Chapter 23

"Now, please welcome the creative team to the stage!"

The screening of *Spider-Man* ended, and the atmosphere in the entire theater was even more hyped than the Super Bowl.

Every fan was cheering and applauding joyfully.

Even Leonard and the others, who were usually cautious and didn't dare to speak loudly, were now standing up and howling without restraint.

"Director Marc Webb!"

"Starring Willem Dafoe! James Franco! Emma Stone!"

"And our lead actor—Xu Can!"

When Xu Can walked toward the stage, the whole place boiled over again, chanting in unison.

"Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Spider-Man!"

Xu Can waved with a handsome smile, which was met with even louder cheers.

Who would question him playing Spider-Man now?

In the fans' hearts, no one was more suitable than him! No one else would do!

The audience was too crazy, so much so that the host shouted several times and they didn't listen.

There was no other way; the microphone had to be taken by Xu Can, who was currently the most popular.

"Guys, let’s sit down first. If you haven't had enough, you can buy tickets and watch it again at the midnight screening later."

Xu Can stood on the stage as calmly as a talk show master, chatting with the audience:

"If you haven't shouted enough, you can go back and shoot a short video and post it online; I’ll click on each one to watch. Of course, only for beautiful women; men, don't shoot."

"Seriously, shouting loudly is bad for your throat; I only have two throat lozenges on me, one for me and one for Emma, none for you guys."

In the minds of North Americans, Asian international students or Asian residents were usually reticent or introverted.

Xu Can’s few humorous and witty complaints made the audience laugh, and they were no longer so manic.

The host secretly gave Xu Can a thumbs up; the situation was controlled by him so easily.

"Alright, our creative team is on stage; next, let the director say a few words, and then it’s the Q&A session."

Director Marc Webb began to talk about the film’s creative process.

"At first, we looked for Spider-Man for a long time, auditioning many actors, such as Josh Hartnett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jude Law..."

These were all famous Hollywood handsome male stars, including "Leo," who swept the world with *Titanic*.

"Forgot, there’s also James Franco sitting next to me... sorry, James, it’s nothing personal."

The director made a joke with Franco.

Franco didn't understand at first, but later, seeing Xu Can’s performance, he had long since let it go.

"It’s okay, playing the little Green Goblin is pretty good too."

Then the director continued to talk about the casting of Spider-Man:

"As everyone knows, we held a Spider-Man open audition, not limited to famous actors or ordinary people."

"Later, while visiting a coffee shop, I discovered Xu; he looked ordinary, but if you looked closely, he was anything but ordinary."

"He came to audition, and my intuition told me he was simply the most suitable actor. Now everyone can see it for themselves; I won the bet."

Marc Webb’s talk drew warm applause.

The casting and creative concept of Spider-Man gave everyone a deeper understanding of the story.

He also added that Xu Can was a co-writer, and many concepts in the film were proposed by Xu Can.

Such as the villain setup, the film’s hip-hop trend style, and the choice of the heroine.

Not MJ, but Gwen Stacy, who was more youthful in high school.

MJ was the heroine Peter met after he graduated and started working, and his future wife.

That belonged to another chapter, perhaps appearing in the sequel.

Afterward, Xu Can, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and others talked about interesting anecdotes during the filming,

and the atmosphere in the entire theater was quite joyful.

"Brothers, do you know? On set, I didn't even need to direct the scenes between these two!"

Marc Webb laughed:

"The interaction between the male and female leads was completely their own free play; I didn't even give them the lines."

"Did you guys ship them?"

But the audience at the scene said in unison:

"So sweet! Too sweet!"

There was even a grumpy guy who stood up and shouted: "Hurry up and get married! Just marry him!"

No matter how socially adept Stone was, she couldn't help but blush and lower her head to smile.

"Alright, alright, no more jokes; next, it’s the Q&A session everyone cares about."

Marc Webb announced.

The many media representatives present suddenly got excited, like monkeys begging for food, raising their hands one after another.

"The lady over there."

"Hello! I am a reporter for the *Los Santos Times*; the film’s effect is quite shocking, and it should achieve good results."

"May I ask if there are any plans to shoot a sequel? What is the plan?"

The blonde reporter was one of their own, taking the lead in asking some safer questions.

The producer blurted out:

"Yes, regardless of the box office, we will shoot a sequel. The preliminary plan is a trilogy, and we have already started the pre-production stage."

"Yeah!!!"

"That’s great!"

Before the producer could finish, cheers erupted at the scene again.

The first *Spider-Man* was so explosive that not shooting a sequel would be unjustifiable!

The fans couldn't wait to see the second one right now!

Then it was another media outlet.

"I am an NBC reporter; before the release, Emma bet with a critic that the box office would exceed 500 million USD. Currently, *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* has a box office of 423 million, temporarily the box office champion of the year; may I ask if you still have the confidence to surpass them now?"

"500 million, I was indeed impulsive at the time. *Pirates of the Caribbean 2* is indeed an excellent movie, and its strength is very strong..."

Emma Stone paused, then smiled:

"My prediction at the time was a bit conservative; I should have estimated higher! Sorry, Johnny Depp, I’m afraid our box office is going to surpass yours."

The reporter’s question had a bit of a suspicion of inciting conflict,

but Stone didn't fear the battle at all; she was simply full of confidence.

The audience at the scene was also quite confident, and applause was constant!

Everyone couldn't be described as satisfied with this Spider-Man; it was simply far beyond expectations!

*Pirates of the Caribbean 2* is good, but what can it compare to Spider-Man with?

Several reporters and critics asked questions one after another, and the creative team answered them one by one.

Everyone was full of confidence, their words were much more relaxed, and there was constant laughter at the scene, with a good atmosphere.

"Time is running out, we have one last question left... over there, the lady in the black clothes."

"I am a reporter for the *New York Times*; first of all, congratulations on the film’s success. I noticed that many combat scenes in the film are full of imagination, and the incredible action design is quite difficult."

A thin female reporter intended to be a bit tough.

"You previously promoted that the lead actor Xu Can did not use a stunt double throughout, and all the battles were completed by himself."

"I’m not nitpicking, but this is simply too unbelievable. I believe any famous actor couldn't do those high-difficulty moves; only professional stuntmen with years of training could do it. It even had to be completed with a lot of special effects..."

"I just want to hear the truth; do you admit to using a stunt double? Did you use too many special effects, and is there any suspicion of false advertising?"

The *New York Times* reporter’s question was indeed quite aggressive, and some of the audience had the same doubts.

Did he really not use a stunt double, and was it really shot in real life? Impossible, right?

The reporter thought this would stump the creators and make them admit to false advertising.

Unexpectedly, the creative team just looked at each other and smiled.

Xu Can stood out: "Let me answer this personally."

With a charming smile, he walked to the open space calmly.

The audience was stunned, not knowing what he was going to do next!