Despite the rather sour taste that Tobey Maguire’s emo man-tears left in my mouth with Spider-Man 3, I still greeted word that director Marc Webb would rebooting the superhero franchise with much reticence, as it had barely been two years since Sam Raimi’s last film.
But as more of the fresh new cast, as well as Webb’s new direction for the character was revealed, I found my Spider-Sense tingling with anticipation. It was still a reboot that nobody had asked for, but gosh darn it, it was shaping up to be far better than we would have expected.
The biggest question though was how you would get around the problem of retelling a character’s origin story that was last told a mere 9 years prior?
The answer: You don’t. You tell something new.
Speaking to MTV earlier today Webb shed some light on some of his ideas for the character’s origins. First to go: The wrestling match where Peter shows off his powers for the first time, and inadvertently lets his uncle’s future killer go free:
“[There are] obligations to the canon, in terms of Uncle Ben and the spider-bite, but the conditions under which those things happen are very different… The character is evolving in a different way. It’s about finding a balance between iconic elements of the ‘Spider-Man’ mythology — like how Uncle Ben’s death transforms him emotionally — but it happens in a different way.”
One of the other biggest changes is the fact the Peter Parker’s parents, Richard and Mary Parker (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz, respectively), are not just going to be resolved to sentimental footnotes as in past stories, but will rather have an important role to play this time around with their deaths serving as a sort of overarching motivation for Peter’s actions.
“I wanted to give the audience something new, so that started off with getting underneath the parents’ story, which will unfold over probably a few movies. We don’t totally wrap up that story in this first movie. It’s sort of an ongoing mystery.”
We’ve already seen that Spider-Man’s nemesis for this film, Dr Kurt Conners aka The Lizard, has been changed to now have been Richard Parker’s lab partner and subsequently potentially involved in his death. This gives Peter that extra layer of emotional connection to his enemy, instead of him just being the crook of the week.
And of course, taking a page from the Book of Bay, Webb couldn’t resist making a statement that will just get all the fanboys in their Spider-Man pyjamas foaming at the mouth with it’s (potentially false) implications:
“He’s bitten by a spider, but maybe it’s not a radioactive spider. Or maybe it is! You’ll have to see.”
Oh Webb, you sure know how to rile them up.
Last Updated: April 11, 2012
James Francis
April 11, 2012 at 15:18
“One of the other biggest changes is the fact the Peter Parker’s parents are not just going to be resolved to sentimental footnotes as in past stories, but will rather have an important role to play this time around with their deaths serving as a sort of overarching motivation for Peter’s actions.”
I shudder. Seriously, can’t we just do this?
1. Nerd
2. Spider bites nerd
3. Nerd becomes superhero
4. Newspaper editor throws shit-fit
5. Superhero fights Venom and Carnage, while making smart-ass comments
Who cares what motivates him?
Brendon Bosch
April 11, 2012 at 16:47
From watching the Spiderman animated series and comic books it would defeat the purpose if you exclude what motivates spiderman. That has been one of they key factors that makes spiderman well spiderman. the animated series touched on his parents which made one identify with spiderman more. Batman wouldnt be batman if we didnt know what drives him. It`s what makes us identify with the character.
I agree the EMO spiderman that was done by tobey made alot of people hate spiderman and i blame hollywood for that.
I for one am looking forward to the new spiderman reboot by Webb and i think he will do a good job because he has web in his name and is doing spiderman (LOL couldnt resist making that lame joke)
James Francis
April 12, 2012 at 11:33
Fan-service is dangerous, especially when you are dealing with such a small audience. Spider-man sells around 50,000 issues a month. That’s really nothing. If the movie had a $150 million budget, it would take at least 25 million cinema goers to make it break even (at $6 a pop). That is 500 times the audience. And most of that audience couldn’t give a shit WHY Spiderman does what he does.
I’m not saying don’t put the motivational stuff in. But I don’t think putting a lot of emphasis on that makes sense. An origin story that takes up two of the three acts is lazy writing. Even Batman Begins actually spent little time on Wayne’s motivation and most of the origin tied in with Ra’s Al Ghul, which kept a great pace.
Brendon Bosch
April 12, 2012 at 12:08
Totally agreed there. From my experience as a spiderman fan his motivation hasnt been a dragged out affair (TOBEY SPIDEY doesnt count) but more to do with his inner turmoil. We can debate how the movie should be for many many moons and sadly all we can do is wait and see how it turns out. I`m not going to get my hopes up high and expect something that i might not get so i`ll just wing it from here on in and see for myself when it`s released, on my birthday nogal