8/4/93 S P I D E R - M A N Written by Barry Cohen and Ted Newson and James Cameron 2nd Revision by Joseph Goldmari and James Cameron and John Brancato SECOND REV. 7/29/93 FADE IN: INT. PROFESSOR OCK"S PRIVATE PHYSICS LABORATORY, THE CYCLOTRON ROOM (CREDIT SEQUENCE) - DAY A mighty WARNING KLAXON assaults our ears. A FLASHING RED WARNING LIGHT stabs our eyes. Several DIALS go into the RED. A hand pushes aside a YELLOW THERMOS and pushes forward a RED POWER THROTTLE. We hear the WHINING UP of a cyclotron. A DIGITAL DIAL climbs to "5% POWER." A SPIDER crawls across a DIAL. Begin OPENING CREDITS. THE CYCLOTRON ROOM is in an old basement full of peeling paint and plumbing wrapped with TAPE. Leaks are here and there. COBWEBS are all around. DOCTOR OTTO OCTAVIUS (OCK) is a strong but strange featured man in his mid-fifties. His assistant, WEINER, hovers nearby looking on. He's open mouthed with a mindless kind of curiosity. WEINER is a local, small-time hood hired by OCK to circumvent the school administration and to "procure" whatever OCK needs for his experiments. He shades his eyes against a searing BLUE-WHITE BEAM that erupts from the WINDOW. THE ROOM IS DIVIDED INTO A CONTROL ROOM AND THE EXPERIMENT CHAMBERS. WEINER Whoa, whoa, whoa... what's that? With a WHOOSH, the WINDOW EXPLODES, showering the TWO with shards of GLASS, and throwing them to the floor. OCK (rising) We begin again... let's kick in that new transducer. See if we can double the power output. WEINER (rising more slowly) Whoa, Doc... wait a minute... But OCK is already at the THROTTLE. The cyclotron whirls up. The lights go on. Louder, brighter than before. OCK looks through the broken WINDOW into the EXPERIMENTAL CHAMBER. The POWER DIAL inches upward, "eight, nine..." the BLUE-WHITE LIGHT is blinding now. The WHINE pitch is shattering. END OPENING CREDITS. OCK Okey... dokey! The POWER DIAL hits ten. EXT. EMPIRE STATE UNIVERSITY - DAY As STUDENTS go to class, the sound of the cyclotron spills out of the SCIENCE CENTER onto the grounds of Empire State University. We see PETER PARKER, a pleasant faced senior who's among the top in his class. Sincere and serious, he has yet to develop a way with women. LIZ (falling in step) Hiya Peter... LIZ ALLEN is also a senior. She's beautiful and intelligent. PETER (ardent but uncomfortable) Hiya Liz... how're you doing...? LIZ (teasing softly) How'm I doing what? HARRY Peter! Peter! Wait up! HARRY is the school nerd. A quirky kid who, like PETER, can be a little backward around girls, especially pretty ones like Liz. HARRY (to Liz) Would you, uh... excuse us for a minute? Despite PETER'S protesting body language, HARRY pulls him away like a conspirator. PETER What is it? what... HARRY Did the Astro-Physics Journal really accept your paper? PETER (laughs, embarrassed) Yeah... well... all I got's the data but they've agreed to publish it when it's finished. You know... it's my calculation on the Planetary Conjunction. HARRY And its influence on the anti-force. Isn't it? PETER Yes. Look, Harry, I am busy with... (indicates Liz standing there) HARRY Yeah, you and the rest of the class. Every one is busy with Liz. LIZ (growing impatient) Peter? A HAND reaches in and smacks her bottom. FLASH Hiya, cupcakes... LIZ (elbowing him affectionately) Flash...! They kiss and walk away. HARRY (sneering) And Flash is the busiest of them all... PETER (disappointed) Come on, Harry... we'll be late for Octavius. HARRY makes a gesture dismissing OCK as crazy. HARRY Ock is nuts, don't you agree? PETER Ock is a genius, Harry. Crazy, Yes! But, a genius misunderstood, and unappreciated. INT. CYCLOTRON AREA HALLWAY - DAY It is a basement hallway full of LOCKERS which STUDENTS are banging open and shut as they put stuff in and take stuff out. In their midst, a MAN is banging on the door marked "Cyclotron Room - Authorized Personnel Only!" Professor ROSOMORF, SIXTISH, respectable, a good old fashioned professor, he's the head of the Physics Dept. With him is ALEXANDER THORKEL, a 40-ish, Waspish school administrator. For a scientist as crazily focused as OCK, THORKEL is a natural enemy. ROZ (knocking furiously) Doctor Octavius! You are late for your lecture. The students are waiting. Doctor Octavius! THORKEL Your friend is impossible Professor Rosomorf, I told the board we should let him go. The LIGHT above THORKEL's head EXPLODES. Then all the LIGHTS behind him EXPLODE in succession. THORKEL and ROZ look amazed... THORKEL What's he doing in there, not his crazy experiment again. ROZ You mean his anti-force theory... one day they'll give him the Nobel Prize for it. THORKEL Meanwhile he is demolishing our university. Octavius!! (knocks) Open the door. INT. OCK'S LAB OCK The anti-force experiment has now reached the limit of electronic overload safety. Therefore, Weiner, you will disconnect the overload safety device... FOUR WALDOS (three-fingered, snake-like mechanical arms) suddenly thrust