Best Godzilla Movies to Watch If You Like Your Movies...
- With a sober, realistic setting:
GODZILLA (1954)
GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA 2000
GODZILLA (2014)
- With a dark, serious tone:
GODZILLA (1954)
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
GODZILLA (2014)
- With a moral allegory that symbolically reflects the soul of a nation:
GODZILLA (1954)
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
- With a strong stance against nuclear proliferation (or allegory for nuclear proliferation):
GODZILLA (1954)
MOTHRA VS GODZILLA
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
- That warn of the dangers of science run amuck:
GODZILLA (1954)
MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
SON OF GODZILLA
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS
- With strong human drama/characters:
GODZILLA (1954)
GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN
MOTHRA VS GODZILLA
INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER
ALL MONSTERS ATTACK
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA 2000
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
- With strong female characters:
GODZILLA (1954)
MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER
INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER
GODZILLA VS. GIGAN
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
GODZILLA 2000
GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
- With something of an anti-American sentiment:
GODZILLA (1954)
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
- With a unique creative sensibility:
GODZILLA (1954)
MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
-With impressive special effects (for their time and country of origin)
GODZILLA (1954)
MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS
GODZILLA (2014)
- With great monster vs. monster action:
GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN
KING KONG VS. GODZILLA
GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER
INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH
GODZILLA VS. GIGAN
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II
GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
-With a fun, campy, humourous sensibility:
KING KONG VS. GODZILLA
EBIRAH, HORROR OF THE DEEP
SON OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. GIGAN
GODZILLA VS. MEGALON
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
-With a strong tinge of anti-capitalist sentiment:
MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. GIGAN
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH
GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS
-With a heavy spiritual component:
MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
-With a strong environmentalist message:
MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH
GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA
-With a strong sci-fi/outer space/futuristic element:
GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER
INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
GODZILLA VS. GIGAN
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II
GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
-With a heavy emphasis on kid-friendliness/family-friendliness:
SON OF GODZILLA
ALL MONSTERS ATTACK
GODZILLA VS. MEGALON
GODZILLA 2000
-With the max number of monsters they could cram in:
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
-With giant robots:
GODZILLA VS. MEGALON
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II
GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS
-With some espionage/international intrigue elements:
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
-With a strong Japanese military presence:
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II
GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
-That pass the Bechdel test:
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH
GODZILLA 2000
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
-That feel like a live-action anime:
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE
GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II
GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
-With time travel:
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH
-With Matthew Broderick, and Jean Russo, and 2 Simpsons voice actors:
GODZILLA (1998)
-With theme songs by Sum 41:
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
Hey, so that Phase Three announcement, right? Crazy! The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown leaps and bounds since it began in Iron Man, and now it's this crazy awesome amazing thing that DC Entertainment is totally jealous of
you guys. So, in the spirit of celebrating the roots of this massive
corporate/creative achievement, and to help some folks if they wanna
learn more about all these crazy movie characters suddenly taking over literally all their time and money,
here's a guide to the original comics that most directly inspired the
MCU movies - organized by their various collected forms in book volumes
rather than issue number for easy purchasing at your local book or
comics store! Now, I'm only covering the MCU movies, ie. the movies
produced by Marvel Studios and in continuity with each other, so not
covering the poor superhero souls left behind at other studios. Also I'm totally counting Ang Lee's Hulk as an MCU movie even though it totally doesn't really count, because the script and production for Incredible Hulk began as the sequel to Hulk and
it's story still shows traces of that development even though it turned
into a quasi-reboot while still maintaining the sequel format. Okay?
Okay?
(also I've included links to the pages for these books on the
Chapters/Indigo website, but occasionally these have incorrect synopsis
or cover images displayed, however thanks to the wonder of ISBNs, you
can rest assured the links are to the correct volumes referenced)
EXCELSIOR!
