tragedy. But he now realizes that being Spider-Man is his ultimate purpose and his ultimate responsibility.
The camera lowers to reach the clean-up efforts at the aftermath of OsCorp Tower’s destruction. There is a faint stirring that ominously grows before black tendrils begin to emerge from the wreckage. Harry Osborn stands tall, now fully protected by the symbiote without the assistance of the body suit. He gasps for air, revealing fang-like teeth and a long sharp tongue, before slithering away.
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