Sequel Saturday: Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Does Whatever A Reboot Can!, by Mat Bradley-Tschirgi
Sony’s attempts at freshening up their venerable Spider-Man franchise has had a violent series of ups and downs after the disappointing grosses from 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. After a bevy of rumors revolving around Aunt May and Sinister Six spin-offs, Sony came to a deal to co-produce a reboot of the Spider-Man franchise with Marvel Studios. As part of the deal, Marvel Studios gets to use Spider-Man in their Phase 3 films, including Captain America: Civil War.
Now Collider reports that screenwriters John Francis Daley (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone) and Jonathan Goldstein (The Geena Davis Show) have shed a bit more light on their approach to Spidey on a recent episode of The Andy Greenwald podcast. Of particular note at their comments that “his struggle through high school is very real… It matters now.” Tom Holland (The Secret World of Arrietty), the new actor cast as Peter Parker, looks a good bit younger than either Tobey Maguire (Cats & Dogs) or Andrew Garfield (Lions for Lambs). He can sell the role of a high school student.
The real question is if this Spider-Man meets Harry Potter approach will bring in the big bucks or not? Much of the early run of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics focused on Parker’s high school hijinks. This approach has potential, but Marvel and Sony have their work cut out for them. A major flaw with the two Amazing Spider-Man films is how slow the plot progressed. Parker was turned from a dorktacular dweeb into an emo goth. I’m guessing they’ll be going with a more comedic Parker this time around.
Can we please get a Spider-Man movie where the villain isn’t a friendly mentor character that betrays Peter Parker? Try and ignore the overdone Green Goblin angle of the prior five flicks and go for something fresh. Spider-Man does what a spider can, but he has to make the audience give a shit to begin with. Skip the padding and go for the good stuff.