PHASE ONE:
HULK (2004) -
So, Ang Lee's Hulk is
crazy and a weird attempt at a huge multimillion dollar comic book art
movie blockbuster. It's trying to be all things to all people and just
ends up a muddled mess. It's also got a weirdly ADD editing style that
sometimes works and sometimes is insanely distracting. The cast is good,
however, and Lee tried to bring in elements of psychology to the
character as well. The movie's plot isn't based on any of the comics in
particular, and it's depiction of the origin veers wildly from the
comics origin as well (mainly because the comics origin is ridiculous), but I will recommend two books for Hulk fans connected to this movie, however remotely:
- Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Volume 1 - This volume collects the complete six-issue run of the originalThe Incredible Hulk series
by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, before it was cancelled. Yes, the original
Hulk was a commercial failure, only to become a cult classic later and
be revived. This volume contains the classic origin, introducing Bruce
Banner, Betty Ross, General Ross, Glenn Talbot, and Rick Jones. What's
amazing about the original series is how weird it is - how and why
Banner changes into Hulk is changed almost every issue, along with the
format and genre of the series. Lee and Kirby knew they had a good idea
with Hulk, they just didn't know how to sustain him in his own book, so
after this Hulk became a guest player in other series for a while. Sound
familiar? Outside of the origin, the comics here have nothing to do
with Lee's Hulk, but in movies and in comics they're both the place to
start, regardless of how weird they are.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-incredible-hulk/9780785137146-item.html
- The Incredible Hulk: Crossroads - This volume, plotwise, has very little to do with Lee's film either, but thematically they
are joined at the hip. Because this volume collects the final issues of
the legendary run of writer Bill Mantlo (creator of Rocket Raccoon) and
artist Sal Buscema on Hulk. And in these issues Mantlo takes the
Hulk into some psychological territory by establishing for the first
time that Bruce Banner was abused as a child by his father, which is a
major element in Lee's film. This established that the Hulk was a
reflection of Banner's own tortured psyche, and not just a biological
response, an idea that definitive Hulk writer Peter David would later
run with in his epic run sometime later.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/incredible-hulk-crossroads/9780785184485-item.html
IRON MAN (2008) -
The
first Iron Man movie established something of a trend for the MCU in
terms of not so much adapting existing storylines wholesale, but mixing
and matching what elements they wanted from prominent runs and stories.
The first Iron Man not only adapts his origin from the comics, favouring
the updated version of the origin from Extremis over the
original Vietnam version, but also covers his battles with the Iron
Monger as well as his coming out as a superhero, and his friendship with
James Rhodes. Two books best suit the interest of fans of the first
Iron Man movie:
- Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Volume 1
- Most of the stories in this volume are bizzare Silver Age nonsense,
but the origin by Stan Lee and Don Heck still forms the core of the
character and his world, and these early tales give you Iron Man's
technological evolution from the big bulky grey suit to the classic red
and gold. The stories are mostly short and to the point, as Iron Man was
merely a feature in Tales of Suspense at this time and had yet to
warrant his own series. Also there's the first appearances of Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts and even the Mandarin. The real one.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-invincible-iron/9780785145677-item.html
- Iron Man: Iron Monger
- This collection brings you the climactic finale of Denny O'Neil's run
on Iron Man, with superb art by Mark Bright. Basically, Obadiah Stane
has taken over Stark Industries, perfected his own armor, and ruined
Tony Stark's life - elements that should sound familiar to movie fans.
Now they battle to the ultimate finish in the series' 200th issue. It's
pretty fucking awesome.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-iron-monger/9780785142607-item.html
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008) -
The
second Hulk movie was a soft reboot, picking up from where the first
left off with a new cast. Most of the inspiration for the film's tone
was from the classic 1970s Hulk TV show, although many characters from
the comics were included. Emil Blonsky became the Abomination, and they
set up Doc Samson and The Leader, although I doubt we'll ever see those
threads picked up because it now seems unlikely that Marvel will revist
the Hulk's solo series. The movie took some inspiration from a few
different comics series, here's what I'd recommend for fans:
- Hulk: Gray - Part of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's "Colours" trilogy of graphic novels, which re-examined the early days of Marvel. Hulk: Gray brings
us a retelling of the origin, but focused on Hulk's relationship to
Betty Ross. Several scenes from the graphic novel were re-created in the
film.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/hulk-gray/9780785113461-item.html
- Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Volume 3 - A collection covering the years after Jack Kirby stopped drawing Hulk and the character transitioned from a feature in Tales to Astonish
and into his second solo series, these tales by Stan Lee and a who's
who of late 60s Marvel talent are notable in this context for featuring
the first appearance of the Abomination.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-incredible-hulk/9780785167624-item.html
- The Rampaging Hulk Volume 2 - The Rampaging Hulk, later retitled to just The Hulk!,
was a large size black and white comics magazine specifically designed
to cash in on the success of the seventies television show, and thus ape
it's style. Especially in it's second half, collected in this volume,
the comic focused on isolated human interest stories with a minimum of
involvement from the rest of the Marvel universe, capturing the TV
series tone that the 2008 movie was also trying to capture.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/essential-rampaging-hulk-volume-2/9780785142553-item.html
IRON MAN 2 (2010) - Iron Man 2 continued
the mishmash approach of the first film, taking inspiration from a host
of Iron Man tales across the entirety of the character's existence.
