I was all for the idea of re-booting Spider-Man. After the debacle of #3, it was time to switch it up. Sorry Raimi, but you screwed up. Move on.
However… This latest description of where they are headed is scary to say the least.
“The plan for the movie is to be in the $80 million range and feature a cast of relative unknowns (so you can quash those Rob Pattinson or Gordon-Levitt rumors at this point). And the story will be pared down to center on a high school kid who is dealing with the knowledge that his uncle died even though the teen had the power to stop it.”
- “The touchstone for the new movie will not be the 1960s comics, which were the inspiration behind the movies by Raimi, who grew on up on them, but rather this past decade’s ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley where the villain-fighting took a back seat to the high school angst.”
Is there any superhero origin story more well known than Spider-Man? He was bitten by a radioactive spider. His uncle was killed. He could have stopped it. So on and so on. How is rehashing the origin story a re-boot? Oh wait, they are focusing more on the teen angst than the action and villain fighting.
This is sounding a lot like the feel of the Twilight movies. While those made a lot of money, they had a built in fan base of female teens. How many teenage girl are lining up for Spider-Man? ANY Spider-Man. It’s a guys story, an action based comic story followed by boys for decades. Now… how many guys do you think are going to be lining up for this angst ridden teen, Twilight version of Spider-Man? Adding new levels or a new take can be a good idea, but alienating your core audience to try and woo another secondary audience is a huge mistake.
As far off as Spider-Man 3 strayed and as bad as it was, the first two films nailed it. Lots of action with just enough drama and love story that the girls would like it too.
Wherever Spider-Man is, you can bet his spidey sense is tingling because he is in trouble.
Tags: remakes, sequels, spider man
Categories: Current State of Movies, Sequels, Prequels, and other Regurgitation