themselves into the CHAMBER and begin working, each at a different task. OCK is an acknowledged master at manipulating these WALDOS. He flicks a switch and a searing BLUE-WHITE BEAM lances down from a FOCUSING CONE and strikes a GRAM WEIGHT (marked, "1,000,000"), illuminating it and filling our ears with a splitting BUZZ TONE. The knock on the door grows louder. WEINER comes up behind OCK. WEINER Whoa, Doc... someone's at the door... OCK (ignoring) World class scientific mind and they stick me in the basement with this third rate cyclotron... INSERT: The DIAL marked "RELATIVE GRAVITY" reads "1,000,000" but suddenly it snaps to "0.999999!" OCK Okey! Dokey! The WEIGHT begins to jiggle and, for an instant, it appears to lift ever so slightly. INT. COLLEGE PHYSICS LAB - DAY This is an enormous room, 100 lab tables. The yellowing smoke of a thousand experiments hangs in the air. A HUGE AMERICAN FLAG dominates the back wall. PETER, HARRY and LIZ set up their TABLES. FLASH reads the DAILY BUGLE sports section. PETER can't take his eyes off LIZ. When she looks back he looks down at his GEAR. LIZ (softly) What is it, Peter? PETER (embarrassed) It's nothing. INT. OCK'S LAB WEINER opens the door and sees ROZ and THORKEL waiting impatient. WEINER Yes, gentleman can I help you? THORKEL Tell your boss, that his class is waiting. WEINER (looks) You better tell him yourself. THORKEL looks at ROZ who waves his shoulder, then the both call. ROZ & THORKEL Professor Octavius!! Professor OCK turns and looks at the bewildered men. OCK Gentlemen, come, you must see this. ROZ But, your students... OCK The imbeciles can wait... I have better things to do than teach introductory Physics Rosomorf. Undergrads are kindless adolescence. THORKEL You see he is impossible. OCK Thorkel you are the dummiest administrator our university has ever had. (Thorkel turns to go) Don't go Thorkel!! Come! Look! He starts to play his machines handles and buttons. THORKEL The university pays you to teach something to your students. INT. COLLEGE PHYSICS LAB - DAY LIZ Well, do you mean nothing... or do you mean something but you won't tell me what it is? PETER (regaining) I mean plain nothing. LIZ Well, I guess that's about as nothing as you can get... plain nothing. A beat. PETER Liz...! LIZ Ahh, it is something. PETER No... look. The equipment on her TABLE is starting to vibrate. They look at it, curiously. We hear the cyclotron's WHINE begin to build... INT. CYCLOTRON ROOM - DAY Everything is shaking like in an earthquake... Roz and Thorkel seem to dance in their place going crazy with anger and surprise. The WHINE is deafening! The light is blinding! WEINER has his eyes closed and his hands over his ears. OCK I am going for 20 percent power! THORKEL NO!! Don't do that... ROZ Ock! Its dangerous... THORKEL Ock I warn you... WEINER crosses himself. The CONSOLE erupts in sparks. INT. ELECTRICAL CONDUIT MONTAGE - DAY We follow the electrical overcharge as it crackles along the WIRES and CABLES inside the WALLS and FLOORS. It is making its way up to the LAB! INT. LAB - DAY All the kids are now trying to hold onto their vibrating equipment. The CHARGE crackles up a WIRE and erupts at LIZ'S TABLE. A BREAKER explodes in flames. There is an outburst of AD LIBS: "Fire!" "Everybody out!" THORKEL (comes running he is shabby and bewildered) seeing LIZ trapped behind the fire which is growing from second to second. THORKEL Keep calm, everybody keep calm. Use the front door. Everybody out the front. PETER Liz! Come on...! LIZ I can't. Help me! PETER I'm coming! He wades into the fire, but is beaten back by the FLAMES. His sleeve is on fire. He pats it out. LIZ Peter! Flash appears and tries to help but Thorkel stops him. THORKEL Get back, you idiots. You can't go in there! LIZ smashes at the WINDOW, but this is an inner city school and the WINDOWS are covered by STEEL GATES. Liz wraps her fingers in the GATE. LIZ (out at the street) Help! Help me! Outside the WINDOW the air is clear and people come and go. Some are stopping to look up at the girl on the second floor who screams (but they can't hear, of course) down at them as the FLAMES close in behind her. PETER comes flying in with a FIRE EXTINGUISHER. He fumbles with it. FLASH pushes Thorkel, grabs the extinguisher away from him with a scowl of disdain. LIZ turns to face the FLAMES. Suddenly there is an eruption of CO2 CLOUDS and the roar of a FIRE EXTINGUISHER. The FLAMES are beaten down enough for her to leap out. FLASH is there, holding the EXTINGUISHER. People CHEER. PETER Thanks for your help Flash. FLASH No problem wimp. PETER Our hero has a real way with words. LIZ Oh, why don't you grow up. PETER is stung, insulted, turns away. ROSOMORF peeps in, worried -- faces Thorkel. THORKEL This man will bring a disaster upon this university. OCK comes in, starts his lecture calmly as if nothing has happened. OCK The universe is made up of forces... and counter-forces. Science