[A few days later] [Titan HQ – Floor 3]
Titan's third floor looked more like a premiere venue than an office space that morning. A massive LED screen covered the far wall from edge to edge, glowing softly in standby mode. Media crews filled the left section of the room with cameras mounted and red tally lights blinking. A handful of lucky fans stood behind a velvet rope barrier, each one holding exclusive event badges and vibrating with barely contained excitement.
The security was also tight.
Rumors had been swirling online for forty-eight hours straight that instead of uploading the main Spider-Man trailer directly to YouTube, Titan had announced it would debut live at headquarters. That decision alone had turned the event into something bigger than a standard press stop.
The lights dimmed slightly as Alex stepped onto the stage.
The room shifted immediately. Camera shutters clicked. Microphones angled forward. A low murmur rolled through the crowd before fading into silence.
Alex adjusted the mic once and gave the room an easy smile.
"Morning, everyone. I appreciate you showing up on short notice. I know half of you tried to bribe our security team for early access."
A few reporters laughed.
He slipped his hands into his pockets and looked around casually, like he was hosting friends instead of commanding global attention.
"I won't waste your time with a long speech. You're not here for me talking about box office projections or cinematic philosophy."
He turned and gestured toward the massive screen behind him.
"You're here for this. So let's get to it."
The lights cut completely.
...
The Titan logo appeared first, the bass rumbling through the floor speakers. It faded into the skyline of New York at dusk. Helicopter blades thudded in the distance. Police sirens echoed off skyscrapers.
A faint crackle of fire.
Smoke rises in the distance. Fire trucks flood a street below. Flames climb the side of a building. Firefighters shout over the roar.
PETER (V.O.)Everyone has a secret.
A beat.
PETER (V.O.)Something they hide. Something they're afraid to lose.
Cut to a teenage boy standing on a rooftop. Hoodie pulled up and a homemade red mask. Watching the fire from across the street.
Cut to a classroom. Midterm papers sliding onto desks. Peter Parker sits near the back, scribbling formulas. He glances at the window instead of the board.
PETER (V.O.)Sometimes it's small.
Cut to Aunt May at the kitchen table, smiling gently as she pours coffee. Uncle Ben is reading the paper.
AUNT MAY: You're going to be late again.
Peter grabs his backpack, distracted.
PETER (V.O.)Sometimes… it changes everything.
Quick flashes.
A science lab. A containment unit. A genetically altered spider crawling along glass.
A flicker of blue light.
Peter jolts.
Smash cut to Peter waking up, breathing hard.
He stares at his hand. Flexes his fingers. Then the camera flips over, upside down showing that he was stuck to the ceiling of his room.
Cut to the hallway at school. Gwen Stacy walking toward him, headphones around her neck. She smiles.
GWEN: You look like you didn't sleep.
PETER: You ever feel like… you're different?
She raises an eyebrow.
Montage.
Peter's hand stuck to a subway pole.
A basketball is flying toward his face in slow motion. He catches it without looking.
Peter standing on a rooftop, looking at the city.
Sirens again.
PETER (V.O.)But secrets have a cost.
Cut to Uncle Ben in the car with Peter. Rain on the windshield.
UNCLE BEN: It's not about what you get to do, Peter. It's about what you choose to do.
A tense moment.
Gunshot echoing in Peter's house.
Peter running.
Aunt May crying in a hospital corridor.
Silence.
Then the sound of something snapping through the air.
Cut to a figure swinging between buildings for the first time. Clumsy. Barely holding on.
Police radios crackle.
J. JONAH JAMESON (on TV): Masked vigilante. That's what he is. Who is he hiding from? Or what is he hiding?
Newspapers slam onto a printing press. Headline: "SPIDER-MAN- Friend or Foe?"
Cut to Norman Osborn in a lab, holding a glass cylinder of green serum.
NORMAN: There is only one way to find out.
OTTO: We're standing on the edge of something extraordinary.
Montage intensifies.
Music builds.
A metallic laugh cuts through the wind.
The Green Goblin rises on a glider from beneath the bridge, armor gleaming under city lights. His eyes burn bright.
A pumpkin bomb drops.
Explosion.
Cars flip. Flames roar.
Spider-Man swings into frame, landing hard on the hood of a wrecked taxi.
Gwen is hanging from a collapsing structure, gripping a beam.
Peter, under the mask, eyes wide with fear.
GREEN GOBLIN: You think you can save them all?
PETER (V.O.)I didn't ask for this.
Explosion.
Spider-Man shielding a child from falling debris.
Norman watching from the shadows.
J. Jonah Jameson shouting in his newsroom.
JAMESON: He's not a hero. He's a menace.
Music builds.
Spider-Man landing hard in an alley, breathing heavy.
PETER (V.O.)But if you can do something…
Quick shots.
A burning building.
A screaming crowd.
A trembling hand pulling on a mask.
Gwen hanging onto the metal beam.
Goblin flying toward him.
GWEN: Spiderman!
The bridge shudders. Steel cables snap.
Slow motion.
