I love Spider-Man. I remember watching the 90s cartoon after school and getting totally sucked in. It was so much fun and Spider-Man was so funny. To this day I still hear Christopher Daniel Barnes's voice in my head when I read a Spider-Man comic. I remember going to see the first Spider-Man movie when I was younger and just falling in love with it. It came out right before I started high school and it was a way in with some new friends. We could suddenly talk about Spider-Man as this cool character and not be perceived as weird for liking comic books.
This nerd made sure I didn't look like a nerd anymore!
A couple years later Spider-Man 2 came out and that was the movie to see in summer 2004. I loved it and couldn’t wait to see what would happen with Spider-Man 3. Then . . . they made Spider-Man 3. I tried really hard to like it. I even defended it for a while. I still believe it has its good moments but for the most part the film is not on par with the first 2 films.
That's right! You sit there and think about what you've done!
Was it back to the drawing board? Not yet! Sony decided to give Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire another shot and try their luck with a Spider-Man 4. The little kid inside me was excited to see that the gang was gonna get back together and do another, rumored to be a two-part, Spidey adventure.
It got my spider-sense tingling . . . if you know what I'm talking about
So why didn't this film happen? What I heard was that Raimi and Sony could not come to terms with what to do with the story. Now, I’m not a business man, but in my mind if you have someone that has made your company a lot of money it’s probably best to let them do their thing. I know it's not always that simple but for the most part, it should've been their strategy. After all, it’s not like they’re taking a huge risk with a new director, actor, and a new origin story! And then . . .That’s what they did. Marc Webb (for real that's his name) was brought on to direct and 28 year old Andrew Garfield was brought in to play teenage Peter Parker.
If I hide my chin they won't see my five o'clock shadow.
I liked the Amazing Spider-Man. It’s by no means a perfect film but I thought that Andrew Garfield was absolutely perfect as Peter Parker and Emma Stone was great as Gwen Stacy. She wasn’t a damsel in distress, she was Peter’s partner and confidant. My major complaint is that it was deliberately setting itself up for sequels with Richard Parker’s backstory and his connection to Oscorp. The film was marketed as the Untold Story but it was not the untold story.
There was potential there, but they felt it was better left for a second and third film to get into more of this so called "untold story." What would have made the first film better is if all the scenes with Peter digging into his father’s history from Amazing 2 had been included in the first film and if the love story had been put on hold. Also in Amazing 2 just leave Gwen Stacy be! Is there a quota of Stacy’s that need to be killed per Amazing film? Jeez.
You lied to us! Cool poster though . . .
There was potential there, but they felt it was better left for a second and third film to get into more of this so called "untold story." What would have made the first film better is if all the scenes with Peter digging into his father’s history from Amazing 2 had been included in the first film and if the love story had been put on hold. Also in Amazing 2 just leave Gwen Stacy be! Is there a quota of Stacy’s that need to be killed per Amazing film? Jeez.
Anywho . . . Amazing 2 didn’t quite strike the chord that Sony was hoping it would, simply because they did not learn their lesson from Spider-Man 3 and put way too many villains, plot threads, and sequel set up. It’s probably for the best. Sinister Six as a concept is great . . . for villains in a Spider-Man story, not necessarily on their own. I mean what would they do? The whole point of those characters getting together is to kill Spider-Man. If Spider-Man is not in the film it doesn’t make any sense for them to be around. For example would we really want to see a movie about the Joker?
It would basically be Stephen King's IT. Actually that sounds great! Forget I said anything.
So now the question is, What do we do about Spider-Man on film? The current rumors are:
- Sinister Six will still be released in 2016 with a new actor cast as Spider-Man, thereby giving the films a soft reboot.
My "Oh shit" sense is tingling!
- Sony releases an animated Spider-Man film produced by the same guys that directed The Lego Movie.
It wouldn't be a Lego movie but look at that! It should be!
- Marvel puts Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, effectively making him apart of their shared universe.
You guys are lame! I miss having my own movie!
- Marvel reboots Spider-Man with a new actor and a new story but this time they skip over the origin and get right into Peter’s double life as Spider-Man. Also this film would skip a love story.
He certainly seems happy about that option. Yay! Boys rule and girls drool!
Which one do I want to happen? Well, I’m not of the mindset that Marvel = Movies Done Right. I won't argue that their films are currently dominating the box office but this was not the case pre-Avengers (everyone seems to be forgetting this). Don’t get me wrong, I WANT Spider-Man in the MCU but I want Andrew Garfield. I think if he’s brought into Captain America: Civil War then it would make the most sense for Marvel not to recast Peter Parker. This way there is an established story in place and audiences will have an easier time accepting him in the film. Bringing in a new actor to play Spider-Man in that film will just be confusing and unnecessary, not to mention expensive. Spider-Man hasn’t been established in the MCU yet and adding him to an already crowded film would just weigh it down and rob us of that film’s potential. I mean seriously I wanna see Iron Man vs Captain America: Dawn of Infinity (that’s what I’m calling it now).
Haha . . . You see what I did there?
If Marvel so chooses to reboot the character then I say go for it with your current idea of no origin and no love story. It would definitely separate it from the current Spider-Man films and, in my opinion, different often can lead to better. I'd prefer Andrew Garfield remain as Peter but I do believe those chances are slim to none. Amazing Spider-Man 2 did have the best costume though, so let’s keep that! I would also hope that Marvel would be smart enough to use either a previously unused Spider-Man villain or bring in the Ultimate version of Venom from the original Ultimate Spider-Man run. That’s one of my favorite Spidey stories ever!
Although that would be terrifying
I’m not sure what the future holds for the Spider-Man franchise. I’m sure it won’t be long before we find out. Spider-Man is an AMAZING (haha) character and deserves to be represented on film in the best way. Sony knows this and bless them for trying but it's time to pass the torch back to Marvel. Next month is the "Spidey Summit" between Marvel and Sony where they will discuss the character's film future. I'll keep you updated!
Till next time!
JJ - The Comic Junkie
Till next time!
JJ - The Comic Junkie
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