Superhero franchises tend to race from one conflict to the next, rarely looking back at the aftermath a superpowered brawl that threatened several lives. Often the villains are either vanquished quietly, or they live to fight again - and no one dares mention any of their victims. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was looking like it would commit the same sins, as the Lizard’s attack on the city in the first movie didn’t seem like it would a plot point in the new film from what we saw in the trailer last month, which revealed the city of New York under siege by Electro, Green Goblin, and Rhino. Of course, instead of actually forcing filmmakers to address these matters, studios are now turning to viral marketing that can fill in all the holes.
Thanks to this strategy we now know that Dr. Curt Connors, last seen in custody at the end of the first film, was found guilty of his crimes. Twenty counts, in fact, - though the Daily Bugle Tumblr doesn't care to share many of the details, save for the murder of NYPD Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary). The Bugle’s "report" states that Connors’ Not Guilty pleas were ignored by the jury of his peers, who are looking to sentence him to Rikers Island (rather than the Ravencroft Institute For The Criminally Insane). Connors apparently claimed he injected himself with the serum to turn him into the villainous Lizard because he didn’t want Oscorp Industries using it to experiment on others, which probably seems like a super-flimsy excuse when he could have just taken the serum to the police, instead of taking it himself and then launching an evil terrorist operation across the city because he was in bad-guy-mode.
The mention of Ravencroft is a wink towards the comics, given that it was essentially Spidey’s Arkham Asylum, home to some of the worst baddies in his rogue’s gallery. Of course, having the character be in Rikers could explain Connors’ absence from the sequel, as Rhys Ifans does not appear to be listed with the rest of the cast for this summer’s release. He could always resurface in a cameo/reshoot, however it's also possible that we’ve heard the last of The Lizard, a loose-end the powerful-sounding Oscorp would likely show interest in eliminating. It’s not as if they have a shortage of bad guys (unless they can convince him to join them...).
But wait! There's one more Easter egg for the Marvel nerds out there. In this article, Connors’ lawyer goes by the name Anne Weying. Hardcore fans will note that Weying was the ex-wife of Eddie Brock, the alter ego of Venom. Eventually, she ended up bonding with the alien symbiote, becoming She-Venom, which was basically Venom with boobs (no joke; Google it). It’s impressive that these viral marketing gags, while not entirely well-written, manage to cram as many winks to Spider-Man history as possible. And, among Spider-Man fans, were any of us ever expecting to read a single word about She-Venom ever again??
