And then they rebooted Spider-Man, like, five years later instead and I was all "oh. That sucked." Then ASM2 came out and everyone hated it, although I liked it quite a bit. I actually felt ASM2 negated a lot of the things I hated about ASM1, and incorporated a lot of the stuff I would've done in my hypothetical reboot anyway. But everyone else hated it, and it didn't perform to expectation at box office, and now it's super super clear Sony has no clue what they're doing with the franchise.
And now there's these talks of maybe yes, maybe no, who knows, maybe Spider-Man coming into the MCU fold. Which would be awesome. But how would they do it? Is there time enough to do it for Civil War? Would it continue from the Amazing series or reboot again? Will it even happen? Who knows, but it got me thinking about this hypothetical again.
So yeah, how would I do a Spider-Man movie series if it were up to me?
Well, first up, Peter's already Spider-Man when we start. Obvs. We really, really, don't need to see him get bit by a radioactive/genetically modified spider and get Uncle Ben killed again. We just don't.
So in the first movie (The Amazing Spider-Man), Peter's been Spider-Man all through high school, already having adventures, already working freelance at the Bugle, etc. And instead we start with him going into University. Basically I think the best way to go would be to adapt the plot of Amazing Spider-Man #31-33, which is the best Spider-Man story anyway, and has never been used for any of the movies. As part of the original Lee/Ditko run, this story arc really feels like the culmination of Spider-Man and of Peter's character arc of growing up and learning to take responsibility and be a hero. But in the overall context of fifty years of Spider-Man comics it also feels like the start of a new chapter. Peter enters into university on a science scholarship, with his old bully Flash entering on a football scholarship, but he also meets a bunch of new characters like Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, and Mary Jane for the first time. Because in the original high school, none of those three went to high school with Peter. Also, the central character arc of that story, ending with the amazingly spectacular #33, forms enough of an arc to really do the job of a "hero's journey" arc without going through the origin again. It's the story where the boy becomes the man, essentially.
So we can meet these new characters, set them up, and have Peter battle Doc Ock and get buried under that debris and have to metaphorically lift the weight of the world off his shoulders to save his friends all like in those original comics. If you've never read them, do so. It's great. I'd also incorporate bits of other issues, like #37, #42 and #43, to establish characters like Harry, Norman Osborn, and MJ more fully, and also establish Peter and Gwen's relationship in this movie, as well as the death of her father at the hands of Doc Ock in ##88-90, because that fits with Ock as the villain of #31-33 and serves as a good emotional suckerpunch, similar to what was done in ASM1 but handled better. But #31-33 would be the spine of it. So by the end of the first movie, Peter's dating Gwen, has met MJ but she's dating Harry, and he's in University, has fought Doc Ock, who has killed Captain Stacy, but Spider-Man is blamed for it, so the Bugle has started a whole "Spider-Man's a Menace" hate campaign.
And this is the thing I felt the Raimi movies really botched. They portray JJJ's hatred of Spidey as the lone voice of a crazy person, while we're shown that on the whole NYC LOVES Spider-Man. Which makes Pete's "the world's against me, why bother" stuff in the second movie so hollow compared to the issue it's adapting, #50. In the comics, the Bugle is riding on public opinion, and taking advantage of it. JJJ's editorials really sway people. People don't like Spider-Man, they really think he's a bad guy. And that's the point. The idea is that the media sways the public and the public hates the hero, but the hero KEEPS being a hero ANYWAY, because that's the right thing to do.
So anyways, the second movie (The Spectacular Spider-Man). It would be the big Green Goblin flick. Norman becomes the Goblin, discovers Spider-Man's identity, goes crazy, Harry od's on drugs, and Norman kidnaps Gwen and kills her. Basically it'd be a condensed version of Amazing Spider-Man #39-40, Spectacular Spider-Man #2, Amazing #96-98, and #121-122, maybe incorporating a bit from #50 as well, although that was done in Raimi's second film. By the end of it, Norman's dead, Harry's crazy, Gwen's dead, and MJ is the only one left to comfort Peter and be his friend.
