Once lowbrow but now high art

Stars Dane DeHaan and Felicity Jones talk about their latest comic book blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The Green Goblin, portrayed by Dane DeHaan, fights Spider-Man, played by Andrew Garfield, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Courtesy Marvel Enterprises

There was once a time when an actor appearing in a comic book adaptation would be a decision partly motivated by the paycheck. Then along came Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man – and suddenly comic book adaptations became respectable. Indeed the only Marvel character not part of that universe is Spider-Man, who the comic book publisher sold to Sony at a time when they almost went bust. That now seems a long time ago. Marvel comic adaptations – led by Avengers Assemble – have become the biggest movie blockbusters on the block.

Even so, it's still a small surprise when a character actor seemingly more attuned to Oscar-winning projects decides to take part in the latest comic book blockbuster. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has six: Sally Field, Chris Cooper, Paul Giamatti, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan and Felicity Jones.

"I didn't sell out," says The Invisible Woman star Jones. "I had so much fun doing Spider-Man. I'm so used to doing independent films, which I love doing, you know, 20 people in a small room on set, and this was the total opposite – hundreds of people looking at you as you do a scene."

She adds: “It’s seducing on a different scale and a real challenge. I really like my director Marc Webb – he cares about actors and genuinely wants to tell a good story. The first one was setting up the story and the second is more about the relationships between the characters.”

Webb also wanted to build on the work he had done in rebooting the character to focus on Peter Parker's high school years and his relationship with Gwen Stacy. "I made mistakes the first time around," Webb told ScreenCrush. "You know, about the costume – and I think I shot too much at night. And this time, I was like, I want to go back to the iconic Spider-Man."

So he decided to build on what he saw as the first film’s strengths: “The relationship between Andrew [Garfield] and Emma [Stone] – Peter and Gwen – and how it emerged was a surprise how well it worked and I had a great affection for.”

"It's one of those things you kind of dream of as an actor," Stone told the New York Daily News about her relationship with Garfield. "To find chemistry or repartee with another actor like that, it makes you feel like you're always being challenged, and you're bobbing and weaving. Andrew, without a doubt, inspires that in me in the biggest way."

With it already being announced that there will be a third and likely fourth part of the franchise, the sequel spends a fair amount of time on introducing DeHaan as Green Goblin. “He’s a complicated guy,” says DeHaan with typical understatement about the super-villain who inherits his father’s company and costume.

Yet DeHaan admits that he's not much of a comic-book fan and he had to look outside of himself to get into the Spider-Man universe. "I don't see much of myself in Harry Osborn – I'm just a normal guy who loves to act."

• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is out today in UAE cinemas