is the study of the forces! FLASH hands the EXTINGUISHER to PETER. LIZ embraces FLASH, throwing a glimpse at PETER who tried so bravely. He looks away and turns the last of the EXTINGUISHER on the last of the FIRE. OCK (continues without a hitch) But I... Professor Otto Octavius... have devoted my life to the study of the counter-forces! Good job, Peter. PETER (taking place at lab table) Thanks, Professor. THORKEL has walked slowly and uncomprehendingly toward the front of the huge LAB. He simply cannot believe OCK'S behavior. THORKEL I don't believe it, I simply don't... OCK Can we carry on Mr. Thorkel. THORKEL I don't believe... oh, all right carry on Professor. OCK Well! This week my dear students I have made a stunning breakthrough... THORKEL Wait a minute, wait a minute... you've got fire forms to fill out, Dr. Octavius. OCK I have no time for forms, or administrators who persist in interrupting me, Mr. Thorkel. THORKEL steams out and bangs shut the DOOR. OCK I now believe its possible that these counter forces can be... collected... the way the magnifying glass collects the sunlight... and focused into a hard beam I call... Weiner! WEINER backs away from the BLACKBOARD to reveal a word that OCK has scrawled in large letters. It says "Anti- Force." OCK I call it, the Anti-Force! OCK is plugging a HUGE CABLE into a small LUCITE BOX with a SILVER BALL inside it. OCK (continues as he works) This anti-force, once harnessed, is capable of undoing any natural force at which it is aimed... for instance... (looks up maniacally) Gravity! LIZ scribbles down a note and mouths the word "gravity." Then she turns to PETER. LIZ (whispers) I'm sorry... PETER It's alright. OCK is "playing" his COMPUTER like the Phantom of the Opera at the organ. OCK We patch in the cyclotron... The lights flicker and go dim. OCK Pay no attention to the lights... I of course steal its energy, and it looses power. We patch in the cyclotron... and we gradually apply power. The power that I am stealing... As the WHINE builds in the LAB... OCK peers through the LUCITE BOX at us, distorted by it. The BOX is a miniature version of the cyclotron's experimental chamber, and now the BLUE-WHITE glow begins. It crackles round the SILVER BALL. OCK And so we stand, four square against the fundamental force that orders and maintains our universe... gravity... which is holding down this goddamn ball. Rise! The LIGHTS go totally dark. The kids react with WHOOPS and CATCALLS. HARRY What a crock... PETER Shut up Harry... this is very interesting. OCK Mr. Parker! Have you some... interesting observation you'd like to share with the class? PETER No sir... OCK Then shut up! And pay some attention to the experiment. OCK peers at us through the LUCITE BOX as the SILVER BALL begins to rise. OCK'S face is ecstatic. OCK Rise! Rise!!! The SILVER BALL suddenly shoots up, shattering the top of the box. It flies up to the ceiling where it shatters a LIGHT FIXTURE. The shards rain down on OCK who reaches out and catches the falling BALL and scales it in a raised fist. OCK Now that's what I call an experiment! The CYCLOTRON WHINE cuts out and OCK wheels to the COMPUTER. He hits a KEY and several COLORED PROJECTION BEAMS lance out of the back of the room. They pierce the smoke and light a PROJECTION DISPLAY in the front. TWO COLORED SPHERES one, YELLOW, one BLUE touch where their circumferences meet. Behind them is a BLACK depiction of "space". OCK You are looking at a representation of two universes. Our Blue one. Our real universe... something we can touch and feel and see and draw calculations about. This is us. The Yellow universe... this is something else. Some other dimension... something... on the other side! OCK hits another COMPUTER KEY and a hole appears where the TWO SPHERES touch. The BLUE AND THE YELLOW MARBLEIZE with each other. The colors swirl until both SPHERES are BRIGHT GREEN. OCK If it were possible to generate enough power behind it, the anti-force could wipe out not just gravity... but all our universal forces at the same time. In effect... it would blast a hole between this universe and the next. Each... (indicates green spheres) would flow into each other. No blue universe. No yellow. End, finished, over. LIZ (with a student's ear) That sounds like a scenario for the end of the world. OCK My girl, it is! It is. It would mean wiping out everything that's known... and letting in everything that's unknown. FLASH Isn't that a little dangerous? OCK Don't worry yourself, true inter- dimensional penetration is still purely theoretical, but one day... Maybe very near... maybe in the 21st century... INT. BASEMENT HALLWAY - DAY PETER, LIZ, FLASH and HARRY all take BOOKS from their LOCKERS. LIZ (whispers to Peter) Look, it's just... I don't know... when you and Flash go after each other like that... PETER (whispers) He's not my type. LIZ He doesn't have to be. PETER Check. LIZ And besides, he's not all bad. PETER