Marvel Studios are plugging ahead with a high school-aged Spider-man in their joint venture with Sony to try and get the character right for the first time since Sam Raimi completed his take on the franchise. In the annals of comic book movies, few are as highly regarded as Raimi with his first two SPIDER-MAN movies ranked amongst the best superhero movies of all time. So, clearly his opinion matters to some.
Sam Raimi was asked by MTV what he thinks about Marvel Studios latest take on Peter Parker. Raimi shared his opinion as well as what he thought of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN films.
“I saw [both Marc Webb movies], they’re great. And I’m really glad that Marvel’s taking it to high school. I think that’s gonna be refreshing, and just like my favorite of the Spider-Man comic-books. And I have a lot of faith that they really know their stuff… The difficulty of going through high school is so unique to a superhero. It’s unique and that’s what Spider-Man’s all about, so that they’re gonna explore that head on is very exciting.”
Raimi's first SPIDER-MAN was partially set in high school for the origin portion of the film, but the cast were all in their 20s. With Tom Holland an appropriate age to play a high school student, this version should feel very different. Kevin Feige has said that Jon Watts' film is aiming for more of a John Hughes feel, so hopefully Raimi's seal of approval carries to the finished product.
SPIDER-MAN hits theaters on July 28, 2017 but will debut first in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR on May 6, 2016.