From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Morning, cloudy.

Even though it's already summer, New York is still typically New York. A morning without the sun makes people feel depressed. The bodies hurrying through the city are like walking corpses, only shells moving.

Nicholas Flynn was one of them. He yawned widely, realizing a beat late that this was a public place. He worried about ruining his image, but when he looked around, no one cared, so he felt relieved.

He ordered an espresso at the coffee shop, with some rum added.

Don't ask him why he was drinking alcohol so early in the morning. The answer is that he had been writing a special report for the "New York Times" analyzing the 2003 summer box office charts for three consecutive nights, and now Red Bull was flowing through his veins.

Standing by the counter, waiting for his espresso, Nicholas began to feel dazed, his consciousness flying into space.

Inadvertently, Nicholas's peripheral vision caught an image.

That's... wait, that's... Spider-Man? But, why?

Even though he was busy, the news about Anson was overwhelming, and Nicholas naturally wouldn't miss it. What surprised him wasn't Spider-Man appearing on the news page, but the picture itself.

Currently, the focus was on Anson. When reporting, Anson's photos were often used, not a masked Spider-Man whose face couldn't be seen.

But now, the news used a photo of Spider-Man, and it was a photo of Spider-Man flying in the air, which seemed abnormal.

Could it be news from the "Spider-Man 2" crew?

Subconsciously, Nicholas took a closer look, not thinking too much, but as soon as he saw the photo, he was gradually drawn into shock.

Watching the customer switch pages on the laptop screen, Nicholas couldn't care less and strode forward.

"Sorry, excuse me. I accidentally glanced at your laptop screen, really sorry, but that is..."

It was a young man who looked like a college student, waving his hand to indicate that he didn't mind. "Oh, the new suit of 'Spider-Man 2', do you also like Spider-Man?"

Nicholas: ... "Spider-Man's new suit? How was it leaked? Wasn't it kept strictly secret before?"

The young man was not surprised. "All the paparazzi are watching, this is simply a war between the crew and the media. You can imagine that the paparazzi will win in the end."

Everything was as Harry Percy had expected. People naturally thought that this was a collective behavior of the paparazzi. "Paparazzi" has become a collective noun, no longer focusing on an independent individual.

However, Nicholas was different. His keen journalistic intuition immediately caught the abnormality:

Timing. The timing is wrong.

At this critical moment, a paparazzi actually leaked Spider-Man's suit? This is not right.

"Who leaked it?" Nicholas looked at the computer screen.

The young man had a confused expression of "Does that matter?". When they read gossip, who would pay attention to the names of the interviewing reporters and photographers? Who would care about the name of the paparazzi who broke the news?

But the young man blurted out, "TMZ."

Nicholas, "TMZ is just a platform, the key is who took the photo, and how it was taken."

Browsing carefully, Nicholas became more and more alarmed.

Not only detailed, but also frontal, it can be called wonderful, and even said to be official behind-the-scenes stills is no problem.

But Nicholas didn't think this was an official still, the reason is very simple, the number of photos is too small, and there is only one angle, you can tell at a glance that this is a sneak shot; but it makes people have to sigh at the excellence of the work.

Marvin Daniel.

Nicholas glanced at the signature and searched carefully in his mind.

No answer.

This is a completely unfamiliar name, at least Nicholas has never seen it; but then again, there are countless hidden capable people and strangers among the paparazzi, Nicholas can't possibly know all of them, and it is not surprising that unfamiliar names occasionally appear.

However, Nicholas can be 100% sure that this photo will detonate the topic, and even explode with unimaginable energy.

For Nicholas, working for the "New York Times", this kind of gossip news is not within his purview. He usually only glances at it when he sees it occasionally; but this time, Nicholas vaguely felt that something was strange, and a storm was brewing.

But, why?

Nicholas frowned, everything was too coincidental, one thing after another, could it be...

A flash of inspiration.

Nicholas grasped an inspiration, could these photos be related to Anson's injury? But, what is the relationship?

"Nick. Nick! Your espresso is ready."

A call came from behind. Nicholas's brain was spinning at high speed, the whole world was spinning, the rustling noise in the coffee shop was stirring in the air, and finally evolved into a waterfall pouring down, a roar in his mind.

With a turn, Nicholas quickly returned to the counter, picked up the small cup of espresso, and drank it all in one gulp. The scalding hot liquid almost burned his throat, but Nicholas couldn't care less. He rushed out of the coffee shop in a sprint, and his figure disappeared into the rolling torrent in the blink of an eye.

The coffee shop was only briefly surprised, then retracted its gaze, looking like it was used to it, and returned to calm.

Mighty, vigorous.

Now is not the era of social networks, it is difficult to directly feel the impact of traffic; but, if you can hear/see the news in major media, major portals, and every corner of televisions and radios, and the streets are full of news, the effect is the same.

"Here it comes, here it comes, it's finally here, the new suit of 'Spider-Man 2' is exposed."

"Annual blockbuster! Peter Parker's new suit makes a stunning debut."

"The new Spider-Man suit, tighter, more fitting, and more handsome."

"From Dior to Spider-Man suit, Anson Wood perfectly controls it."

"Things couldn't be more perfect - Anson Wood's new look is about to land in 'Spider-Man 2'."

So, what is overwhelming?

Leaving home, the newsstands on the roadside, the TV walls of department stores, the radio waves of taxis, and the chattering discussions in the street breakfast shops, all are the new suit of "Spider-Man 2", even the newspapers in the hands of the passengers coming and going in the subway station are no exception, all-round siege.

Literally, ubiquitous, with no breathing space.

Originally, the new suit of "Spider-Man 2" was a hot topic. Now, after experiencing Anson's accidental injury, the crew being forced to suspend, anonymous people breaking into the hospital, etc., the heat has reached a new height.

Even "New Yorker", a gossip insulator, has joined the discussion without exception is the best portrayal.

And now, it has even gone a step further, Peter Parker's new battle suit has been exposed, from top to bottom, a complete explosion, and things have gotten out of control.

Insidiously, penetrating into everyone's life.

It is even suspected that all of this was arranged in advance by Sony Columbia, otherwise, how could things achieve such an effect?

Now, conspiracy theories are even more unstoppable.

When a person becomes popular, there are many rights and wrongs. The huge success of "Spider-Man" has put Sony Columbia at the forefront of the storm, and even a little thing has evolved into an excuse for people to suspect and encircle, countless dark thoughts are popping up crazily, and becoming more and more intense.

In this regard, Hollywood is watching the show from the sidelines.