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"I'm just Peter Parker. I'm Spider-Man... no more. No more. "
Peter Parker[src]

Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 live action, superhero film, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The movie is a sequel to Spider-Man and set two years after the previous film. It is the second installment of the Raimi Spider-Man Trilogy. The film focuses on Peter Parker struggling to balance his personal life and his crime-fighting life as Spider-Man. When scientist, Otto Octavius becomes a supervillain, known as Doctor Octopus, after a failed fusion experiment leaves him fused to four mechanical tentacles, he attempts to recreate the fusion experiment that threatens to destroy New York City and Spider-Man must stop him from doing so.

Plot

Two years after the death of the Green Goblin, Peter Parker is struggling to balance his crime-fighting duties as Spider-Man alongside the demands of his normal life. Peter is growing further apart from both his love interest Mary Jane Watson and best friend Harry Osborn, who still harbors resentment towards Spider-Man, thinking him guilty of killing his father. His obligations as Spider-Man take their toll on his ability to focus on his academic work as well as his financial situation. As a result, Peter starts to think about giving up being Spider-Man.

Now head of Oscorp's research division, Harry sponsors the research of brilliant nuclear scientist Otto Octavius. Octavius's goal is to perfect fusion power. He wears a harness of powerful robotic arms with artificial intelligence for an experiment in sustained fusion. Though the experiment succeeds at first, it quickly becomes unstable but Octavius refuses to shut it down, before Spider-Man intervenes. Octavius's wife, Rosalie Octavius is killed in the accident, the neural inhibitor chip which prevents the arms from influencing his mind is destroyed, and the arms are fused to his spine. He is taken to a hospital, but the tentacles, having developed their own artificial intelligence with the inhibitor chip destroyed, savagely kill the medical crew. The tentacles corrupt Octavius's mind, and lead him to the resolution that he must complete his experiment regardless of the moral cost. To finance his work, Octavius - now called Doctor Octopus or "Doc Ock" - robs a bank, where he takes Aunt May hostage. When Doctor Octopus is about to stab Spider-Man with his spear, May smashes a sunglasses lens with her umbrella, sparing Spider-Man, but Doctor Octopus drops her from a building. Spider-Man manages to save his aunt, but Ock returns to his lair with loot stolen from the bank.

While attending a party to take photographs, Peter learns that Mary Jane is engaged to J. Jonah Jameson's son, renowned astronaut John Jameson, and gets into a fight with Harry over his "loyalty" to Spider-Man. As Doctor Octopus rebuilds his experimental reactor, Peter's powers prove unreliable. After a doctor tells him that his physical problems are due to mental stress, he gives up being Spider-Man and disposes of his costume. During this time, Peter begins to succeed in college and subsequently mend his relationship with Mary Jane.

Spider-Man No More

Spider-Man no more.

A garbage man brings Spider-Man's discarded costume to sell at the The Daily Bugle. Jameson takes credit for Spider-Man's disappearance, but later admits that he was indeed a hero, and the only person capable of stopping Octavius. Peter, out of guilt, tells Aunt May that it was his fault for his Ben's death. After Peter tells his aunt everything from the thief to Ben's death, May forgives Peter and advises him that sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice one's dreams for the greater good. Realizing that the city's need for Spider-Man is greater than his personal ambitions, Peter decides to become Spider-Man once again. Even so, his powers continue to be lost.

Doctor Octopus, having rebuilt his device, needs tritium for his reactor, and goes to Harry to get it. Harry agrees to give Octavius all the tritium he possesses in exchange for bringing Spider-Man to him, and tells him that Peter, who is supposedly good friends with Spider-Man, is the key to finding him; however, he tells Doctor Octopus not to harm Peter. Doctor Octopus finds Peter and tells him to find Spider-Man, and abducts Mary Jane in the process. Following this, Peter finds that his powers have been restored, and he dons his costume again after stealing it back from the Bugle. A furious Jameson continues to denounce Spider-Man as a menace. Spider-Man then angrily proceeds to battle Doctor Octopus across town. Eventually, they battle on a train which Doctor Octopus destroys the speed bar on the train, as it explodes on Peter's mask making it blurry as he takes it off. He tries to stop the train in many ways but he uses his webbing to stop it, almost making the train fall off the unfinished track. He saves the people and is tired and almost falls off but the people catch him and learned that he is only a kid as Peter wakes up. Two boys hand Peter his mask and promise not to reveal his true identity. Doctor Octopus returns, and ends up knocking Spider-Man (due to him still being tired) unconscious and delivers him to Harry.

After giving Doctor Octopus the tritium, Harry pulls out the knife and prepares to kill Spider-Man, but he first relents and unmasks him. He is shocked when he discovers that Peter is Spider-Man. Peter wakes up, and convinces Harry to reveal Doctor Octopus's whereabouts, before leaving him in tears. Spider-Man makes his way to Doctor Octopus's waterfront laboratory, with the doctor putting the finishing touches on his makeshift reactor. Although Spider-Man attempts to rescue Mary Jane discreetly, Doctor Octopus catches on and they fight once more. Spider-Man ultimately subdues Octavius and reveals his identity to him, pleading for a way to stop the reactor. Free from the tentacles, Octavius uses his mechanical arms to collapse the building, successfully drowning the reactor at the cost of his own life. Mary Jane sees Peter unmasked and understands that as long as he is Spider-Man, she and Peter cannot be together. Spider-Man returns Mary Jane to John and leaves.

Meanwhile, Harry, shocked by the trauma caused by revelation of Peter's identity as Spider-Man, has visions of his father Norman in a hanging mirror ordering him to avenge his death. Enraged, Harry shatters the mirror, revealing a secret room containing all of his father's Green Goblin equipment (which Peter hid after his death). He looks at the equipment and takes the green serum his father did. Meanwhile, Mary Jane is getting ready for her wedding, but she has a quick change of mind, and leaves John on the altar and arrives back at Peter's apartment. She tells Peter that she wants to be with him no matter what. After a passionate kiss, a fire truck is heard and Mary Jane encourages Peter to respond as Spider-Man, quietly apprehensive of the dangers they are about to face together in the near future.

Cast

Uncredited

Gallery

Video Game

For the video game tie-in, see this article.

External Links


Raimi Film Series
Films: Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2 | Spider-Man 3
Characters: Peter Parker/Spider-Man | Mary Jane Watson | Harry Osborn | J. Jonah Jameson | Uncle Ben | Aunt May | George Stacy | Gwen Stacy | Robbie Robertson | Betty Brant | Curt Connors | Flash Thompson | Dr. Stromm | Mr. Ditkovich | Ursula Ditkovich | Maximillian Fargas | Henry Balkan | Rosalie Octavius | Hoffman | Bernard Houseman | Mr. Aziz | Bonesaw McGraw
Enemies: The Green Goblin | Doctor Octopus | The Sandman | New Goblin | Venom | The Carjacker
Locations: The Daily Bugle | Oscorp Technologies | Quest Aerospace | Osborn Penthouse | Goblin Lair
Video Games: Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2 | Spider-Man 3
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