In general I appreciated the love Sam Raimi had for the character. For crying out loud, he had a Spider-Man poster on the wall of his childhood bedroom!
I saw Spider-Man 3 the night it came out. I found it just “OK” and I’m ashamed to say I was one of those Venom fanboys who demanded his appearance in the movie. Like so many, I was disappointed.
That is why I looked forward to the fourth installment. From interviews with Tobey and Sam it seemed they had learned their lessons from the previous film and were ready to redeem themselves with the fourth.
A release date of May 2nd, 2011 was instated. Anne Hathaway was confirmed in a mystery role, and John Malkovich was confirmed as The Vulture, which was some news I was less than thrilled about. Then without warning, Sam, his cast, and his crew were all scrapped from the project, and Sony was starting over with a reboot!
That is why I looked forward to the fourth installment. From interviews with Tobey and Sam it seemed they had learned their lessons from the previous film and were ready to redeem themselves with the fourth.
A release date of May 2nd, 2011 was instated. Anne Hathaway was confirmed in a mystery role, and John Malkovich was confirmed as The Vulture, which was some news I was less than thrilled about. Then without warning, Sam, his cast, and his crew were all scrapped from the project, and Sony was starting over with a reboot!
In the words of Chris Griffin… “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”
The Internet was blown away by the horrible news. Everyone was abuzz and quite frankly... angry!! I’m not pleased by any means, but I’ve constructed a list of how Sony should go about the sequel without having it SUCK!!
1. Skip The Origin!
We’ve seen it. It’s old news. Let’s take a page from 2008's The Incredible Hulk. Show the origin during the credits (or in flashbacks) and let’s get to the good stuff!! Also try and hold off on introducing Mary Jane. Maybe use Gwen as the first love interest, like in the comics….
2. Use The Lizard First!
We’ve already seen The Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman, Venom, and *cough* New Goblin *cough.* (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.)
Spider-Man has one of the best rogues galleries of all time (next to Batman) let’s see some of them! I’m not talking about Kingpin, either. He had his chance in DareDevil…
Let me make something completely clear, Sony. We’ve been waiting since Spider-Man 2 to see the God Damn Lizard!! Dylan Baker would’ve been fantastic, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen.
But, that doesn't mean we can't ride the wave the first trilogy gave us... Doc Connors was introduced!
We already know he’s a brilliant, one-armed, science teacher with an affinity for lizards! Can we PLEASE just get on with some kick-ass, mutant-reptile on super-hero action?!
3. Cast an Unknown as the Wall Crawler!
There has been a lot of fuss about Disney buying out Marvel. Dear God, please do not cast a tween off Nickelodeon!! No Zac Effron or Rob Pattinson!! We want someone other than Joseph Gordon-Levitt too. I’m looking at you Marc Webb. Just because he was good in (500) Days of Summer, doesn’t mean he needs to be here too.
4. Keep The Trilogy in Mind!
Sony has already stated that they want to make this new reboot the first film of an epic trilogy. The last trilogy seemed thrown together. It did not feel linear whatsoever. I say come up with a storyline that will flow through all three. Keep us wanting more. Leave us with an awesome cliff hanger or two!! Maybe throw Green Goblin or Doc Ock into the sequel and slowly work us up to a worth while Venom in number three!!
5. Don’t Make It DARK!
Sony stated that they are interested in a more gritty, contemporary redo of the series….
No. No. No!
Ever since Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, everyone wants to make their characters darker and “grittier” Spider-Man is a funny and adventurous character. He doesn’t work as dark or troubled.
We need a joke cracking, down to business sorta Spider-Man... Not an emo, whiny, cut my wrist shooters for attention sorta Spider-Man...
Conclusion:
Sony has done a lot to make me weary of this upcoming reboot. I think the average person will be pissed off and confused about a reboot this soon. The new reboot will have to be friggin’ amazing if it stands a chance against the awesomeness that is Sam Raimi.
Here's a Spider-Man 4 poster I made back during Spider-Man 3... (And yes, that's Jake Gyllenhaal.)
Be sure to leave what your thoughts in the comments section below!!
