Most of this reboot in shrouded in mystery and rumors: Who’s the villain/s? What’s the plot? Who will portray the iconic characters that are the foundation of Spidey’s world?? Will Elena Satine play Mary Jane Watson?? (God I hope she does!!) Unfortunately, I can’t answer those questions for you…but I can give you my opinion on what we DO need from this reboot. The following is what I believe should be in the upcoming Spider-Man flick, and if it’s successful (as in, if it is an awesome movie…) what we should see in its sequel(s).
First, what I believe should happen in the 1st film, which should be called ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’:
-Keep true to Spidey’s origin
As in, he gets bit by a spider…uses his in the powers in the beginning to get money, yadda yadda y’know…Do NOT change his origin in the slightest bit.
-Gwen Stacy as Peter’s love interest
This is KEY. Gwen is his first love and needs to stay as such! Of course establish Mary Jane as well, but as one of Peter’s circle of friends. This was one of my biggest complaints of Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ movies, which I’m not going to go into. Long story short: Gwen as Peter’s love interest, Mary Jane isn’t yet… if the main part of the storyline takes place in college, have her date Harry Osborn.
- The Villain(s): (Of course the burglar who kills Uncle Ben, but I’m talking Super-Villains!)
Rumors are floating around that in fact Doctor Curt Connors aka The Lizard will be the main antagonist in the film. I like this idea and would love to see Spidey & the Lizard tangle in the sewers. After much thought, I think it might be possible to make Connors the only villain and still make the movie work. If they base most of the movie on Peter’s beginning as Spider-Man and take the time to correctly establish the important characters in his life, then have Connors as Pete’s first test against a real super-villain (and work with me now, this is all theoretically based on the idea that the movie will be great) then I’m definitely all for this plot.
My alternative to this theory is to introduce Sergei Kravinov -Kraven the Hunter- who has heard of a Lizard man lurking in the sewers of the concrete jungle and a spider creature that is chasing him. This perks the world’s greatest hunter’s interest and he heads to New York to hunt and claim these mysterious creatures as his trophies. So you have the Lizard on the loose, a rookie Spider-Man trying to stop him, all the while Kraven is hunting them both. Boom. :) Either way, I think the movie needs to end with Norman Osborn and the birth of the Green Goblin.
Now what I was honestly thinking from the beginning, (as in, when the reboot was first announced after the cancellation of ‘Spider-Man 4’) is to have Doctor Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus as Spidey’s first foe. Go big or go home is my mentality for this idea; Octavius is on the loose and our born-yesterday-hero Spidey is put to the ultimate test. But now that I look at it, I think having a slightly less powerful super-villain for the first movie might be the way to go. This way, the movie has more time to focus on number one: Peter Parker; which brings me to my next point for what this movie needs:
-The perfect balance of Peter Parker AND Spider-Man
Another serious problem I had with the ‘Spider-Man’ movies: a lot of Peter Parker and not enough of Spider-Man! It was funny to see how Spidey got less and less face time as ‘Spider-Man’ from 1-3 progressed; the first had the perfect balance of Pete and Spider-Man, ‘2’ (which was the best of the three I might add) had a little more Pete, but at least he was still in costume a lot of the time, and ‘3’…don’t get me started on ‘3’. Let’s put it this way, the movie should’ve been called ‘Whiny Peter Parker 3: The birth of the Emo Peter, Flying Snowboarder Paintball guy & PMS Mary Jane…with a little Spider-Man’. The movie had little to no Spider-Man in it people!! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg with that wretched film. This film and all future films needs an equilibrium of Peter’s face time & Spidey’s. ‘Nuff Said.
-The use of Spider-Sense!!
It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is! Pete’s spider-sense is a major defense mechanism/ability that allows him to sense danger or alert him to dodge incoming attacks. It has always been under-played in the movies; in fact I don’t recall him even using it ONCE in ‘3’. Then again, you can’t expect much of anything from that movie :P In other words, we need to see Pete use his Spidey sense on a daily basis in this reboot!
-Wise-Cracking Spidey!
