Spider-Man (2002) - World Unity Festival (Deleted Version)

I have read a lot of stories that mostly involve lost THX trailers, lost internship recreations of movie scenes and what not. A friend of mine came across 2 lost THX trailers involving Vortexx CW and KQED Kids. Well I believe that I had an experience like that.

To be fair, it was a deleted scene experience. One movie I enjoyed as a kid was the 2002 Spider-Man movie. But one scene that rather scared me as a child would have to be the World Unity Festival scene. Now I know what you are asking. Why was I scared of that scene when I was a kid?

Well, to be fair, I guess it would be the screams that were heard because to me, it felt like the event was happening in reality. But it was not. My dad told me that it was a scene in a movie and not in real life. But to be fair, all that was about to change when I came across a lost deleted scene version of the scene itself.

It all started when I was at a buffet eating some chicken, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, asparagus, apple slices and a chocolate cake slice with a glass of milk. After I finished eating, I went outside and did some dumpster diving near a Target store.

As I scrolled through all the stuff I could find, I managed to find something interesting. It was a Spider-Man DVD in a CD case. The cover consisted of the scene where Spider-Man looks at Green Goblin while the goblin himself is being confronted by the cops.

I then recognized that it was a DVD with a deleted version of a scene to the movie. So I brought the DVD home with me.

When I got home, I made myself a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with a glass of chocolate milk. I inserted the DVD into my DVD player. When the DVD started, there wasn't any menu, not even the Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment logo unlike the deleted version of the shower scene from Fly Away Home I encountered, it just goes straight to a warning. This time, it said:

"This deleted version of the World Unity Festival was changed due to the film creators and test audiences finding it way too scary. This scene contains blood, gore and mostly violence. Viewer discretion is advised."

After the warning happened, the scene finally started. The first few minutes of the scene were normal, with it mostly consisting of the camera panning down to the festival while the announcer says, "Welcome to Oscorp Industries Unity Festival, let's hear it for Macy Gray!"

We then see Peter Parker who was taking pictures of the crowd at the festival. Macy Gray was doing her usual "My Nutmeg Phantasy" song. There was also the scene of Harry being with Mary Jane. So far, this was looking normal.

That was until we got to the scene where Green Goblin shows up.

We see the Green Goblin passing by a few buildings to what looked like Times Square. And then, Mr Fargus and his other friend began doing their usual dialogue.

"What is that?"

"Must be new this year!"

Then, Mr. Fargus noticed that it was THEIR glider. Then, the scene played out like normal: The Goblin threw a ton of pumpkin bombs at various buildings and caused a whole mess of chaos.

"Out, am I?!" asked Tee Goblin, as he threw another pumpkin bomb at the board members. (In case you didn't know, The Goblin was Norman Osbourn and this was retaliation for getting cut from Oscorp.)

Anyways, the board members' deaths were a lot more gruesome this time. Their skins melted and they screamed in complete anguish. Then, it showed the skeletons of the members.

Then, the rest of the scene was normal, with Tobey's Peter becoming Spider-Man and beating the Green Goblin. But the building that MJ was on fell apart and she fell down, screaming. In this scene, Tobey would catch MJ. But this was different. There was no Spidey to rescue her. Harry didn't try to get her in a last-ditch effort due to getting hit on the head.

Let me rephrase that: There was no rescue.

Gwen Stacy's death music from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 played as she closed her eyes and met her fate. Blood dripped from her nose as Tobey rushed to help MJ, after defeating the Goblin.

"We'll meet again, Spider-Man!" yelled Gobby, as his glider spun out of control, like in the original version.

Peter rushed over to MJ and tried to get her to wake up. But she was dead. The trailer ended with Peter weeping over MJ's dead body.

I was even more terrified about this scene than I was before!

So, I got a few screenshots of the trailer on my phone, and bagged the trailer up in a bag.

Then, when Comic Con happened, I was able to meet Sam Raimi, the director of the Spider-Man Trilogy.

I asked him about this scene and, after we watched it, he gave me my answers.

He initially wanted MJ to die in Spider-Man. So, he made the whole World Unity Fest scene during a break.

After viewing it, he realized that it was too inappropriate for the movie and it would be devastating to see MJ die. So, he toned down the scene a little bit. But it seemed like the deleted version made it's way to my town. Raimi apologized to me and gave me tickets to see his next film, Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness.

I was still a bit scared about the scene, but it eventually didn't bother me anymore. Besides, who refuses free movie tickets?

The moral of the story is if you see a lost version of a scene, don't watch it.