First shot of the new Spider-Man…

Updated on February 15, 2011 By Ken Begg 23 Comments

Have to say, I’m pretty meh about this. I don’t know, I’m an old man and I’ve seen a ton of Spider-Man adaptations in one form or another in my time. And although Spidey is the backbone of the Marvel universe, he’s never been a character I’ve been completely in love with.

I mean, the second Raimi movie was the best superhero movie ever (although Dark Knight raised the bar quite a bit higher subsequently). But the third one wasn’t that hot, and I’d really much more interested in seeing the Thor and (especially) Cap and (especially especially) Avengers movies. Spider-Man the Reboot ranks somewhat higher on my interest scale than the awful-looking Green Lantern movie, but really, like most stuff I won’t see this in a theater until someone else wants to go see it.

You know what I would like? A Spider-Man cartoon series based on his old Marvel Team-Up book. Basically like that Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon DC was doing a while back. Then we could see (’70s style) Luke Cage and Ghost Rider and the Thing and Sub-Mariner and Dr. Strange and just cool stuff like that. But please, dump that anime-style animation all these shows get now. I’d like something more classical, but the Batman: TAS designs.

Pin It



Related Posts

  • Ericb

    That suit looks like it will be mightily uncomfortable during the summer (unless the radioactive spider bite makes Peter cold blooded).

  • BeckoningChasm

    He looks like he’s made out of basketball skin.

  • jzimbert

    Really? Spider-man 2 the best superhero movie ever? I mean, I actually agree, but I always thought of Ken as more of a Superman kind of guy.

  • monoceros4

    “I mean, the second Raimi movie was the best superhero movie ever….”

    Oh, dear. Dear no. And surely Captain America is the backbone of the Marvel Universe? Spider-Man’s like his whiny nephew who’ll never grow up.

  • “….but I always thought of Ken as more of a Superman kind of guy.”

    No way, man! Marvel rulez!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

    Before Spider-Man 2, I’d probably have gone with Batman Returns. Superman is good, but has severe pacing problems. Still a fun movie, though.

  • Monocero — Nope, Spider-Man is like the Superman of Marvel. (Wolverine is probably it’s Batman.) That’s why at times he’s had like 9 monthly titles at once, and multiple titles for decades now.

  • Elizabeth

    Any love Ken might’ve had for Superman was probably destroyed by Quest for Peace, which is a terrible movie but, I think, very true to Superman’s underlying Boy Scout fascism. I mean, if you have a real live Ubermensch, why not have him installed as benevolent dictator?

    Batman Returns is definitely the best superhero movie ever.

  • MarshallDog

    It looks like he’s got webslinger device thingies. Not that it really matters, but have they gone back on the whole shooting sticky goo from his wrists?

  • They have abandoned the organic webshooters. I assume it’s to help separate this new series from Raimi’s movies, and it’s actually kind of savvy. It’s an authentic change, if a minor one; brings back the idea of Parker as a scientific genius (in a world where Doc Oct can invent those tentacles, why can’t Peter make web fluid and shooters); and is kind of old school. And you can introduce a danger element by having him run out of fluid.

  • David Fullam

    Add me to the list of folks not too interested in this. Hopefully I will be proven wrong.

  • alex

    I hope this Spiderman doesn’t remove his mask every two seconds. Anybody else noticed how often Maguire kept taking his Spidey mask off in the Raimi films? Why bother with a secret identity if you show everybody your face?

  • BeckoningChasm

    That was one of the things I liked about Stan Lee’s admission of why he made the identities of the Fantastic Four public: “If I had a superpower, I’d sure want everyone to know about it!”

  • alex

    I wonder if the ‘taking off my mask every two seconds’ thing in the Raimi films had to do with actor’s vanity or Maguire being unable to act without showing his face?

  • Ericb

    He may have spider powers but I bet he still breathes like a mammal so the mask really doesn’t make much sense. How does he breath with it on, particularly when he’s exerting himself?

  • Marsden

    I know Pete invented his web shooters in the book and it’s good to show he is smart and capable and he can run out of “fluid” but considering all of the incredible things the web shooters do and how broke he is why didn’t he ever patent them and sell the idea? Talk about an incredible law enforcement tool, cops that can stop you in your tracks thwip thwip. Peter should head to the patent office. This was the reason that I kind of told myself stop it when the last 3 movies showed him “naturally” creating his own webs as the whole million dollar patent idea was neatly disposed of. Then again, we all know spiders don’t shoot silk out of their legs so Pete should have had it coming out of… somewhere else, but of course they couldn’t have that now, could they?

