By: Robert Acosta
I don't know too many people who don't love Spider-Man. It's a very short list, if there is a list at all. Some people were fans of Spidey through the comics, some through the TV shows, maybe some from the video games(though I doubt that part) and a good bunch became fans through the Spidey trilogy. Whatever the case, all fans alike, we're all pretty outraged right now.
In order to talk about where we are, we have to talk about where it, seemingly, all broke down. I bring you back to May 4th, 2007.
Tons of fans, young and old, wait in line to catch what is to probably be a sold out, packed showing of Spider-Man 3. The excitement is building as you watch the tail end of trailers that you're not entirely interested in. You've waited a couple years now for the sequel to what was, at the time, the greatest comic book movie of all time. You can't wait any longer when BOOM!, the trailers are done. The Marvel opening is playing and you're ready to go. The movie has started and your mind goes blank as you try to take everything in. A bit over 1 hour and 45 minutes later, it's over. You're left with this bad taste in your mouth. But you look around and realize, you're not the only one. What just happened?
After months and years of tackling the question I posed, the studio behind it all, Sony, decides they don't like the way things are going. Down goes the ship, with everyone. Captain, first mate, the crew, gone. Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Raimi, gone. What just happened?
I'll tell you what happened. They made a bad movie.
In a short, precise list of problems, here's what they did. Raimi packed way too many villains, sub plots into a movie. They killed off Venom, which for some odd reason carries over into other projects. Things got way too silly and out of hand with the symbiote effects on Peter Parker. That's my small list of things that went wrong but I could, but won't, go on.
Here's what they did wrong after the bad movie. Sony made a very hasty, ill advised decision in scrapping everything and starting new. They made one bad movie and they just threw in the towel on a Spider-Man 4 idea, almost immediately. Without much deliberation at all, a reboot was announced.
Here's where they went wrong after all the previous wrongs. In searching for a new director, they searched in all the wrong places. Instead of searching for a veteran director whose had some experience working with important projects and strong characters they go with an inexperienced director. Marc Webb. Now Webb is very well known in the music industry as he has made some of the better music videos for some good, well known bands. But this is a completely different business. He had his hit in (500) Days of Summer, which I highly regard and all. But this is Spider-Man. I don't really care much for his relationships between women. Let's see him get challenged by a real strong villain, who we haven't seen yet.
On top of the director not having much under his belt, we go to the most important part of the film. Spider-Man himself. A list of good candidates had risen out of the gossip and casting calls and what not. It included good strong actors like Logan Lerman, Jamie Bell, Michael Angarano among many others. Who gets cast? Andrew Garfield. A relatively unknown, male model with nothing much under his belt either. His performance in The Social Network left me hopeful, maybe giving him a chance as Spidey but he still wasn't the strongest pick. They were looking for a young, late teens- early 20's Peter Parker and you cast late 20's Garfield?
My final remark is this. If they wanted to do something different from what was the original Spider-Man 4 idea, I wouldn't be half as ticked off about this project. Before Spider-Man 4 went under, the idea was to introduce The Lizard/Dr. Conners as the villain. It was no secret that Raimi was a fan of the Lizard character and was eventually looking to use him. That idea gets nixed in lieu of the reboot. What does everyone agree on for the reboot? The Lizard being the villain. No less by someone who may or may not be a good choice for Lizard, no harsh remarks for Mr. Rhys Ifans. I just think Dylan Baker would have made that role great for Spidey 4. It just doesn't make sense. The idea that got nixed before, gets accepted for a lesser director to handle.
All in all, I want to say I have hope for this Spidey reboot. I want to say it's going to be good. But after dissecting and analyzing the problems, Spidey is hanging by a thread.
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