That said, these elements were united in that almost all of them
originated in the works of David Michelinie and Bob Layton, who produced
definitive runs on the character in the 70s and 80s. Picking up an Iron
Man comic with their names on it is a surefire guarantee of a good
read.
- Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Volume 2
- This is another collection of old school Stan Lee and Don Heck Iron
Man stories, but I'm including it because it has the first appearances
of Anton Vanko (the Crimson Dynamo) and Natasha Romanova (the Black
Widow), both of whom feature in the movie. This volume also has the
first appearance of Hawkeye, and some more awesome Mandarin stories. Too
bad the Mandarin never appeared in an Iron Man film.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-invincible-iron/9780785159070-item.html
- Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton and Romita Jr. Omnibus
- So probably among the best Iron Man comics of all time are those by
David Michelinie and Bob Layton, and holy shit here's their entire first
run on the character collected in one massive tome! Awesome! Here we
have appearances by Whiplash, Justin Hammer, and the first appearance of
James Rhodes. These stories developed Tony Stark into one of Marvel's
best characters, and see Hammer's attempts to destroy Tony's life and
business, as well as the government's first attempt to buy out Tony and
his inventions after he stops building weapons. This volume also
includes the legendary "Demon in a Bottle" storyline which dealt with
Tony's alcoholism and forever defined the character -- a storyline that
will never be in the movies because Disney decreed it so.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-by-michelinie-layton/9780785167129-item.html
- Iron Man: Armor Wars -
None of the Iron Man films have truly adapted the character's best
storyline, which is "Armor Wars" from Michelinie and Layton's second run
on the character. Nonetheless, the basic brush strokes of the story -
that of Justin Hammer's war against Stark, and Stark's neverending
battle to ensure his technology doesn't fall into the wrong hands - form
the core of the second movie's story and themes.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-armor-wars/9780785125068-item.html
- Iron Man: War Machine - And for all the Rhodey fans out there, here's the first appearance of War Machine!
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-war-machine/9780785131328-item.html
THOR (2011) - The
first Thor movie doesn't really adapt anything specific storylines from
the comic apart from the origin, but it does serve as an introduction
to Thor's world, his supporting cast, and his enemies, and as such,
really only one book can be recommended to support it:
- The Mighty Thor Omnibus Volume 1 - This massive tome collects the first third, only the first third, of
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's original run on Thor. Nonetheless, it is
sufficient to introduce us to Thor, Donald Blake (his unused secret
identity), Jane Foster, Asgard, the Frost Giants, Odin, Sif, the
Warriors Three, the Destroyer, Heimdall, the Bifrost, and of course that
fucker Loki. These are fucking great comics, and yet they don't even
scratch the surface of what Kirby would eventually achieve with the
character.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/the-mighty-thor-volume-1/9780785149736-item.html
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) - The
first Captain America was, in my opinion, the first MCU movie that
really revelled in being "comic-booky". Set entirely within Cap's World
War II timeframe, it naturally took the most inspiration from the
character's classic Golden Age adventures. Fans of this film have two
tomes on their recommendation list:
- The Golden Age Captain America Omnibus Volume 1
- This volume collects the entire original run on Captain America by
his creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, with some later stories by Stan
Lee and Al Avison. These were comics about World War II, during World
War II, and it shows! They are very patriotic and propagandistic, with
tons of Nazi fighting and racial stereotypes, but they're also a ton of
fun and have loads of creative energy. Simon and Kirby would leave Cap
after only ten issues, but the character would continue on throughout
the entire war as Timely Comics' most popular character. In this volume
we first meet Cap, Bucky, the Red Skull, and supertough secret agent
Betsy Ross, retconned in later Marvel Comics into Peggy Carter.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/golden-age-captain-america-omnibus/9780785168072-item.html
- Captain America Omnibus Volume 1
- This book covers Cap's modern age revival and integration into the
rest of the Marvel Universe under the creative auspices of Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby in the 1960s. Although set outside of Cap's WWII setting from
the first movie, these stories not only modernized the character, they
also contain many retroactive flashbacks, as well as featuring the
return of the Red Skull and introducing for the first time the Cosmic
Cube, an artifact of great power known in the movie as the Tesseract.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/captain-america-omnibus-volume-1/9780785150787-item.html
THE AVENGERS (2012) -Holyshit so The Avengers
is a pretty awesome movie and a near perfect representation of
superhero comics on the big screen and pretty much everyone liked it and
it made a billion dollars, here's some comics for you to read:
- Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 1 -
It's the origin of the team, their coming together to defeat Loki, the
awakening of Captain America in the modern world, and other cool early
stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Hulk sure doesn't stick around long,
does he?