  • I think the taking off the mask thing is just a Hollywood thing. When you’re paying somebody to star in your movie, you often don’t want him to cover up his face for half the movie; i.e., Judge Dredd. Christopher Nolan is smart enough to let Batman be Batman, though.

  • Rock Baker

    I’ve seen two shots from this film now, and the first was just as dark as this still. I hope that’s not reflective of the mood of the movie itself. One attractive thing about Rami’s films were their use of color and occasional flag-waving.

    I think the best superhero ‘movie’ I’ve seen has to be the Captain Marvel serial, or maybe the pilot movie for the Incredible Hulk series. I remember thinking that Spiderman 2 drags a little in repeat viewings. Still, the bit with the runaway train is probably one of the best sequences even seen in a superhero movie.

  • alex

    I loved that Nolan understood that Batman and Bruce Wayne should be ‘seperated’ so to speak. There is only one brief scene in Batman Begins where he removes his mask in the Batcave and he is shot from the back so you don’t see his face. Also just one scene in The Dark Knight where he’s got the suit (no cape) and he holds the mask in his hands. Other directors should emulate Nolan about this. Keep the man and his alter ego seperate.

  • I second Ken’s notion of Spiderman II being the best superhero movie (other than Dark Knight). I find Batman Returns as appalling as the Schumacher movies. In addition to being a jackass, Tim Burton is an avowed disdainer of the comic book medium, and it shows in his muddled, overblown Batman films. Thank god for Dark Knight.

  • monoceros4

    (On Spider-Man’s status with Marvel:) That’s why at times he’s had like 9 monthly titles at once, and multiple titles for decades now.

    OK, I’ll have to concede that point. By “backbone” I was imagining a connotation something like “moral center” or “authority”, but you’re speaking of Spider-Man’s status as a focus of publication, not as a character.

    I still think Spider-Man 2 is ultimately a poor movie. There are some excellent scenes–the moment when Aunt May abandons Peter at the dinner-table to go up stairs remains with me, and I liked the sequence where Peter tries to salve his conscience by rushing into a burning building to save a man, only to find out in the end that he’d inadvertently allowed another man to die. But these strong moments aren’t enough to make up for rubbish like, oh, any scene with James Franco or Kirsten Dunst in it, or the overwrought conclusion to the train-stopping sequence, or the ludicrous artificial-sun concept (that can be drowned in the East River.)

  • Toby Clark

    I think Batman Returns is the best of the Burton-Schumacher series as well. But it only comes out ahead by a small margin, which is why I always watch the two in marathon form. I think my feelings are summed up by the words of one critic who I hate 90% of the time: “While the first of these two films has a far better story, the story of the second film is better executed by the actors.”

    As much as I liked Andrew Garfield in The Social Network, Tobey MacGuire will always be Spider-Man to me. And maybe Christopher Daniel Barnes.

    The bigger problem for me is that it’s a continuity reboot that isn’t needed – Spider-Man 3 wasn’t brilliant but it wasn’t as franchise-destroyingly bad as Batman and Robin or Superman IV. And it doesn’t help that Garfield is old enough to pick up where Macguire left off in the Raimi continuity.

    I will admit though that Martin Sheen sounds very promising as Uncle Ben. And using Gwen Stacey has got to work better than it did in Spider-Man 3.

  • Reed

    I know that I am the lone voice crying in the wilderness, but I do not think the Dark Knight is a good movie. To me it is a mediocre movie with one performance so strong that it carries along the rest of the movie with it whenever the Joker is on screen (except for the final fight with Batman). Now I can’t see it on cable without wondering why Black Dynamite doesn’t kick his ass instead of putting out a contract…

    That’s not why I’m jumping in, though. I have recently caught up on all of the episodes of the Avengers cartoon on Disney. I was blown away by how good it is. It uses some of the modern storylines that I don’t particularly like, but does good things with them. As with any cartoon superhero show it misses a few beats. For my money the Wasp is way too powerful, and it is too easy for foes to deprive Thor of his hammer. Also, I dislike that Thor is only effective when wielding Mjolnir. Do writers not understand that even without it he is the mightiest warrior in Asgard, and can, you know, fight? But for all of that, it is for my money the best Avengers branded product ever on television. Much better than those DVD “Ultimate Avengers” movies.

    I’m mostly neutral on the whole Spidey thing. I thought Spider Man 2 was OK, but hated everything that they did with Doc Oc. Intelligent amoral tentacles that want to do fusion research? Really?

    I want Captain America to be good so badly that it is truly embarassing. My wife won’t let me talk about it any more. :(

  • Calypso

    Ken, are you looking forward to see the Broadway Superman musical?
    {giggle}
    *if they make a DVD of it, wouldn’t it be great at B-Fest?!