Gwen falls.
GREEN GOBLIN: Choose, Spider-Man.
Peter screams...
PETER (V.O.)… and you don't.
Spider-Man fires a web. Swings directly toward the camera.
PETER (V.O.)Then that's your secret too.
Cut to: Shadows in an abandoned warehouse. Metallic clanking echoes.
A silhouette. Four long, segmented mechanical limbs slowly rise into frame, glowing faintly, coiling like serpents. They flex, claws clicking. No face shown. Just the tentacles emerging from the dark, reaching toward the camera.
TEXT ON SCREEN: This Christmas...
TEXT ON SCREEN (larger): Spider-Man
TEXT ON SCREEN (final, bold): With great power comes great responsibility
The tentacles lash forward suddenly, screen cuts to black.
A single metallic clang.
FADE OUT.
...
The lights snapped back on.
For half a second, there was silence, like the room needed to remember how to breathe.
Then the eruption hit.
It started with one scream from the fan section near the velvet rope. Then another. Then a wave of shouting rolled through the room so loud it rattled the stage monitors. Reporters who had promised themselves they would stay composed were already yelling to their camera operators to keep rolling.
"Replay it!"
"Run it again!"
"Oh my God, run that back!"
One of the fans near the front looked like she might actually faint. A guy behind her was clutching his badge like it was a winning lottery ticket.
Alex stood off to the side of the stage with his hands loosely clasped in front of him, watching the chaos unfold with that calm expression he always wore when something landed exactly how he expected.
He leaned toward the mic again.
"You want to see it again?"
The answer came as a full-body roar.
He laughed softly and nodded toward the tech booth. "Let's run it back."
The lights dimmed again and the trailer replayed from the Titan logo.
This time, the crowd reacted in real time.
When Peter stuck to the ceiling, the room exploded with laughter and cheers.
When Uncle Ben delivered his line in the car, the sound dropped into a low murmur of approval.
The moment the Green Goblin rose on the glider from beneath the bridge, a collective gasp cut through the audience like someone had punched the air out of them.
And when the mechanical tentacles rose from the shadows at the end, people actually stood up from their chairs.
"No way."
"Doc Ock."
"They're doing it. They're really doing it."
The screen cut to black again and the metallic clang echoed through the speakers.
The lights came up.
Reporters were already half-standing, firing questions over each other.
"Is Gwen going to die?"
"We're getting multiple villains in the first film!"
"Are there any more villains who aren't in the trailer?"
"Is this a trilogy plan?"
Alex raised both hands slightly, just to settle the volume.
"Okay, okay. Breathe," he said with a grin. "You're going to lose your voices before the Q and A even starts."
He stepped toward the center stage again.
"I figured since we are establishing the first movie of MCU Phase 1, we might as well go big."
He turned toward the side entrance of the stage.
"Now, why don't we bring out some people who are the heart of this movie?"
The crowd buzzed again, louder this time.
"First up, Spider-Man."
The side doors opened and Andrew Garfield walked out, waving with a wide, slightly nervous grin. He gave an exaggerated bow before hugging Alex quickly and taking one of the chairs arranged behind them.
"And the reason Peter keeps looking distracted in chemistry class," Alex continued. "Gwen Stacy."
Emma Stone stepped out next, smiling like she had been waiting backstage, trying not to laugh at the screaming. She blew a quick kiss toward the fan section and took her seat beside Andrew, bumping his shoulder playfully before sitting down.
"Now," Alex said, glancing toward the wings again. "Every hero needs someone who thinks he's a menace."
The doors opened again and J. K. Simmons strode out with mock intensity, already pretending to bark orders at imaginary reporters.
"Get me pictures of Spider-Man," he shouted into a fake mic he grabbed from a stagehand.
The room shook with laughter and applause as he sat down, adjusting an invisible tie like he owned the building.
"Let's talk about chaos," Alex said, tone shifting slightly. "Norman Osborn."
Willem Dafoe walked out slowly, giving the crowd a small, knowing smile that made half the room shiver in excitement. He gave a subtle nod before taking his seat, fingers steepled in a way that already felt unsettling.
"And because brilliant minds can also go very wrong," Alex added, "Otto Octavius."
Alfred Molina stepped out, followed by another wave of cheer. He raised both hands like he was calming a storm and then laughed as he took his seat next to Willem.
"And finally," Alex said, voice softening just a bit, "the heart of the Parker family."
Diane Lane walked out to warm applause, smiling with that gentle presence that already felt like Aunt May. She shook Alex's hand before sitting down at the end of the row.
Six chairs are filled.
Andrew, Emma, J. K. Simmons, Willem. Molina and Diane.
Alex stayed standing in front of them for a moment, looking at the lineup like he was proud and trying not to show it too much.
"Ladies and gentlemen," He said. "Even though I wanted all the cast members to be present, sadly, due to schedule conflicts and not to give away certain surprises that are saved for the movie, some of them couldn't attend this event. So, give a round of applause for everyone who couldn't be here with us today."
The crowd cheered with a round of applause.