A characteristic that has been MIA in ALL of the previous films, except for one remark made in ‘1’ to opponent Bonesaw Mcgraw : “That’s a cute outfit, did your husband make it for you?” which was hilarious, but the only glimpse of humorous Spidey we ever got to see in the films! We need to see Pete be the smack-talk wall crawler we all know and love every time he puts on the costume to fight a baddie! There have been rumors that Spidey will in fact be portrayed as the witty-comeback arachnid in the reboot…let’s hope those rumors are true!!
-Now for the point of debate: the Web-Slinger’s web shooters
Originally, Peter, with his genius mind, designed a compound and holsters that could shoot web-like fluid used for him to swing around sky-scrapers, apprehend bad guys, etc. In the movies, Peter had organic web-shooters in his wrists, which was really cool. Honestly, I liked the concept of Pete having organic web-shooters a lot more than his original shooters in the comics. It seems to make more sense; if you get bit by a radioactive spider and gain all the powers and abilities of a spider, shouldn’t you also have its natural ability to produce web? At the same time, I also loved in the comics when Peter would run out of web-fluid at the worst times. I also enjoyed the various web-fluids he created over the years in order to handle certain villains/situations. Either way, I’ll be happy with either portrayal of Spidey’s web-shooters, yet I doubt Webb will mimic Raimi's Spidey and give Pete organic web-shooters.
Now that we’ve kinda got out of what I think we need from the movie, I’m going to delve into the storylines I want to see (and I hope you do as well) and the little things that would be big for Spidey-fans to see in the film(s)!
-The Symbiote Saga
This by far is my absolute favorite storyline/costume of Spidey lore that I want to see the most and done right!!!! Originally, the symbiote was introduced on the planet Battleworld during the ‘Secret Wars’ storyline of the Marvel-verse. After the battle was over, Peter’s costume was trashed. He found a machine that he thought could replace tattered clothing; instead the machine produced a black ball that made his spider-sense go wild. The ball immediately began to crawl up Peter’s arm and spread over his entire body, disintegrating his old costume along the way. The result was the infamous black costume.
He returned to Earth with what he thought was just a super suit, and found that it had amazing abilities; it responded to his mental commands and would change to appear as his civilian clothes or re-appear as his costume at will. It also would make pockets to store Peter’s belongings in his suit and made an endless supply of webbing. As the Peter & the symbiote unknowingly grew closer, it was revealed that the suit wasn’t just a super suit, it was in fact a sentient alien life form that wanted to permanently bond with Peter!
Over the years, the symbiote’s abilities have changed and expanded (like in the 90’s cartoon series ’Spider-Man’, the comic series ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ which also drastically changed the suit’s origin to a more personal level, and more recently the cartoon series ‘The Spectacular Spider-Man, which by far has been my most favorite portrayal); such as the suit amplified Peter’s strength, agility, and unfortunately, his aggression. In these versions, (with the exception of ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’) the Symbiote actually hitched a ride from space on Astronaut John Jameson’s space shuttle as he returned to Earth. This scenario would work the best for this reboot. In ‘SSM’ (‘Spectacular Spider-Man’) Peter, the geek that he is was so enthusiastic that alien life exists and that it was actually on Earth, that he had to see it for himself. In his attempt to catch a glimpse and the mishaps that ensued, Pete accidentally came in direct contact with the alien life-form and he unknowingly took it on as his new costume. Shocked that the alien had not only formed into a new costume, but responded to his mental commands, was able to change into his street clothes and also enhanced his spider-powers, Pete happily welcomed the new suit and his new look. But as Pete and the suit grow closer, bad things start to happen; the symbiote constantly slithers over Peter in his sleep and goes out for midnight crime-fighting. What’s worse is Peter becomes darker as Spidey and in his personal life as the suit slowly begins to take over his mind.
Like THIS:
NOT LIKE THIS:
In the end, Peter realizes that he doesn’t want the suit anymore because of what it’s doing to him. But the symbiote doesn’t like the idea of them separating and refuses to let go; it aggressively begins to permanently bond with Peter. After some of the battles Peter and the symbiote have faced, Spidey discovered the suit had a weakness: high-frequency sound waves. So he retreated into a church bell tower in a last ditch effort to finally be rid of the alien.