looks at FLASH who's a few LOCKERS down. FLASH has taken a FOOTBALL from his LOCKER and is spinning it on his finger with great joy and concentration. PETER You don't get nicknamed Flash because you're a rocket scientist, Liz. LIZ Give it up, Parker. You'd die for a nickname like Flash. PETER Yeah, of embarrassment. KIM comes by and leans seductively by her LOCKER. KIM is a ripe one and hot-hot-hot! KIM (teasing) Hey, Flash... I'm scalping a pair of the Midnight Madness Wrestling Match tomorrow night. FLASH The Slammies??? I'd kill for that!!! KIM Would you pay $125? FLASH Well, uh, I... gee... if... can I tell you tomorrow? KIM (moving on) You snooze, you lose. Hiya Liz... LIZ Kim, you know Peter and Harry? This is my new roommate... Kim Nickson. KIM is pulling her pet, a foot long SALAMANDER, out of her LOCKER. She wraps it around her neck and turns to the boys. They go bug-eyed! KIM (interested) Hellooo, Peter. PETER (embarrassed) Hi... LIZ We're going to the Student Reunion Meeting. You coming? Peter looks at KIM. Wow. Then he looks at LIZ who's adjusting herself in a small MIRROR. HARRY jabs him in the ribs. Yeah, yeah! PETER (frustrated) I can't... I gotta go over to the Daily Bugle. I'm trying to sell some photos. KIM Soooh, a photographer...? PETER Just an amateur. Well... nice meeting you, Kim. KIM Yeah... I bet it would be. HARRY Can I be your date for the reunion ShooShoo? KIM No Jerk! HARRY (she turns to go) What did I say... LIZ It's not what you said, it's how you say it, ShooShoo! Everybody leaves and Harry is left alone, he throws his bag down. HARRY Damn! PETER turns to go and comes face to face with the hulking WEINER. WEINER Peter, Doc Ock wants to see you. PETER About my data I bet. WEINER I don't know. PETER He knows about my work on the Planetary Conjunction, doesn't he? WEINER (lies) I don't know. INT. CONTROL ROOM - DAY PETER enters wide-eyed behind WEINER. This place is a far cry from the experiment in the LAB ROOM. It's a fantastic netherworld to which no undergrad gains entrance. No one but PETER. OCK is sitting in a swivel CHAIR with his back to PETER. He has the look of Captain Nemo in his Nautilus. This is OCK'S domain. PETER Hello, Professor Octavius. (no response) I really admired your experiment. OCK (back to Peter) We have a lot of interests in common, Peter. Perhaps we should put our heads together, if you know what I mean... PETER (flattered) That would be... great. OCK (turns with a smile) Now you take the Planetary Conjunction. This Saturday night we will witness Saturn, Jupiter, the Moon, the Earth, the Sun... all in a row. Never seen within the memory of man, or measured for its effect. The total gravitational force must be quite exceptional. Isn't that the subject of your paper...? PETER Yes sir, I've worked out a new way to calculate the combined gravitational effect. OCK I'm a busy man, Mr. Parker. But I think I could find the time to go over it with you. Make sure it all... checks out. PETER Well... I'm sort of working with Professor Rosomorf and he suggested we kind of keep it between us. He thinks that my theory is... well, I don't know... OCK (to himself) The scoundrel... (turns angry) I want to see that data, Peter! PETER But Professor Octavius... if I knew you were interested... sorry, I've already given it to... Professor Rosomorf, and he is after all the head of our Physics Department... and I couldn't... OCK turns sweet again. He smiles too broadly. OCK Well, I'm certain something can be worked out. Run along, young man. PETER begins to leave. OCK Just a minute... how about if I show you my discoveries... something I never showed to any other student... as a matter of fact to anybody at all. PETER Well I am really flattered, I mean I'd love to... but I... OCK Very well shall we say if you come here tonight... PETER But Professor I don't now if I should... OCK Make it eight sharp... I'll be waiting for you... Right here... Peter looks worried then leaves. OCK turns to WEINER who slouches against the wall smiling. OCK The same academic world that's so keen to embrace that boy's undergraduate work, ridicules my anti-force theory as quackery. I ask you, Weiner... what is our society coming to? Ha! WEINER They are all a bunch of brainless assholes, that's what I say... OCK Weiner! Go get me that boy's data! WEINER Cost you fifty bucks. OCK (Weiner hissing) Just get it. We'll negotiate your fee when you have the data, alright Weiner? EXT. DAILY BUGLE - DAY Establish as ART DECO BUILDING well beyond its prime. A sign says: "The Daily Bugle." Peter enters the building. JAMESON (V.O.) Garbage! Absolute, 100% garbage! INT. JAMESON'S OFFICE - DAY Very forties, very messy. J. Jameson scans some PHOTOS as PETER stands helplessly by. JAMESON Bag ladies. I hate bag ladies. PETER Yes, sir. JAMESON is 50ish, grey at the temples, brush cut on top. He too is forties. His chewed up CIGAR is forties. This guy is a hard case. JAMESON (looks at the other photos) Little kids... I hate little kids. This is a daily newspaper. We need news value photographs, not artsy-fartsy shit! PETER Yes, sir. JAMESON comes to a picture of a BUSINESS SUITED MAN with a MOHAWK. PETER smiles in anticipation. JAMESON Kid? You want a pro's assessment? PETER Yes, sir! JAMESON (handing photos back) Your photos suck. (cigar for emphasis) Parker, my readers are morons. I gotta grab them by the eyes. Every time you press the button of that Nikon of yours it costs you fifty-five cents. So the next time you're about to take the plunge, ask yourself, am I taking dog bites man? Because if you are... PETER I know, I know. You want man bites dog... JAMESON Parker, this is the post modern 20th century. I want man eats dog! Get out! EXT. STREET - DAY A seedy east village walk up. Peter takes his camera and takes various shots of a wino. ALL IN. He climbs the stairs to his building, looks through the mail, he collects from a beaten down mailbox. PETER (reading) Rent! Rent, more bills, rent... electricity, bills... INT. PETER'S APARTMENT - DAY A one-room, shabby roof apartment, a chaos of books and papers. A photo enlarger and darkroom baths in kitchen pots; 8x10s tacked to the walls; a spare camera and lenses. Self-consciously wacky kitsch; plastic dinosaurs, wind-up toys, a stuffed carp. An unmade bed and a 50's dinette set are the only furniture. A grimy skylight leads to the roof. It's not a pretty place, but it has personality. A voice from the kitchen, a shadow of an intruder, is sneaking around. PETER There's nothing in there worth stealing! MAY (V.O.) (from within the kitchen) That's the understatement of the year. PETER Aunt May, you're trespassing. MAY (comes in) I was just so desperately bored... I thought I'd come over and make you dinner... PETER I am old enough to... to make my own-- MAY But I didn't feel like getting to know your roaches. PETER I'll introduce you. MAY Oh. And those foul chemicals in the pots... PETER I take pictures, remember? MAY Anyway, I've decided to kidnap you for dinner in Forest Hills... She grabs her coat, crosses back to Peter and tugs on his shoulder. PETER It's Friday night... MAY Yes. Do you have a date? PETER No. MAY Then come on. INT. LARGE COMPUTER LAB - NIGHT It is dark and empty except for COMPUTERS. Sitting at it, lit by the GLOW of its screen, is SOLOMON ROSOMORF (ROZ). As he works, a DOOR opens behind him. Someone walks quietly through the LAB. ROSOMORF keeps working. The intruder approaches... THORKEL (at his ear) Professor Rosomorf, what happened here? ROZ Someone tried to rob me of some paper... I suspect they were looking for that one. THORKEL What is it? ROZ (unruffled) Award winning stuff. (turning slightly) Peter Parker's data on the Planetary Conjunction. Damn lucky I hid it in my computer under another title. THORKEL My God, what's going on in our school? First Professor Octavius almost blows up the Physics lab... Now this. You report it in triplicate, of course. ROZ Thorkel, be careful when you talk to Octavius. Remember... the man is a very fragile genius. One day he'll bring us all the Noble Prize. THORKEL Rosomorf, the man is a very dangerous crackpot! Off screen the voice of the CYCLOTRON WHINE begins to build. ROZ That's him again. He's working day and night. THORKEL I tell you the man is very dangerous. (the whine grows louder) Come on Rosomorf, let's stop him before this building will explode. INT. CYCLOTRON ROOM - NIGHT OCK and WEINER are at work as before. OCK takes no notice of the TWO MEN who come in, nor the WORKER who comes in behind them and sets to work attaching a BIG LOCK to the door. THORKEL Shut it down, Octavius. OCK ignores him. WEINER touches OCK'S shoulder. OCK ignores him too. THORKEL You've blown half the circuits in the Science Center. OCK Call an electrician. THORKEL I have called the locksmith. OCK What... what is he doing. He points toward the worker who's working on the lock on the main door. THORKEL We have to shut your lab down and take a look at the lines. ROZ Please, Otto, we must lock it up. OCK (to Thorkel) You're denying me access to my cyclotron?! THORKEL You bet. OCK glares back and forth between the TWO MEN, the WORKER, and WEINER. Then he pulls BACK the RED POWER THROTTLE. The WHINE descends. The WALDOS pull back and dangle from their panel. The WHINE dies. OCK (contemplating) Okey, dokey... just give me till tomorrow. I want to clean up my papers. Tomorrow... Ha... Tomorrow you can have this room... ROZ Oh... well Thorkel... few more hours won't make a difference. THORKEL I hope. He signals to the worker to stop. INT. APARTMENT OF AUNT MAY AND UNCLE BEN - NIGHT The N.Y. Mets are playing baseball on T.V. PETER watches with his UNCLE BEN, a paunchy 65 years old in POLYESTER SLACKS and a COMFY OLD SWEATER. A N.Y. METS CAP is perched on BEN'S head. A BEER CAN is in his hand. A cluttered but familiar living room sprawls comfortably