Ultimately both movies would end similar to the existing Amazing Spider-Man movies, with the deaths of the Stacys, but be structured more cohesively with a better emotional throughline through each -- ie, Gwen dies at the hands of the main villain of the second film, instead of a crazy side villain who shows up just to kill her.
Where things get a little messier in my head would be what the third film would be about, but the thing is, I don't see Spider-Man as being a "trilogy". The third film wouldn't wrap everything up in a bow. To me, Spider-Man could be ongoing as long as it needs to be. Heck, I even truly think the Amazing series could redeem itself in a third entry (I liked Amazing 2, after all), and I'd have no problem with Andrew Garfield in the MCU as is. But looking at Spidey and just Spidey, and purely on a hypothetical, this is how I see it.
But to me, the third film (Web of Spider-Man) would essentially be the Roger Stern/Tom DeFalco era of Spider-Man. The new, mysterious, Hobgoblin shows up, casting a spectre over Peter. The Kingpin is involved in the background, with him and his subordinate the Rose seemingly pulling the Hobgoblin's strings. Peter and MJ's romance continues, and she reveals she knows he's Spider-Man. But the Black Cat also shows up, complicating things -- Peter's all excited by her, but Cat only loves Spider-Man, not Peter Parker, while MJ accepts him for his true self, even if she doesn't like the risks he takes as Spider-Man. Peter gets the black symbiote suit, and slowly realizes over the course of the movie that it's trying to kill him/feed off him/etc. Harry takes over Oscorp, but is clearly kind've fucked up. Is he the Hobgoblin, or is it someone else? After the climatic battle with the Hobgoblin, Peter finally frees himself of the black suit in the church. He proposes to MJ and she says yes. Roughly this would be all based on #238-239, #244-245, #249-252, #258-261, #284-292, Annual #21, Web of Spider-Man #1, the Hobgoblin Lives miniseries, and the related black suit, Black Cat, and MJ subplots from that time, but all very much pared down and streamlined, because as good as they were, the Spidey comics of that era were sometimes a confused mess being pulled between different directions, writers and editors. But I'd like it if it ended with the black suit "gone", and Peter and MJ married, and the Hobgoblin defeated and unmasked (as Roderick Kingsley, as it should be).
So, a fourth movie (Peter Parker: Spider-Man)? Well, that's where you bring in Venom. It's the Michelinie/McFarlane era of Spidey! Peter and MJ are newlyweds, Eddie Brock gets the symbiote, and you base it on #300, and #315-318. It'd be pretty straightforward, but you could incorporate many of the subplots of the era, as well as continuing some from the third movie, to pad things out, chief among them being Harry learning that Peter is Spider-Man and killed his dad, as well as keeping stuff like the Kingpin alive in the background. You could also end it on a cliffhanger setting up Carnage, if you really wanted to.
A fifth movie (Sensational Spider-Man?) to me would be where I'd want to end it. Harry becomes the second Green Goblin, and fights and defeats the "pretender" Hobgoblin, loosely based on #314, wrapping up that storyline. I'd have Aunt May die, based on Amazing #400, and I'd have MJ announce she's pregnant, which happened in Spectacular #220, and then Peter and Harry have their final battle and Harry dies, as in Spectacular #200. Maybe Carnage as a secondary villain (#361-363?)
So yeah, things are a little messier after that second movie idea. The third feels really packed, but hard to seperate its' threads, while the fourth and fifth feel a little light, but I strongly believe that the symbiote costume should be introduced, worn and discarded by Spider-Man in one movie, and become Venom in another, and I really feel Harry-as-Green-Goblin should be it's own A-story as well. So, I dunno. A sixth movie? Jesus! Um....
....
...Clone Saga???
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
No comments:
Post a Comment