Being an artist by trade, and a male, I am almost required to be a comic book fan. Actually, it goes beyond "almost required" because if it were not for the comic books and cartoons I grew up reading and watching I would have never picked up a pencil and attempted to recreate the characters I loved. And had I not tried to copy those characters, I wouldn't have moved onto making up my own characters. If I hadn't made up my own terrible-looking characters I never would have drawn picture after picture improving my style and abilities. In fact, I would like to thank all the teachers who told me not to draw in class because it made me draw more and now I'm an artist. I had a very successful comic strip in college, I am an artist in the U. S. Army and there's never a dull moment in life thanks to art.
Of all the characters out there, very few comic book heroes have drawn me in like Spider-Man. And I've always loved Spidey. I loved the terrible Spider-Man live-action television show from the 70's, I loved the terrible cartoons from the 60's wherein Spidey only had his mask lined with the spider webs because it was cheaper on the production end. I loved the comic books! And thanks to my older siblings, I had a way to see numerous classic stories in their original prints. I am very defensive of my beloved web slinger, so I am critical of when he is not handled properly.
Like many of my peers, I was a huge fan of the 1990's cartoon on Fox Saturday mornings. However, I was not a fan of how the creators made Spider-Man look. Spider-Man is a geek. He was this lanky dweeb that was accidentally granted these fantastic powers. But in the cartoon he looked like a football player, even before he got his powers. It never felt right to me.
Like many of my peers, I hated the ill-fated "Clone Saga" but I loved the new Ben Reilly/Spider-Man costume. It was awesome! It was one of the better Marvel Universe costume updates of the 90's they pulled to make the characters more dynamic and edgy.
And then in early 2001, the unimaginable came to the movie screen. An AWESOME trailer of a bank robbery and a rooftop escape in a helicopter, only to be thwarted by a giant spider web between the World Trade Center towers. And then Spider-Man's mask and then him swinging high above the streets of New York. And while the scene was cut for obvious sad reasons, what a fantastic introduction for the movie Spidey.
If only that excitement lasted through the end of the first film. Actually, I wish that excitement lasted through the entire movie. Don't get me wrong, I liked the first two movies, but something about them never sat right with me.
I don't know if it was the costume? Are we really suppose to believe that Peter Parker made that costume!?! No, but it's a movie. But did it even look good by movie standards? No, not really. I'm just glad they didn't try to go the X-Men movie route and give us some weird leather-fetish Spider-Man... Eww.
I think it was a lot to do with the casting and costume design. Kirsten Dunst is no Mary Jane. Tobey McGuire lost A LOT of weight before filming, so that was a plus, but he lacked the spark that makes Peter Parker special. And Aunt May is suppose to be old, frail and really skinny. They missed the mark on that one, no offense. The only true saving grace in that film was J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. Not even the always spectacular Willem Dafoe seemed to fit in the role of Norman Osborn. And don't get me started on the Green Goblin Power Ranger suit.
And Macy Gray. Enough said on that business.
Now, from what I've read about this "reboot" I have to say it's getting me excited. It's giving Spidey a fresh start, free from miscast leading women, terrible emo dance numbers and weak plots.
Word on the street is that we're going back to high school with Peter Parker. I guess they realized that the Ultimate Spider-Man comic line has been successful for a reason. Most of the best Spider-Man stories were at the beginning, when Spider-Man had to balance his super hero life with his teenage woes and responsibilities. And everybody knows high school is hard and terrible for those experiencing it at the moment, but it also has this odd nostalgia surrounding it. Therefore, you have a starting point to bring all age groups in on. And everyone knew the lanky geeky kid. No matter what generation you live in, there is always that guy.
Next, the kid they cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man has the look.
lines around his head!
He LOOKS like so many different drawings of Peter Parker over the years, it's not even funny! His name is Andrew Garfield and he already has an impressive resume on IMDb. I look forward to seeing more of this kid in this movie.
As for his leading lady, I've read that it will NOT be Mary Jane, his eventual wife and love of his life. It will instead be either be Gwen Stacy, his high school sweetheart, one of his numerous girlfriends from the comics he dating in high school and college (for a nerd, he got around) or a brand new character. There's an impressive list of actresses apparently in the running for this role, including Mary Elizabeth Winstead (fresh off of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Lily Collins (Phil Collins' daughter and starred in The Blind Side) Personally, I vote for Mary Elizabeth Winstead because she starred in Sky High as a character named Gwen Grayson, named for Stan Lee's love of alliteration and Gwen Stacy.
Finally, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm excited for the potential villain. Most websites have been claiming that The Vulture is to be the main baddie in the film. While having a ridiculous enemy like The Vulture in the movie could do harm, because it's a super young guy battling an old man obsessed with birds, just think back to Batman Begins. I remember hearing that Jeff Goldblum was going to be the Scarecrow in the follow up to Batman & Robin, so bad guy rumors live on from movie to movie, thanks to unoriginal movie studio heads... But the Scarecrow in Batman Begins was awesome! And who would have thought they could pull off Ra's al Ghul without his crazy background! If anyone can make it work, I'm sure the director of (500) Days of Summer can!
Let me know what you think! Have you heard any different or additional rumors? How do you feel about any of the movies above?
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