around them. BEN Another brewski? PETER No, I'm fine, Uncle Ben. BEN (at T.V.) Yah! Way to do it. Alright! (to Peter) You don't follow the Mets like you used to, do you, Pete? PETER No, not so much anymore. BEN Funny. When your Mom and Dad, uh, passed away... I had this idea... I wanted you to be the best baseball player that ever was. Geez, what ever happened to that? PETER Little league. BEN (soft and warm) Yeah... Babe Ruth you wasn't. AUNT MAY enters. AUNT MAY It's on the table! Turn off the TV! BEN nods, rises sluggishly and slowly, and turns the sound off only. PETER moves toward his AUNT in the doorway. AUNT MAY How's that girl you told us about, Peter? PETER Liz? She's great... But she has a boyfriend. INT. THE DINING ROOM - NIGHT PETER passes AUNT MAY and takes his seat. AUNT MAY A boy your age should have a girlfriend. PETER Aunt May... she has a steady boyfriend. AUNT MAY Peter, any girl that's worth your attention is of course gonna have a boyfriend... But if she really gets to know what you have to offer she'll... you get my drift? BEN Look, just leave him alone, okay. When he's ready for girls he'll be a holy terror. (winks) It's in the blood. (now serious business) Lookit, how are you fixed for money, Pete? Maybe I can help you out a little. PETER (lying to them) No, I'm alright. My scholarship covers almost everything, and I sell some photos here and there. Today my physics professor asked for some of my work... he wants to study my data. They might publish my work in the science magazine... that'll bring me some money... BEN (practically cheering) Publish your work?! You hear that May...? PETER (embarrassed laughs) Yeah, in fact I have to leave a little early tonight, to meet Professor Octavius... He offered me to be his assistant... BEN Whoa! Did you hear that May...? AUNT MAY Oh, Peter, you promised you'd spend the night... PETER I... I can't, Aunt May. Professor Octavius wants to discuss my new findings. AUNT MAY (disappointed) Peter, what you should be finding... is a nice girlfriend. INT. BASEMENT CYCLOTRON ROOM - NIGHT WEINER is eating a large SANDWICH and a drinking a COKE. OCK I'll show them... closing the cyclotron on me... Weiner! WEINER Yes, Professor... OCK Where is he? It's ten past eight o'clock... A KNOCK WEINER (with mouth full) That must be him. He opens the door. PETER Good evening. OCK You are late. (to Weiner) Weiner, go outside and get us something to eat. And don't steal it! Just buy it. I'll reimburse you. WEINER (to Peter) Do you want anything Parker? PETER No thank you, I just had dinner at my aunt's... OCK Piss off, Weiner! WEINER leaves. PETER wanders around. He goes into the experimental chamber, he overlooks the SPIDER which is scuttling away and crawls inside the open WINDOW... and into the chamber. OCK Okey, dokey, Parker... how would you like to take Weiner's place... I mean, be my assistant? PETER Well, Professor, that would be a great honor, but I'm already working with... OCK Rosomorf... that imbecile. Don't you understand, kid, that I am about to uncover the greatest discovery since Einstein came up with his theory of relativity... The "Anti-Force." PETER Wow! The theory of the Anti-force! You should go for the Noble Prize Professor... OCK Noble Shmoble, I am going for a much bigger prize kid. Okey, dokey. Let me show you, kid, what I got here. OCK begins the experiment. We move in past the shattered WINDOW. We see the SPIDER crawling on the chamber's GEAR. OCK Present maximum anti-force power to date is 38 percent of theoretical limit. I have patched in the variable particle-wave accelerator... (shrugs) I will now try to reach 50% power... (big breath) And if your paper has any value... I can use it to get the power I'm missing to create the anti-force, to break through and beat any other form of power in our or any other universe, capish! PETER Sorry, Professor, I can't do it. I gave my word to Professor Rosomorf. OCK is angry... Ock now sees the SPIDER. He shoots out a WALDO to try and crush it but the SPIDER is too fast. The WALDO slams against the wall of the chamber. He starts to push every button or switch in sight. A deafening whining starts. An URGENT WARNING TONE causes OCK to look at the "Relative Gravity" DIAL. It is at "4.999999KG" but suddenly the numbers start to tumble rapidly. INSERT: The glowing 5KG WEIGHT. INSERT: The POWER DIAL inches toward 50% POWER! OCK (screaming) 50 percent... anti-force... 