The film has been through years of legal wrangles and several directors before it came to you. How did you feel when you knew you'd be making the film?

I was tantalised, and at the same time terrified, because I didn't know how anyone would make a good Spider-Man picture. It seemed impossible. It's one thing to use technology to create fantastic sights that we're unfamiliar with - to Pluto, or a trip through time. But we look at people 90% of our waking day, it's most difficult to trick the audience with what they know so well - the human form, and how it moves and reacts, and how gravity affects it. If I was to behave in a slightly different way, you'd think I was ill. You could see a dinosaur or a creature from space, and you won't know how fast it moves or what its body mass is. It was a difficult challenge to attempt to pull off "Spider-Man", using not just stunts and Tobey's performance but effects.

"Spider-Man" seems like a return to your earlier, more fantastical, work...

That's true. I made more fantastic pictures earlier in my life, and my tastes changed - like anyone who matures, I had a need to explore different things. But I've always loved comics. It's not that I was running from the genre of horror, which I loved. But to keep it fresh I had to try different things and challenge myself in different ways. "Spider-Man" was something I loved so much, and the challenge was so outrageous to bring it to the screen, it's really something I embraced passionately.

What is it you love so much about the character?

The great strength of Stan Lee's creation is that Peter Parker is one of us. He's a regular human being. It's what makes Spider-Man unique. He's one of us.

"Spider-Man" opens in UK cinemas on Friday 14th June 2002.