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/marvel-masterworks-the-avengers-volume/9780785137061-item.html
- The Ultimates
- This modernized alternate take on the Avengers gave a lot of
inspiration to the modernized portrayal of the team in the MCU, even if
it veers a little too far into an OTT attempt to be "mature" at times.
Here we got Cap waking up, the team coming together, a lot of
unnecessary sex and violence, Black Widow and Hawkeye coming in, a black
Sam Jackson looking Nick Fury, and a Chitauri invasion.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/ultimates-volume-1/9780785110828-item.html
PHASE TWO:
IRON MAN 3 (2013) -
Iron Man 3
continued to take bits and pieces from various Iron Man runs that
suited it, with elements from the works of Michelinie/Layton, John
Byrne, Joe Quesada, Warren Ellis and Adi Granov, and others. That said,
while it leans more heavily on the comics in some areas, it greatly
diverges in others.
- Iron Man: Extremis - Of course, the biggest inspiration on Iron Man 3 is Extremis,
and indeed Warren Ellis and Adi Granov's storyline was a massive
influence on the entire Iron Man trilogy in terms of the depiction of
the character of Tony Stark and the visual depiction of Iron Man.
However, while the movie uses characters, situations, and basic premises
from the arc, it diverges heavily in terms of plot.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-extremis/9780785183785-item.html
- Iron Man: Armor Wars II
- The sequel to Armor Wars forms the first arc in John Byrne's run on
Iron Man with artist John Romita Jr. The storyline isn't used much at
all in the movie, but the central idea of remote control Iron Man suits
sure as hell is. The next arc of John Byrne's run would be a wicked
sweet Mandarin storyline that was totally badass. Too bad Marvel never
used the Mandarin in any of its Iron Man movies.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/iron-man-armor-wars-ii/9780785145578-item.html
THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013) - Having
mined what they dared from Jack Kirby's epic tenure on Thor, the second
movie took inspiration from the other writer/artist to make a
definitive mark on the character: Walt Simonson. Unfortunately, like the
first movie, the sequel flirts with being awesome rather than just
going all out for it. Here's some fucking amazing comics that this movie
took some stuff from:
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014) -
The second Captain America
flick continued Marvel's Phase Two trend of taking more direct
inspiration from specific comic book storylines, although it still mixed
and matched elements in order to deliver a storyline that worked for
the burgeoning movie universe's needs, instead of slavishly following
the comics versions.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Holyshit, who could've guessed? While the plot of this hugely
significant story arc from 2005 differs quite a bit from it's movie
"adaptation", the basic throughline in terms of the character of the
Winter Soldier and his revelations are more or less the same. It's a
pretty great storyline and it lead to a pretty great movie.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/captain-america-winter-soldier-ultimate/9780785143413-item.html
- Captain America and the Falcon: The Secret Empire
- Mike Friedrich and Steve Engelhart bring us this classic 1970s tale
of conspiracy and paranoia. While again the plot is very different from
the Winter Soldier film, the movie took its tone of a government out to
get Cap and the sudden lack of anyone to trust from this well-regarded
arc. Also, it's got Falcon in it! And he's pretty cool.
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/captain-america-and-the-falcon/9780785118367-item.html
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014) -
Not
gonna lie, I'd never even heard of these assholes before they got their
own movie. Made up of a bunch of different characters who had already
existed in the cosmic Marvel universe, they were forged into a team by
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in the aftermath of the "Annihilation:
Conquest" event, and quickly deemed awesome enough to make a movie about
I guess.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015) -
Granted,
Avengers 2 isn't out yet, so it's hard to say with certainty what I'd
recommend. But what we do know for certain is that Ultron, Scarlet
Witch, Quicksilver, and the Vision are involved, and that while it
shares a title with the recent "Age of Ultron" storyline, it doesn't
actually share plot with it. So here's what I'd recommend you read to
get yourself caught up based on what we do know:
Well, that's all for me for today. I'll update this page with Phase Three related recommendations one day, maybe.
So, I first started thinking about this insane, implausible,
hypothetical question after Spider-Man 3 came out and I got really
burned on the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies and realized I didn't really
like any of them that much. None of them truly got Spider-Man, in
my opinion. Yes, even that one you really like. So I started thinking
"if they were to reboot Spider-Man in, like, ten or fifteen years, how
should they do it?"
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!