50 percent... that's all I'm missing! Parker, we can be rich together! PETER Sorry... I'd better go now. OCK (really angry now) You'll be sorry, Parker. PETER leaves. Another URGENT WARNING TONE causes OCK to look at the monitor SCREEN. On it, flashing RED, is the word, "OVERLOAD!" OCK pushes the RED POWER THROTTLE forward! The WHINE increases to a PULSE and THROB. INT. EXPERIMENTAL CHAMBER - NIGHT Incredibly lit, the SPIDER is dropping on it's shimmering WEB-STRAND down toward the 5KG WEIGHT which now GLOWS in time with the THROB and PULSE. INT. THE CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT The MONITOR is flashing "MAXIMUM OVERLOAD - SHUT DOWN!" OCK continues with the experiment. And then he sees the SPIDER! OCK You! Get out of there, you creeping... He tries to shove the SPIDER with his hand. INT. EXPERIMENTAL CHAMBER - NIGHT Through the BLUE-WHITE we can barely make out OCK on the other side if the shattered WINDOW. He sends TWO WALDOS after the SPIDER. The SPIDER evades him and jumps onto the PROFESSOR's back. It then climbs onto the PROFESSOR's neck and bites him. OCK (anguish) Noooooooooooo! The gravity DIAL goes to .000001, then pops back up as OCK'S tiny world goes berserk. DIALS spin, crack, explode or droop liquidly. WIRES dance on the CONSOLE which erupts like the 4th of JULY. OCK begins to float. His shirt begins to tear away. A DIAL floats by with its pulled WIRES undulating like a Medusa. WALDOS smash through the walls and flail like snakes. OCK'S YELLOW THERMOS distorts and EXPLODES! OCK, his hair wild, face locked in a multi-G grimace, is pinned halfway up a wall that is showering the room with SPARKS. OCK (ecstasy above the din) It's an energy storm! Okey! Dokey! We see clearly the SPIDER still stuck to his neck. The big beast buffets and shakes. Tubes, junctions, valves and whatnot fall off, crashing to the floor where they twitch and writhe with a life of their own. Then, an enormous EXPLOSION rips a large hole in the CYCLOTRON's side, sending debris and a HUNDRED MICRO- STREAMS of ELECTRONIC PARTICLES lancing in our direction. INT. BASEMENT HALLWAY - NIGHT Ultimate weirdness! The PULSING BLUE-WHITE LIGHT penetrates first the DOOR of the CYCLOTRON ROOM and then the very walls! LOCKERS bang, LAMPS POP, the ceiling sags in a SURREAL, RUBBERY way. The WALLS sag too! The CYCLOTRON SIGN pivots and embeds itself in a WALL. A LADDER sinks in the WALL. The BLUE- WHITE LIGHT dances wildly about in PULSES. Then, suddenly, it stops... DEAD SILENCE. WEINER comes running in holding a double decker sandwich and a large bottle of Pepsi. Weiner enters OCK'S lab, singing, not at first noticing what's going on. Suddenly he stops dead. INT. CYCLOTRON ROOM - NIGHT A scene out of DALI's surrealistic canvas. There are things inside of other things. DIALS look like DALI watches. This place has been rippled to the max! OCK lays face up, unconscious on the floor, a WALDO across his chest. The SPIDER is weaving its web. CAMERA slowly DOWN to see OCK. PIPES and WIRES are stuck to his body. The WALDO seems to be wrapping him. He wakes up to see those MECHANICAL ARMS buried in his body. They weave around him as if they are looking for prey. He tries to tear them out, but they seem to be a part of his body, like his other limbs. He screams. Suddenly Weiner sees OCK. WEINER Professor... what happened to you? What did you do... Suddenly one of the waldos hits him so strongly that he flies back and out through the door to the corridor. INT. BASEMENT HALLWAY - NIGHT WEINER Oh my God... what happened here... He hears the police sirens approaching, he runs away. WEINER I better get out of here. EXT. THE EMPIRE UNIVERSITY - NIGHT The long SCREAM segues to a POLICE SIREN. A COP CAR pulls to a halt in front of the COLLEGE. Many NYPD CARS are already there, along with a NUCLEAR REGULATORY VAN, some AMBULANCES, a VAN from the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY and TWO TV VANS. ROZ runs across the lawn. POLICE STRUGGLE to hold back the crowd of press, students and general gawkers. J. JAMESON pushes to the front of the mob in time to see TWO COPS hustle a BUGLE PHOTOGRAPHER back into it. The MAN shakes his head. JAMESON throws down his CIGAR, stomps it, and pulls out a fresh one. THORKEL arrives to address the CROWD. THORKEL (through bull horn) There is no danger. Please go back to your dorms. I repeat, there is no danger. JAMESON (approaches him) Spill it out, Professor! The public wants to know! The CROWD closes on THORKEL. THORKEL Who are you? JAMESON Jameson, Daily Bugle, Chief Editor, now what really happened here? THORKEL There will be a press announcement in the morning Mr. Jameson... now if you'll excuse me. This elicits a flood of AD LIBS: "I heard a terrible explosion?" "Nuclear accidents?" "Meltdown?" "Genetic engineering?" "Are you guys making mutants in there?" THORKEL I have nothing to say... there will be an announcement. Now, please go home... everybody... we must clear the grounds... In the back of the crowd are PETER, HARRY, LIZ, FLASH and KIM. FLASH You think they'll cancel classes? HARRY They must... the whole building must be contaminated with some kind of poisonous gas. PETER How about nuclear contaminations? KIM My God... lets beat it. But nobody moves. LIZ (more interested in other things) Could anyone be in there, Peter? PETER (concerned) I don't know... Maybe Professor Octavius. He usually works late... FLASH That nut, I bet