News Bites: "Spider-Man" franchise to be rebooted! No more Raimi and Maguire...is this really a bad thing?

- Posted by Rusty


Source: Entertainment Weekly

As you could tell by the headline, I'm not too sad about this. In fact, I think this might be just what the franchise needs... [much more thoughts and Spider-Man news after the jump]

Spider-Man 4 has been in the news for a while now. I wrote a piece on the Venom potential spin-off movie a while ago (still in development, from what I've read), and, back then, Spider-Man 4 was just in the screenplay phase. Then it changed writers. And again. And, slowly but surely, I got the sense that franchise director Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures weren't seeing eye to eye on this. It's well-known that Raimi was strongarmed into including Venom in Spider-Man 3, and the results were pretty obvious--it was a useless compromise, one that shortchanged the entire film and further jumbled the story. Actually, all of Spider-Man 3 had an ideas-by-committee feel to it--it was a messy, overstuffed-with-villains narrative, and it was all the more disappointing following the triumph that was Spider-Man 2. So, in a way, kudos to Sam Raimi for getting out of what must have felt like Spider-Man 3 redux in the development phase.

So, what are we left with, now that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are officially out? What sounds like a very good idea. Sony already has a script for a reboot by James Vanderbilt (who wrote the phenomenal Zodiac for David Fincher), which will start everything from scratch. Relaunch the character, send Peter Parker back to high school, and jump-start what should be a fresh take on the Spider-Man world. I like it. I honestly do. I applaud Raimi for not letting another mess happen, and I'm not at all opposed to a new direction for the series, if that's what must happen. I loved Raimi's first two films--they had a bright, infectious energy, and, in Maguire, a pitch-perfect nerdy Peter Parker. I'm sure they'll both do fine, going on to do better, probably more interesting things. Raimi is now free to tackle his in-development World of Warcraft project (which sounds amazing), while Maguire, free from the webslinger's demanding shooting schedule, could now do more smaller-scale films (like Brothers, which is currently in release) and passion projects.

As for Spider-Man the character, he'll live on just fine. It was inevitable that he'd continue without this current filmmaking team--he's too important for Sony, and much too beloved and universally recognized to stay out of multiplexes. And, now that there's a chance, the aspect of the character I'd most like to see again is the smartass Peter Parker. Remember him? That sarcastic bastard who came alive under the mask, the one so perfectly brought to life in the 1990's FOX Kids animated series (the series' title card is my picture on top). It always felt like a natural thing for Peter--he was dweeby on the outside, but the mask gave him the confidence to unleash a much more amusing and honest side of him. True, I never read the comic books, so I can't be sure how close that skews to the original incarnation, but I was crazy for the series (which still holds up), and that show gave Peter more edge, and the whole world of villains and arch-enemies much more danger. If a new series of films can recapture that spirit and tone, the results could be incredibly entertaining--maybe even more so than the films we already had. Sony's press release says it's aiming for a "grittier" tone--while that word is overused post-Bourne, greater stakes could just what the doctor ordered for the franchise.

So, all in all, I think this is promising news. We're also in for lots of casting announcements, director appointments, and, of course, footage in the coming months, especially if Sony still hopes to make that 2011 release (a little bit doubtful, since lots of articles are tossing around 2012 guesses). Raimi and Maguire will be remembered for a great launch and one of the best sequels ever made. In time, people will probably forget all about the misfire of Spider-Man 3, particualrly if the new, rebooted film series is worthwhile. Well, best of luck, folks at Sony. Now all you gotta do is find the perfect lead (cough*Adam Brody!*cough) for Peter Parker...

What do you guys think of this news? Happy/disappointed that our original Spider-Man series is over? And who would you want to play Peter Parker when the new series takes off?

Images courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures and Marvel Comics.
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Food 4 Thought: Do we need a "Venom" movie??

- Posted by Rusty


Source: Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision Blog
(Found via Comingsoon.net)

Remember Topher Grace’s Venom in Spider Man 3? Better yet, just remember Spider-Man 3? What a huge misstep that film was, especially following the actually pretty great Spider-Man 2. The emo-Peter Parker (that’d be his “dark” alter-ego), the extra-whiny Mary Jane (poor, poor Kirsten Dunst…who, at one point, got mad that Peter went off to save people instead of staying and discussing her bad review), the overall pretty useless Sandman, and the list goes on and on.

But I thought the biggest misstep of all was its treatment of Venom...

A fan favorite for years, Venom dominated the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon series (my big intro to the Marvel universe)—he was the villain on that show. And you could see why: as Eddie Brock, a jealous co-worker transformed by an alien symbiote suit, he was everything that Peter was not—just as powerful (if not more so), but ruthless and unmerciful. A beast driven purely on vengeance, and one who utterly destroys the “with great power, comes great responsibility” mantra of Peter’s Uncle Ben.

