C’MON HOLLYWOOD: Is Spider-Man Dead in the Water?

…is SPIDER-MAN dead in the water?
by J.A. Hamilton

I know, I know I wrote about SPIDER-MAN not so long ago but unfortunately things change so fast in this business that here we are again. The run of the mill gossip about villains was merely one aspect of the many tribulations surrounding this franchise as SONY tried to move forward with the fourth installment, and albeit the transition was anything but smooth as we’ve all seen by now. But again, these are things I take with a grain of salt as things are not always what they seem, and people love to run with “new” information be it true or false. One critical question still remains; do the fans still possess enough enthusiasm to sit through a “reboot” and if so, to what end?

Dafoe was good, but the Goblin could have been scarier

Being a crazed Spidey fan I was on fire with anticipation for the first film, and people can say what they want about Willem Dafoe’s portrayal of the Norman Osborne (aka Green Goblin) but I liked where they went with it and can’t complain as it was the best it could be for a “safe” PG-13 first run. That said, because of how far they pushed the Goblin character, I have no interest in seeing this duplicated and I’m assuming most of you don’t either. There are more than enough villains in Peter’s arsenal to use and or revamp, so on that note, here’s hoping they man-up and go in a fresh direction on the villain front. Also, a continuation of the overall story with origin flashbacks would be much preferred.

They can’t f*ck up Venom twice…can they?

Now story-wise I’m all for James Vanderbilt as a writer, I’m unsure if they’ll keep him at this point or how much (if any) of his SPIDER-MAN 4 and 5 script efforts will be salvaged, but I still feel he’s a solid choice for the job and a smart way to reinvent the wheel as needed. This does lead me to believe that the VENOM story (which SONY has been totally hush, hush about from jump street) will be spliced into this somehow or vice-versa, with the new SPIDER-MAN flick leading into VENOM as a spinoff. SONY was the voice behind Venom being thrown into SPIDER-MAN 3, so rest assured with them back in control and a new tent pole franchise in VENOM on the horizon, we’ll be seeing much more of him.

Maguire did a solid job in my books

I am sorry to see Tobey Maguire go as his portrayal of Peter/Spidey grew on me, and it’s always scary (at first) to hear that our hero is about to get a face lift. The latest rumors of Robert Patterson being up for the role makes me want to shoot myself, so I can only hope and pray that this is some Twi-fan’s wet dream that somehow made it onto the internet. I was always partial to the idea of Jake Gyllenhaal as Peter ever since I first watched DONNIE DARKO, but with the PRINCE OF PERSIA role in his pocket (which will have sequels I assure you) I’m thinking this won’t happen. SONY needs to be very careful here and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried. Thank the heavens for a new MJ though.

Spidey faces an uphill battle, I hope he pulls through

In retrospect, things ARE a bit more chaotic when it comes to the production of films these days, and how fast rumors, gossip and slipped tidbits are publicized and then scrutinized down to the last letter online. There’s definitely no room for secrets anymore, so as I said before I try to take this all with a grain of salt. Despite all this, I remain an avid SPIDER-MAN fan and hope this doesn’t ruin a fantastic franchise with loads of potential still ripe for the picking. My advice? SONY needs to seal off a boardroom filled with the right people until they can hammer out an intelligent plan of action and competent chain of command. Spidey fans deserve better.