By Matt Patches, Hollywood.com Staff

Minor spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man to follow.

There is no question that a sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man was intended from the very beginning (ASM screenwriter James Vanderbilt was hired to write the screenplay an entire year and a half before the first movie premiered). But it's only after catching the film does one realize how serialized the installment is meant to be. Amazing Spider-Man is not a stand alone movie, purposefully leaving out explanations for its central mysteries, including one major plot point: the disappearance of Peter Parker's parents.

While the attempt to paint a bigger pictures using a singular adventure is ambitious and potentially lucrative, it can be hardship for a filmmaker, whose sights lie mainly on the task at hand. When I sat down with director Marc Webb to discuss The Amazing Spider-Man, the conversation naturally slipped into sequel talk. The movie ultimately demands it from scene one, in which we see the fateful moment where Peter said goodbye to his family forever. For Webb, the unfulfilled throughlines were rooted in character and part of an ambitious plan to expand the Spidey universe:

Marc Webb: One of the things we talked about early on was here's this kid who gets left behind by his parents at a really early age. What kind of impact does that have? That's a real significant event. To me it's about…he goes into the world with a little bit of distrust, and I think that manifests itself, it culminates in that scene with the car thief, where he's f**king around with the car thief, being a bit cruel to him. Again, he has a chip on his shoulder. I thought that was interesting to explore. He's an outsider in a way, partly by choice. There's a barrier between him and the world around him. He doesn't get great value or esteem from social acceptance.

Can you talk about the choice about not paying off what happened to them? That seems risky.

Webb: You know, when we were thinking of the movie, the absence of the parents, in particular his father, it was a large shadow cast over a bigger swath of film. There are unresolved things with the intention of letting that flow into other, deeper stories. I didn't feel like tying everything up…it didn't feel like the right thing to do.

Is this an investment for you that you want to continue telling Peter's story?

Webb: We'll see. These movies typically have a life beyond a single movie. Obviously, there's a narrative obligation to tie things up and a certain pressure to tie up all the loose ends. But I feel like, why not dance with the idea that there's going to be a larger story? There's enough stuff going on, enough obstacles that Peter Parker to face, that we didn't need to wrap up everything. We could leave people more curious about the future.

The producers of The Amazing Spider-Man have also alluded to bringing the same kind of interconnectivity seen in The Avengers to their cinematic comic book world. An Amazing Spider-Man sequel is already locked for a May 3, 2014 release date with new writers (Transformers and Star Trek screenwriters Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman) set to pen the latest draft. Whatever Peter Parker's Dad was really up to, whatever caused them to leave behind their son for a major portion of his life, will be tied to the hero's future adventures and paid off down the line. Was it worth it?

Click the link to read more Spidey secrets from Marc Webb!

Next: Serving Spidey Fans, Revisiting High School & the Art of the Stan Lee Cameo

Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches

More:

'Spider-Man' Fandom: Why a Reboot Was the Only Answer

'Amazing Spider-Man': Making Sense of That Crazy Mid-Credits Scene

'Venom' Movie May Tie into 'Amazing Spider-Man' Avengers-Style — EXCLUSIVE

[Photo Credit: Sony Pictures][PAGEBREAK]

You're from Wisconsin — do you find that you bring a certain sensibility to Spider-Man that you could trace back to your time growing up there?

Webb: That's a really interesting question. Sometimes I think there's a gap between New York and Los Angeles. I have a really good friend of mine who said, 'You know, the culture emanates from New York and Los Angeles.' I really took offense to that. I think there are trends that come from New York and Los Angeles, but I think there's a lot of culture coming from what people consider ""fly-over"" states.

It's refracted in different ways there.

Webb: I think there's less cynicism in that part of the world. I tend to be less cynical in my filmmaking. [Laughs] I don't know how you interpret that — It's a very subjective term.

That seems important when you're tackling a superhero movie that incorporates grand, human themes.

Webb: Yeah. I think it's easy to be ironic. Less so that to say that you believe in something and put that out into the world.

How many Spider-Man comics did you read in anticipation of making this film?

Webb: Oh man…my room was filled with comics. I felt such an obligation to understand. Not just the storylines, but there are so many different interpretations. It's important to honor the cannon, to be familiar with lots of the cannon. For instance, our Gwen Stacey, we took from the early Ditko/Stan Lee comics. But a lot of the Spider-Man posture and pose is from the Ultimates. But in a way it was reassuring — there are so many different inflections of that character. He's been around for 50 years. There's something iconic in Spider-Man and Peter Parker, but there's also something flexible about him.

How do you know what fans want out of Spider-Man?

Webb: There's a very vocal fanbase, but there are obligations to a broader audience as well. So it's tricky. When you think about Spider-Man, his whole body is covered in a costume. You can't see any of this skin color. I think that's why he's so popular around the world — people invest in the symbol of Spider-Man. I think if that image remains consistent, that he's out there trying to do good in some way, then people will give you leeway.

When you approached this film, what did you feel you hadn't seen in a Spider-Man movie before?

Webb: Peter Parker is all about relatability. He has all these simple domestic dramas we all go through: talking to girls, chores for Aunt May. What I really wanted to do was a naturalistic, spontaneous intimacy. That they were these people who felt real and that there was this level of scope and spectacle that your obliged to. People want to see the battles and the flying back and forth. But I think people also wanted to see the little moments between Peter and Gwen Stacey that felt real and natural. That's what was one of the most fun parts about it, finding those moments.

How do you make high school students in a modern setting relatable. Did you undercover and figure out what kids are acting like today?

Webb: A few years ago, I did a Jimmy Eat World video back at my old high school in Wisconsin and…it was incredibly awkward. But it was fascinating! One of the things I found out, the further you get away from high school, you categorize it. There are geeks, nerds — you begin to believe the mythology that there are these archetypes rather than people. In terms of creating Peter Parker, I wanted to steer away fro supergeek guy. I think that's what they'd done before. I don't think you see that now. Geeks are kind of running the world now. Look at The Social Network. Geeks are all of our bosses.

What I do think is consistent is that Peter Parker is an outsider. On the periphery, on the outside looking in. There's a heroic impulse that he has, but it's covered by a lack of ability. That was something interesting. It's a movie and you have to create a shorthand to shape a quick understanding of a universe. But that's why I cast Andrew and Emma, they have an organic quality to their performances.

When the movie was first ramping up, there was a big discussion (especially on the Internet) over whether or not the movie would or could cast a black actor in the role. Did it ever get far enough within the casting process that hiring a non-white actor was a possibility?

Webb: I don't think it was a specific conversation, but it was a possibility. I think that would be fantastic. Legitimately. Spider-Man is a character that transcends race. It's the idea that he's relatable. As long as the character does things we understand. I'd see that movie in a heartbeat!

You have one of the more genius Stan Lee cameos in a Marvel movie. Is there an art to incorporating the inevitable Stan Lee cameo into the movie?

Webb: When I first met Stan Lee, who is a wonderful, wonderful guy, the first thing he said was, 'let's talk about my cameo.' I was looking at parts of the movie to do some funny sight gags and I had had that scene in there with the librarian and it was just some random guy. It seemed like the perfect place. I didn't want to put it at the end, I wanted to put it in the context of the film. The scene was the before and it was just like, that has to be Stan Lee!

Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches

More:

'Spider-Man' Fandom: Why a Reboot Was the Only Answer

'Amazing Spider-Man': Making Sense of That Crazy Mid-Credits Scene

'Venom' Movie May Tie into 'Amazing Spider-Man' Avengers-Style — EXCLUSIVE

[Photo Credit: Sony Pictures]