“With Great Power”: Spinning Environmental Worlds and “Green” Production in The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Marketing

Abstract

Resonating with environmental advocacy such as energy reduction, Spider-Man's infamous mantra "with great power comes great responsibility" was part of a marketing strategy endorsing the "green production" of the 2014 blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Boasted as Sony's most environmental film to date, this article explores how the film's promotional campaign worked to both push and sabotage these environmental claims. Undertaking a material analysis of filmmaking, the article firstly locates how "power" can be conceptualised within the film, its production context, and the surrounding Hollywood industry. By scrutinizing the online marketing campaign via Twitter, in addition to promotional and industry collateral, the article then explores the contradictory and layered environmental messages within the campaign, focusing in particular on a cross promotion with the enviroevent "Earth Hour". Questioning the production of environmental encounters throughout the marketing campaign, the article asks what worlds are produced in the process, and how.