That’s how it went down, not that absolute horror and disgraceful portrayal of the symbiote (except for the introduction of the symbiote suit and the bell tower scene) that was portrayed in ‘Spider-Man 3’. After the separation of Pete & the symbiote, the alien begins to wallow in its abandonment; a feeling that turned into absolute hatred towards the wall-crawler. In its anger, it began to search for a new host who hated Peter just as much to exact its revenge. The symbiote found Eddie Brock: a man whose life had been destroyed by both Peter AND Spider-Man (depending on the interpretation you look at). It felt Eddie’s need for vengeance and savored its taste. In result, the alien leapt upon Brock and began to tell him sinister secrets. What Peter didn’t know is that he was bonded with the suit, it delved into his mind and knew all about his life, his feelings and his secrets.
The symbiote told Brock everything; that Peter was Spider-Man, who he loved/cared about, where he lived, everything. With this knowledge and their combined hatred for Peter, the creature that would be poison to Spidey was born: Venom, one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies (it goes Green Goblin then Venom for me because Norman actually went the distance & caused Gwen’s death). Venom has the same abilities as Peter does; he can wall-crawl, produce web and has super-strength. Venom has one added ability, courtesy of the symbiote, that has the advantage over Spider-Man; Venom cannot be detected by Pete’s spider-sense! If Webb does a great job with sticking mainly to the comics in this reboot, this is the storyline I want to see brought back to justice (I wanted to cry when I saw how the symbiote & Venom were portrayed & played out in ‘Spider-Man 3’)!!! I hope the epic fail of ‘3’ will not impact the return of this storyline & Venom to the big screen (if it does, I will Hulk out!!!!)
-The Death of Gwen Stacy
This is one of the most famous/infamous (depending how you look at it) storyline in Spider-Man history. After Norman Osborn –the Green Goblin- discovers his arch-nemesis’ secret identity, he begins to unleash a whole world of hurt on Peter and his personal life. After a heated battle, Spidey hurled the Goblin into a collection of electrical wires which gave Osborn massive amnesia; wiping all memory of being the Green Goblin and Spider-Man’s secret identity. Several years past and Norman regained his memory in the wake of his son Harry’s mental breakdown (which I doubt this little detail will see the light of day in this reboot). He blames Peter, who he remembers is Spider-Man, and plans his revenge. He kidnaps Peter’s unconscious girlfriend, Gwen Stacy and takes her to the top of the George Washington Bridge.
A fierce battle ensues between the mortal enemies and Spidey gains the upper hand. Unfortunately for the web-slinger, the Goblin always has to have the last laugh and hurled Gwen from the side of the bridge. In a desperate attempt to save her, Peter shoots a web-line to catch his falling love. When he brings her back up, he discovers in horror that she is dead.
Demoralized and filled with rage, Spider-Man begins his hunt for the Green Goblin to end this once and for all. In what was to be their final battle, Peter realized he hated Osborn for the death of Gwen, but he could never kill anybody. Instead when he went to take his foe prisoner, Osborn sealed his own fate; setting a trap for Peter, Osborn mentally ordered his glider to impale Spidey.
Warned by his spider-sense, Peter moved out of the glider’s path just in time; instead of impaling his enemy, Norman had killed himself with his own glider (or so we thought…). This storyline is our one of our hero’s biggest turning points and I think it should be the plot of the 2nd or 3rd film.
-Spidey No-More/Six-Armed Spidey
I love this storyline! Peter eventually gets so fed up with how the public views him, he decides not to be Spider-Man anymore, and creates a formula that in theory would remove his spider powers. Instead, he sprouts four extra arms!! With the help of Dr. Connors, Peter is able to cure himself & lose the extra limbs.
Now I can see them utilizing the ‘No-More Spidey’ part of the storyline again (like Raimi did in ‘2’) and not have him grow the extra arms rather than the latter. But still, a fan boy can always hope! In my opinion, I would like to see this storyline happen after Gwen Stacy’s death; Peter has fallen into deep despair at the loss of his love. He failed as Spider-Man and as Peter to protect those he loves from his enemies. In utter disgust with himself, Norman’s “demise” (or so he thinks if they do it right) & Gwen’s death, has caused Peter to never want to see his red & blues ever again. This would be the perfect end to the Death of Gwen Stacy plotline for the 2nd or 3rd film in my eyes. What do you guys think? Let me know!
