Chapter 4: First Meeting with Gwen

Hollywood, Wilshire Avenue.

Xu Can casually threw on a shirt and jeans, cycled a full 10 kilometers, and only then arrived at the Sony Pictures headquarters.

Just inside the door, he nearly bumped face-to-face into a middle-aged white man with a scruffy beard.

"Hello, Mark."

"Hey, Xu! You're here; I was just about to call your agent."

He was the director of The Amazing Spider-Man, Mark Wei Bu, who had previously directed the romance film (500) Days of Summer.

During the earlier audition, Mark Wei Bu, seeing Xu Can was of Chinese descent, had almost found an excuse to kick him out.

Fortunately, he held his patience and was willing to give Xu Can a chance.

The audition results were unexpected, completely overturning Mark Wei Bu's preconceptions,

to the point that he was willing to face public opposition and insist on casting Xu Can, this Asian actor, as the household-name superhero—Spider-Man!

Fortunately, Xu Can's appearance was handsome and striking, with distinct facial features,

while also possessing a certain "boy-next-door" vibe,

with a very high similarity to Peter Parker in the comics.

He believed the vast majority of comic fans would absolutely be satisfied with his casting choice!

"Let's go, I'll take you to say hello to the crew. Everyone is here today; we'll start the script reading immediately. It might be a bit tiring."

"Okay, no problem."

Xu Can wasn't afraid of being tired; this was a film he had chosen himself, so no matter how hard or tiring it was, he would be happy.

"Hey, Emma, let me introduce you. This Asian handsome guy is your partner, Bright Xu! And this pretty girl is..."

Led by the director, Xu Can met a blonde young girl with remarkably fair skin.

What left the deepest impression on her was a pair of large eyes, as if she had stepped straight out of a two-dimensional world.

Emma Stone, aka "Auntie Stone," who played Shi Daixi in The Amazing Spider-Man and was the female lead in La La Land.

Xu Can was far too familiar with her.

At this time, Auntie Stone was only 18, her young skin quite tender and fresh.

"No need for introductions... Hello, Young Lady Stone, I am your fan."

Xu Can, with a sunny smile, shook her hand in a straightforward manner.

It was clear that Emma Stone was very surprised, and at the same time somewhat at a loss.

The Eastern boy before her made a very good impression on her,

but she had only acted in two American TV dramas so far, and they were bit parts with hardly any screen time.

How did he actually know her?

"Hello, Mr. Bright..."

"You can call me Xu Can."

"Xu... Chan?"

"Mm, your Chinese is spoken very well."

Xu Can gave up correcting the pronunciation; he would teach her properly later on.

While the two new actors interacted, director Mark Wei Bu stood nearby with his arms crossed, a motherly smile on his face.

An assistant director passing by looked somewhat surprised.

"Hey, Mark, what are you doing?"

"Don't you feel this scene is sweet? It feels great?"

As a former romance film director, Mark Wei Bu was quite sensitive to the interactions between the male and female leads,

and with chemistry appearing upon first contact, he felt they had found the right actors for the male and female leads!

In his initial conception, he had planned to use Mary Jane, the wife of Peter Parker in the original work, as the female lead.

Later, the screenwriting team and Xu Can discussed the creation of Spider-Man at length,

and discovered that Spider-Man's first love, Shi Daixi, had much more appeal!

Under the final decision of the old man Stan Lee,

producer Avi Arad gathered the screenwriters to revise the script overnight,

changing this film's female lead to Shi Daixi!

The 2002 version of Spider-Man is indeed the most classic version,

but the romantic scenes were truly open to criticism, with MJ portrayed as a fickle, green-tea bitch.

After changing the female lead, the romantic scenes turned out to be much smoother.

This was also one of the reasons he insisted on casting Xu Can,

as Xu Can's understanding of film was even deeper than that of many screenwriters!

"Alright, everyone is basically here; let's prepare to start the script reading."

"The first script reading for Spider-Man begins now!"

In the large conference room of Sony Pictures, director Mark Wei Bu and a group of actors sat around together.

Everyone held a script in their hands, their expressions quite serious.

Before filming officially began, the main cast team reading through the script helped enhance their understanding of the characters and facilitated subsequent shooting.

At the same time, it served as a chance to test the actors' performances.

Actors could also make a better impression on the director, perhaps gaining more favor.

"... On a rainy night, Aunt May holds young Parker looking out the window, reflecting Parker's tender and uneasy face..."

"The scene transitions; Parker has already grown into a high school student... He is staring blankly at a photo when a basketball flies in from off-screen and smashes into his head..."

Director Marc Wei Bu finished the voiceover; now it was Xu Can's turn to read the lines.

Xu Can pondered for a long while, and at the very instant he was about to speak!

His brain seemed pierced by a flash of inspiration!

A strange electric current instantly surged through his entire body!

The original Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Marvel's Spider-Man from his past life...

Peter Parker from numerous works seemed to fuse into Xu Can's soul in an instant!

Xu Can closed his eyes, as if he could see Peter Parker's own memories!

At this moment, he was Peter Parker possessed! He was Spider-Man himself!

Emma Stone, sitting beside Xu Can, felt somewhat surprised,

Why isn't this handsome Asian guy reading his lines? Is he too nervous?

She was just about to nudge Xu Can with her leg to remind him,