I think one of the things about Peter Parker that is so great, and what has made him and Spider-Man last so long is he is a kid that we all feel connected to, he's not an alien, he's not a millionaire, he's just this kid that has trouble asking girls out.

It's very important to keep the emotions grounded, to keep the characters in some real place.

I was a Marvel guy. I started reading comics when I was a kid.

Something you can do in a comic that you can't do in a film is that you can have thought bubbles.

There's a bigger universe at hand.

I think it's really important, when you're redefining a character [ Spider-Man], for the audience to experience things that they haven't experienced, from the ground up. I wanted to build a character. I feel like point of view is a really crucial thing in the story, and that you need to build up the emotional building blocks, so that you can experience all the other emotions in a very specific way, rather than just experiencing it in an intellectual way.

Earnestness can ferment into sentimentality.