Spider-Man Strikes Back

In the opening sequence, emergency crews rush to a building as a woman in crisis contemplates suicide. Spider-Man arrives just in time and saves her, earning applause from the crowd below. The rescue establishes his status as a hero and foreshadows the dangers he will face.

At the New York State University lab, Dr. Baylor announces plans to conduct an experiment using plutonium. Peter Parker and his fellow students react with alarm, worried about the risks. The moment sets up the central ethical tension of the story.

Peter encounters Gale Hoffman, a determined journalist seeking an interview with Spider-Man. Their encounter hints at the media's obsession with him after his heroic rescue. Gale's persistence pushes the plot toward a West Coast pursuit.

A trio of students steals plutonium from the lab to stage a demonstration about nuclear danger. Spider-Man arrives to intervene but is spotted by security. The theft triggers a police inquiry and public backlash.

One of the activists faints, revealing radiation poisoning, forcing the group to abandon their plan and rush to a hospital. The police blame Spider-Man for the theft, and Inspector Decarlo singles out Peter Parker. Tensions rise as Peter tries to clear his name.

In Switzerland, Mr. White reads a newspaper report about the theft and deduces it was the students, not Spider-Man, who stole the plutonium. He resolves to obtain the weapon for himself, setting his sights on the United States. The stage is set for a global chase.

Mr. White departs for the United States with his hulking henchman, Angel, to recover the plutonium. His arrival escalates the threat and draws Spider-Man into a renewed pursuit. The race to stop him moves to American shores.

White attempts to capture Peter Parker to locate the plutonium, but Parker escapes. Spider-Man continues to juggle his civilian life with his crime-fighting identity. The pursuit intensifies as the villain closes in.

White's henchmen battle Spider-Man and hurl him from a twelve-story building. He miraculously survives by forming a web net to break his fall. In the confusion, White escapes with the bomb.

J. Jonah Jameson learns that White has fled to Los Angeles and sends Peter Parker and Gale Hoffman there to aid in the pursuit. The mission expands from New York to the West Coast. The media magnate pushes the Spider-Man story into a new frontier.

Authorities misread White's target as New York, but his real aim is to detonate the bomb in Los Angeles during a Presidential speech. The city is placed under imminent risk as the countdown begins. The misdirection heightens the stakes for Spider-Man's mission.

Spider-Man locates White's lair, finds the bomb, and defuses it at the last second. White escapes, vowing that their conflict will continue. The close call reinforces the need to stop him once and for all.

With the threat halted for now, White vows that he and Spider-Man will meet again. Parker and Gale reflect on the personal costs of the pursuit as they head toward the West Coast. The film closes on a note of unfinished business and future peril.