abandoned by his parents and raised by an aunt and uncle, teenager peter parker (andrew garfield), aka spider-man, is trying to sort out who he is and exactly what his feelings are for his first crush, gwen stacy (emma stone). when peter finds a mysterious briefcase that was his father's, he pursues a quest to solve his parents' disappearance. his search takes him to oscorp and the lab of dr. curt connors (rhys ifans), setting him on a collision course with connors' alter ego, the lizard.