it was all his doing... JAMESON (seeing Peter) Hey Parker! Peter Parker! PETER pushes forward. PETER Mr. Jameson! What are you doing here? What's going on? JAMESON That's for them to know, and for you to find out. PETER But sir, they wouldn't tell us. You heard Thorkel... he said... JAMESON A press announcement tomorrow...! But we must know tonight Parker. This is your university, right... PETER Yes, but... JAMESON You got your camera? PETER Sure, but I can't-- JAMESON A hundred dollars says you can? PETER Yes sir! JAMESON Get inside and get pictures, fifty bucks. PETER You just said a hundred. JAMESON Seventy, but I want blood and gore. PETER (calling back) Seeya guys. He dashes off. FLASH shakes his head in dismay at this guy. LIZ Where is he going? JAMESON To make fifty bucks. EXT. SCIENCE CENTER - NIGHT PETER approaches a CYCLONE FENCE keeping low and out of sight. He leaps it like a skirmisher but fails ignominiously in a heap. He's torn his PANTS and cut his leg. He moves to the side of the building. A DUMPSTER sits next to a FIRE DOOR. It's locked. As PETER mulls over his next move, the LOCK clicks and the DOOR slowly opens. PETER leaps on the DUMPSTER... and falls in. INT. DUMPSTER - NIGHT PETER lays in the GARBAGE, a pained look on his face. He rolls over and comes face to face with a wet DAILY BUGLE. The headline reads, "Wave of Violence Rips City!" He pulls himself up and peers out. He sees a UNIFORMED GUARD hold the DOOR open for THREE MEN IN RADIATION SUITS who remove some weirdly fused objects. When they let the DOOR swing closed, PETER stops it by inserting the NEWSPAPER in the top. EXT. FIRE DOOR - NIGHT PETER squeezes inside and jumps to knock out the NEWSPAPER. The Door closes behind him. INT. BASEMENT HALLWAY - NIGHT Skewed, strange, surreal, PETER stares at the weirdness and fumbles with his CAMERA. He snaps off a few shots, then freezes when he hears a familiar voice. ROZ (V.O.) (filtered through face mask) Take it easy. Take it easy with him. THORKEL (V.O.) Take him away and never bring him back! Now we see ROZ and THORKEL following 2 GUARDS carrying OCK in a stretcher. They all wear RADIATION SUITS. A waldo sneaks out from under the sheet and hits Thorkel, as fast as lightning. He falls back. He's covered with a SHEET and attached to LIFE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT. Octavius moans. THORKEL What was that? ROZ What was what? THORKEL What hit me? ROZ What hit you? THORKEL I don't know. It was so fast. ROZ You're going to be fine, Otto. PETER gets off a shot and ducks into the MEN'S room leaving the DOOR ajar for a peak. A WALDO slips down from the SHEET. PETER'S eyes go wide at the sight. What in the hell has happened here? INT. MEN'S ROOM - NIGHT The URINALS are twisted in bizarre shapes. PIPES are exposed and spout WATER. The MIRRORS look like something out of a funhouse. PETER hears the STRETCHER go by. PETER goes to the DOOR of OCK'S Lab and cracks it. PAN up to the SPIDER, GLOWING softly, dangling from a SHIMMERING STRAND above PETER. As PETER looks out at the STRETCHER, the SPIDER drops on his neck. He reacts by swatting it away. Bad move. The GLOWING SPIDER now squats malevolently on the back of PETER's hand. He stares at it transfixed. It bites. PETER Ow!!! PETER throws the SPIDER to the ripply tile floor where it scuttles unsteadily out the door. Sweat starts to bead on PETER'S face. He shakes his head to clear it. His vision becomes uncertain. He lurches against a WEIRD SINK. PETER'S POV is not just uncertain, not just fuzzy, not just moving in and out anamorphically. It's all of that! GUARD (V.O.) (heavily distorted) Hey! What are you doing here, kid? PETER turns to see a UNIFORMED GUARD distorted by his crazy vision. PETER I feel a little funny... GUARD (heavily distorted) Yeah? Well, I ain't laughing. Get out... Just get out of here... EXT. FIRE DOOR - NIGHT It bangs open. The GUARD throws PETER out and then throws his BACK PACK at him. GUARD (still distorted) You get yourself over to the Police lines. PETER (ultra wooz) Right. Police lines. EXT. UNIVERSITY - NIGHT PETER melds into the crowd. As in a dream, JAMESON appears at his side. JAMESON (distorted) Okay, scoop, whaddaya got? PETER I... got pictures of the Professor... in there... it's so strange in there... so bizarre... JAMESON (winks) Good job, kid. Bizarre is what we need. Pick this up in the morning. (holding up his camera) There'll be two crisp twenties tucked inside. He hurries off. PETER peers after him and all of a sudden his vision corrects to a perfect focus. The sweat is gone. He's okay. He makes his way through the crowd to the street. We TRACK with PETER as the madding throng recedes behind him. He turns a corner. He hears a SIREN. An AMBULANCE screeches around the corner. It nearly hits PETER who leaps to avoid it. EXT. BRICK BUILDING - NIGHT PETER'S cheek is pressed against the brick. He opens his eyes and sees that he's hanging onto