CBM writer and editor Brent Sprecher runs afoul of Michael Papajohn, the actor who portrayed the "Burglar" in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man!
After what turned out to be an epic party at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego during Comic-Con--live music by Gene Simmons and an encounter with Stan Lee and Jim Steranko--I stumbled outside and right into Michael Papajohn, the actor who portrayed perhaps one of the most notorious unnamed killers in the history of fiction: the man who kills Peter Parker's uncle.
Although he's only featured in three pages of Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man's debut issue, the "Burglar" is crucial to the mythology of the character because Uncle Ben's death is the catalyst for Peter's transformation into the selfless hero we know and love today, the hero whose films have earned over $1.1 billion since 2002.
Uncle Ben taught Peter "With great power comes great responsibility," but Peter decided to use his powers to serve himself, rather than to help people. Because of Peter's selfishness, because of his refusal to use his powers to stop a criminal on the run, the man escapes to kill Peter's Uncle Ben. The grief of the loss and the revelation that his own inaction was partially responsible for his uncle's death, sends Peter down the path of the hero. Peter becomes Spider-Man, and the rest...is history.
Enter: Michael Papajohn.
When director Sam Raimi was tasked with bringing Spider-Man to life in a major motion picture, Papajohn was the actor chosen to portray the Burglar who changes Peter's life. Michael's background was as an athlete-turned-stuntman-turned-actor, and he thought the job was just another gig...at first. When he started telling people about the role, their enthusiastic reactions made him investigate the character further and his place in the mythology of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He told Starlog magazine:
"...I realized the weight of the history there. Spider-Man does not have everything. He's not a popular superhero. People mistreat him and he goes through the same troubles we all go through."
Since Spider-Man, Papajohn has performed stunts in Enemy of the State, Live Free or Die Hard and Hancock, just to name a few, and acted in dozens of films, including two of this year's biggest genre films, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Terminator Salvation. I spoke with Michael about some of his past successes and some of the films on the horizon and then asked him about the rumor that the Burglar would be returning in Spider-Man 4 .
Michael smiled and asked me how that would be possible. I said, "Maybe you didn't die in the first Spider-Man. Maybe you appear in a flashback sequence. Or, maybe they just bring you back in another role, the way Raimi does with Bruce Campbell." Papajohn wouldn't confirm or deny anything, but he was happy to pose for a few quick pictures, including this homage to the Uncle Ben/Burglar confrontation that changed young Peter Parker's life forever.
Click HERE for an interview with Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr.!
Click HERE for an exclusive interview with Sam "Justin Hammer" Rockwell!
Click HERE for an exclusive interview with Scarlett "Black Widow" Johansson!
Click HERE for an interview with Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau
|
11
|
|
|
0
|
|
Brent Sprecher
7/30/2009
DISCLAIMER: This posting was submitted by a user of the site not from Comic Book Movie editorial staff. All users have acknowledged and agreed that the submission of their content is in compliance with our Terms of Use. For removal of copyrighted material, please contact us HERE.