So, how could the film mess him up so badly? How did it manage to turn one of the most compulsively watchable (and pretty damn interesting) baddies in Spider-Man’s library into a second banana villain? I read somewhere that Sam Raimi was forced to include him by Sony…and it shows—he’s a blip in that movie’s messy story. The storyline (with its themes of revenge and the darkness in all of us) could have worked if he was the primary bad guy, but, since Sandman took that slot, Venom ended up being the guy who just happened to wait in one convenient street corner, snarl a few times, and say: “Hey, we both want Spider-Man dead. Let’s kill him together!” A real wasted opportunity; although, to his credit, Topher Grace did a better job than expected. I like Grace a lot (see his work in Traffic, In Good Company, and That 70’s Show to see the range of what this guy could do), and while he wasn’t the beefy Eddie Brock from the comics, I liked his version as the scrawny weasel.

Think Sony could reignite that potential with the just-announced, now-moving-forward Venom spin-off? I’m guessing not…but I am interested in what they’ll come up with. I heard rumors about this for a couple of years now; now, news broke that Seabiscuit, Dave, and Pleasantville writer-director Gary Ross is bringing our favorite angry alien symbiote to life.

I think it’s a case of good and bad news. Yes, this could be the chance to do the character justice, and Ross is a dependably good writer who’s more than up to the task (he’s polishing the Spider-Man 4 script too). His involvement also gives the project some credibility, making it look less like a cash-in on a popular brand (and, come on, have you seen the amount of Venom logo T-shirts?? Ah, one of these days I'll finally buy it and wear my geek flag proudly...). It’s also a chance to reboot—start from scratch, and give us the Venom that’s not just some petty little punk obsessed with Peter Parker’s lab partner (who actually convinced himself that they were a “couple” after one cup of coffee).


Now here’s the bad: it’s his own movie, which probably means, minus all traces of Spider-Man (save for maybe a cameo by Tobey Maguire), Venom would become the hero of his own story. He is a tragic hero, and, for anyone who remembers, the 90’s cartoon even had an arc when he used his powers for good to save the woman he loves. I’m guessing we’ll see something similar here: he’ll be evil at first, but (most likely after hurting someone he cares about) he’ll learn to fight the evil alien brain (the costume is actually a living organism), and turn those powers against an even bigger bad guy. Voila, a new franchise is born—another dark, broody hero to fit nicely into the post-Dark Knight superhero mold. And once all the groundwork is laid, who says he can’t team up (or face off against) Spider-Man sometime in the future? Will this Venom be played by Topher Grace? Probably not—the beauty of the alien symbiote is that it can attach to anyone, and maybe Sony won’t even go with Eddie Brock for this go-around.

I’m not crazy about this idea; I’m not even sure if we need a Venom spin-off altogether, since there are better comic-book characters out here who still don’t have their own movie. And the 15 minutes of him in Spider-Man 3 didn’t exactly scream like there was a fascinating, untold story for a full-length movie; did anybody really come out of the theater and say: “Man, I'd love to spend more time with Topher…”?. Mostly, I would have rather seen Venom as the main villain in a Spider-Man movie. (Ever wish studios could just ignore a movie in a franchise and re-do it with the same team? I would totally forgive 20th Century Fox if they pretended X-Men 3 didn’t happen, and just made that movie over again). I keep thinking that Sony just messed up their chance, and this will turn into another expensive, pointless ride.

As always, we’ll just have to see. I respect Gary Ross a lot (Dave is a favorite of my family), and I certainly love the Venom character—there is a ton more they could do with him. Let’s see if they could put together something interesting here. Even better, let’s hope they redeem the Spider-Man franchise in whole—I’m sure a lot is riding on Spider-Man 4 to get Peter Parker’s world back on track, and I hope Sam Raimi recharged those creative juices with Drag Me to Hell (which I’m looking forward to finally catching on DVD).

I know I’ll see both that and Venom anyway—let’s just hope they’re both good.

What do you guys think of the Venom movie news? And who would you like to see Spider-Man take on in Spider-Man 4?

My pick would be Carnage—if you thought Venom was bad, wait until you see this guy. At least somewhere deep down, beneath all that alien slime, Brock has a heart; Cassidy, the serial killer who inherits another symbiote, is all-out, unhinged madness. With no humanity whatsoever, this guy just wants blood—he thrives on killing, making him more powerful and uncontrollable than Venom could ever be. He'd be an amazing match for Spidey (and the effects to bring him to life should be fantastic)—check him out in the picture below (he's the red, splotchy one on the left)—he definitely has potential as a big-screen villain.


Images courtesy of Marvel Comics, Marvel Entertainment, and Sony Pictures.
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