Next up was a thrilling long-form trailer for the upcoming film, “The Amazing Spiderman 2”, which emphasized Spidey’s newest villain, Electro. And funny jokes with Sally Fields as Aunt May. For those who are keeping score at home, the Spiderman franchise films (along with X-men and Fantastic Four) are not actually being produced by Disney, but rather by 20th Century Fox. What this means to us is that events in those non-Disney produced franchises have no effect on all those that lead up to the Avengers (aka the ‘Phase One’ films: Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man), nor will they intertwine with those-to-come (‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, above -mentioned sequels, ‘Antman’, etc). But to add some confusion to the mix, Disney is involved in the toy production of the Spiderman franchise. That said, the trailer was enjoyable and fast-paced, and Jamie Fox is looking like a fantastic Electro.
The reel was followed up by the event’s most adorable appearance, that of young “Amazing Spiderman 2” actor Jorge Vega, fully clad in his own Spidey costume. The little lad stormed the stage and proceeded to own it with bottomless child star charm, slinging webs of his own via the toy being promoted, the “Giant Web Slinging Spiderman.” Much to the audience’s delight, he first doused the host with silly string, who would go on to douse us in the audience, but not before Spiderman himself, actor Andrew Garfield, joined the fray. Garfield spoke mostly about enjoying his time with Vega and then eloquently expounded on the meaning of being Spiderman and the making of a villain, taking only a stray moment to admire the Spiderman doll as it fell over. Which is fine, because it wasn’t the most impressive toy or line presented. While it’s a fun sculpt of a large-form Spiderman, “Web Slinging Spiderman” seems really to be an oversized silly-string holder.
Several other toys in the Spiderman line were later showcased, though they mostly fell flat compared to the other lines featured. It’s impossible to say whether or not it has anything to do with Disney’s closeness to the franchise, but in stark contrast to all the other toy lines, all of which have a cohesive vision that ties well with their respective properties, the Spiderman toys seem positioned to use Spiderman’s face and logo to simply sell stuff. Some humdrum action figures (don’t forget to get your Spidey Mobile?), a garish mask with confusing functionality, and an irrational Hot Wheels track were all on display. Unlike Spiderman, or anything associated with him, the “Motorized Spider Force Web Blaster” shoots little rings out of it, which can of course be fun. The actual highlight were the LEGO-created Spiderman toys, because LEGO Spiderman, like LEGO-anything, is awesome. And even though I’m hard-pressed to recall any incidents in which Spiderman ever flew his Spider-themed Spider-copter, I still want to build one out of LEGOs. All that said, I’d wager many kids will want to play with any of the toys. Because Spiderman.