Then came the questions.
"Are we actually losing Gwen?"
"Doc Ock in the first movie?"
Alex finally pulled a spare chair forward and sat slightly angled toward the cast.
"Alright, one question at a time and we'll try to answer them to the best of our abilities, but there won't be any spoilers," He said into the microphone.
A reporter in the second row shot her hand up first and did not wait to be called on.
"Andrew, Emma, this is your first major film. You're leading a global franchise right out of the gate. Were you terrified?"
The room quieted just enough to hear Andrew's breath catch in his mic.
Andrew shifted in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, already looking half overwhelmed and half thrilled.
"Yeah," he said honestly. "I was terrified the day I got the mail. I was doing this commercial and suddenly I'm being told I'm Spider-Man and there are people building entire city blocks for me to jump off."
The audience laughed.
He glanced at Alex briefly, then back at the reporter.
"The first week of training, I kept thinking someone would walk in and say there had been a mistake. But Alex didn't let that happen. He treated me like I belonged there from day one. That helped more than I can explain."
A few cameras shifted toward Alex, who just gave a small shrug.
Emma leaned forward slightly, smiling, but there was a tremor of real emotion in her voice.
"I'd mostly done teenage drama series. A lot of crying in bedrooms, and a lot of locker and hallway scenes. Then I'm on a set with cranes and explosions and Willem Dafoe staring at me like he might actually turn into something dangerous."
Willem tilted his head slowly toward her with a subtle grin and the room burst into laughter.
Emma chuckled. "I mean, I was just a rookie in a set with legends... So, yeah..." She nodded. "I was terrified. But at the same time, it was an awesome experience."
Another reporter stood up quickly.
"Are we losing Gwen in this film?"
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Emma blinked dramatically. "Wow. That's aggressive."
Andrew leaned toward his mic. "I'd also like to know the answer to that question."
Alex laughed quietly and raised his hand.
"No spoilers," he said. "But I will say this. Actions have consequences in this universe."
The tension in the room sharpened in a good way.
Another voice cut in from the press section.
"Why introduce both Green Goblin and Doc Ock in the first film? Isn't that risky?"
Alfred Molina adjusted his mic with calm confidence.
"It is risky," he said. "Which is exactly why it's interesting. Otto isn't here just to wave mechanical arms around. He represents ambition without restraint. Norman represents power without empathy. Peter is stuck between those forces."
Willem leaned closer to his mic, voice soft but carrying.
"And chaos," he added. "Do not forget chaos."
The crowd reacted to that immediately.
A fan from behind the velvet rope shouted, "Are the tentacles practical or CGI?"
Alfred grinned. "Both. I have bruises to prove the practical side."
Andrew jumped in. "They move like they're alive. The first time I saw them rise behind me on set, I forgot I was acting. Like I didn't even knew we were shooting that."
J. K. Simmons leaned forward suddenly.
"The real question is why nobody asked about the most important character here," he said in full Jameson energy. "Who is holding this masked menace accountable?"
The audience roared.
A reporter took that opening.
"Mr. Simmons, is Jameson going to be comic relief or a serious threat to Spider-Man's reputation?"
He pointed toward the press section like he was calling someone out personally.
"Public opinion is the most dangerous weapon in the world. You don't need superpowers to destroy someone. You need a headline."
That line landed heavy.
Alex watched the room carefully. The energy was exactly where he wanted it. Excited, curious, slightly unsteady.
Another journalist stood up.
"Alex, you mentioned Phase 1 earlier. Are you officially confirming a larger cinematic universe?"
He leaned back in his chair and crossed one ankle over the opposite knee.
"Yeah, as I've already announced during the comic con, we are going big. Though the names of the movies have been changed like previously it was Spider-Man: The Sinister Five and now, it's simply Spider-Man. So, you can expect little changes. But the lineup will remain the same," Alex replied.
"So, next we are getting Iron-Man?" The journalist asked.
"Yes. Iron Man, then Blade, followed by X-Men, and Fantastic Four," Alex answered.
Another one asked. "So, who is playing Tony Stark?"
Alex leaned in slightly. "Humm... Good question. Haven't decided yet. Only time will tell." He lied with a smile to keep the post-credit scenes a secret.
A younger fan near the rope barrier raised his hand hesitantly.
Andrew noticed and pointed at him.
"You," Andrew said with a grin. "Let's hear it."
The kid's voice cracked slightly through the handheld mic a staff member passed to him.
"How did you feel the first time you put on the suit?"
The room softened at that question.
Andrew smiled in a way that looked less like an actor and more like a kid who never stopped loving comics.
"It was a little suffocating," he said. "Hot. Hard to breathe in. So, between every take I had sit under AC and I couldn't even drink a lot of water because then I'd have to go to the bathroom and getting out of the suit and putting it back on would take too much time. But at the end of the day, when I saw what we made, it was all worth it."
Emma nudged him gently.
"You cried," she said.
Andrew laughed. "I did not cry."
"You absolutely cried," she insisted.
...and so the event continued and it was successful.
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