-The Sinister Six!
This I would absolutely LOVE to see in a Spider-Man flick; the Sinister Six: six of Spidey’s formidable foes: Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, the Sandman, the Vulture and Mysterio make up this treacherous group with the sole purpose of destroying Spider-Man. Peter has enough on his plate and now he has to take down six of his most powerful enemies at once! If done correctly, this would be a fantastic flick! Check out my complete fancast of the Spidey Villains
HERE -Harry as the GREEN GOBLIN
Not to be confused with the so-called ‘New Goblin’ whose on a flying snowboard wearing a retractable paintball mask. No, in the comics, Harry Osborn becomes the 2nd Green Goblin after learning his father’s true identity when he died. Harry also learned that his best friend, Peter Parker, was Spider-Man; the man he believed murdered his father. Taking up his father’s mantle, Harry became the new Green Goblin for one purpose: to kill Spider-Man. This in the end leads to Harry’s death as well. ‘Spider-Man 2’ left the door wide open for a spectacular showdown between Harry and Peter, but as we all know, it wasn’t what we thought it would be. This storyline would also co-inside with my idea for the end of the 2nd or 3rd movie; Peter loses Gwen and gives up being Spider-Man & Harry discovers his father’s secret and becomes the new Green Goblin. Or possibly after the Symbiote saga (if they in fact do it!) make the ending Spidey defeating Venom (as in he’s NOT DEAD) and Harry discovering his father’s legacy; ending with Harry becoming the Green Goblin. What do you think of my idea for these plotlines? Let me know!
And the character they need to introduce in the film(s) that has yet to make a silver screen appearance:
-The Black Cat!
Felicia Hardy is the daughter of Walter Hardy, the famous cat burglar. When her father was sentenced to life imprisonment, Felicia decided to take up the family business; designing a program for herself to increase her strength, agility and endurance. She became the Black Cat: a super-thief trained in the arts of safecracking, lock picking & martial arts. As the Black Cat, Felicia made quite a name for herself and even caught our web-slinger’s attention. She eventually fell in love with him and even gave up her life of crime to become a crime-fighter alongside Spidey. Now it was said that Felicia was going to be in ‘Spider-Man 4’, but not as her alter-ego the Black Cat, instead she was going to have a different persona…the Vultress ( 0_0 ) which would’ve been a disaster. No, we need to see Felicia as the Black Cat like she’s supposed to be and I have the puuurrrrfect actress to portray her:
Elisha Cuthbert
To read my reasons of why I picked her, (rather than obvious ones of course :P) check out my fancast for the reboot
HERE Which brings to me to my final thoughts of the little, but big, things I would love to see in the reboot film(s).
-The REAL Green Goblin
The Green Goblin looks like…well…a goblin!
Not a metallic green Cone head!!!
I honestly want to see Osborn don the infamous costume we all know and love from the comics, on the big screen! And pumpkin bombs! Genuine pumpkin bombs with jack-o-lantern designs on the front and kept in a purple satchel on GG’s GD shoulder!! Haha ok I went a little overboard and kinda rant-ish on that last part…All kidding aside, I really want to see the REAL Green Goblin in this reboot…along with his frickin pumpkin bombs. :)
And finally, the smallest and geekiest detail I want to see in the reboot:
-The trademark half Peter-half Spidey…thing! (I don’t remember exactly what it’s called unfortunately :/ )
I don’t know why, I can’t explain it…it’s just so iconic I guess! I loved seeing it in the comics and it’s just something so small yet so big for me that I would completely geek-out over if they do it in the reboot!! :D
So that’s it! This is what I want from the reboot film(s) and what I think all of us Spidey-fans would love to see (again, if it’s done right)! But I can’t speak for everybody, so please, tell me your personal opinions/ideas for the reboot film(s) and what you think of my ideas :D
Until next time!
In the words of Stan ‘the Man’ Lee: Excelsior!
-Your UFNSM