**Update: Upon further analysis, what the hell is Spider-Man swinging from in this latest poster?
There’s a lot I love about Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man movies (and very little I love about the third). For me, 2002’s Spider-Man was the first time a comic book film was able to conjure up the feelings I got when paging through its funny book counterpart. Raimi’s original film made several deviations from Peter Parker’s extended comic book arc (organic web shooters being a notable example), but he nailed the tone. I don’t get that feeling from Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, arriving in theatres July 3rd. Oddly enough, one of the things making me uncomfortable is one of the few things the film is mirroring directly from the comic book. And it’s front and center in this new international poster:
Raimi (and James Cameron before him) recognized the challenge in Parker’s webbing being anything but organic. If Parker were to be able to create such a thing synthetically, he’d be of much greater use to the world as an inventor. Think about it, that webbing would be one of the most important technological achievements of our time. It would be revolutionary as an adhesive and Peter Parker would be a billionaire many times over. In a live action setting, there’s something selfish about Spider-Man sitting on this one thing that could improve the world exponentially.
So aside from setting itself apart from Raimi’s films, I don’t see the purpose of webbing going the synthetic route. Everything else about this film feels like a departure from Spider-Man’s overall mythos (the darker vibe, no sight of JJ or the Bugle, Parker as a brooding skateboarder), so this slavish adherence to this single aspect sticks out.
Nothing about the lead-up to this film has clicked for me, from its announcement to the latest trailer and now this poster – a sentiment I suspect is shared by a lot of Spider-Man fans.
Do you think The Amazing Spider-Man will click with audiences? Or did Sony move to reboot too quickly?
10 comments
I don’t even think it was too quick to reboot, I just think the shit shoveled the reboot feeling they had a captive audience. Bye Bye reboot. Maybe WB will pay attention with Bats, but prolly not, as they NEVER get anything right, except the brain fart that let Nolan have Bats to begin with.
He’s swinging from a communications satellite. Isn’t it obvious?
I thought you were pointing out the nearly subliminally placed “Magic Eye” Spider-Man Logo from the city scape. The mechanical thingy-majig doesnt really bother me too much, since it is a comic book movie and I guess they needed something to differenitate it from the previous films. I still don’t have high hopes, but am more interested in seeing a re-telling of the tale Ultimate style.
It is really odd how they’re emphasizing the shooters here. Like someone drinking a coke on screen with the logo carefully turned towards the camera. But I look forward to the inevitable “You have no problem with a guy getting super powers from a radioactive spider bite, but the web shooters trip you up!?” position of idiocy defending this issue.
But I don’t think it will affect the BO outcome. Unless it’s an unbelievable dog I think it’ll do well. People will be incredibly Pro-Superhero after the Avengers and this should benefit greatly.
Will this be another situation like Rise of the Planet of the Apes, where everyone had doubts and were pleasantly surprised upon release…?
… Or will it just plain suck?!?!
If this movie fails, I’d love for Marvel to buy the rights back and integrate Spidey into the Marvel movie universe, where he belongs!
I have no problems with the webshooters being mechanical. I find it funny that most fans complained about them being organic when the first Spider-Man movie came out. Now, we’ve come full circle.
The man-made web fluid is part of the story this time. It also offers up interesting hurdles for Peter, as he can run out of fluid at in-opportune moments. And its creation touches upon Peter’s intellect which is pretty much ignored in the Raimi movies except for a few instances where he impresses Obsorn and Octavius with some science mumbo-jumbo.
As for the real-world implications of the web fluid. It dissolves within an hour, making its usefulness very limited. The more important factor? It’s just a story. A comic book story. It’s not designed to be logic foolproof. You might as well ask why the organic web making Peter doesn’t turn himself into the government, so they can study his ability to make webbing and synthesize the procedure. Or why Tony Stark doesn’t make better body armor for our troops. Or why Wolverine doesn’t hook up with a lab to figure out how to duplicate his rapid healing.
oh. He’s always just “swinging from the sky” in the comics, cartoons, movies.
Tim Kelly, The Mechanical Web Shooters were part of Spider-Man in…Amazing, Spectacular and Sensational editions for nearly…40 years. Then Sam Raimi disputes the need for such contraptions. I disliked the organic web fluid from the start. Peter Parker was a genius like Reed Richards, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. He simply felt that the death of his uncle was his failure, so he became hero. I am looking forward to this now…Amazing Spider-Man!
I will say that this movie looks more exciting than the last series. You also have to remember that there are many variations of the Spiderman story just like Batman’s some dark some more comical. I have quite a few of the old comics and you have The spectacular spiderman and the amazing spderman and just Spiderman. Truthfully mu favorite spiderman was the one with the red tights and blue jean pullover. I also have the Amazing Spiderman number 90 with the Holographic image cover. But this movie looks good to me and I ant wait to see it.
Those things are addressed and it’s central to each character’s personality and motivations.
It’s called Internal Consistency. In this instance Peter’s intellect is of greater use socially than his ability to thwart crime on a day to day basis.
If something about the web itself is part of his motivation to keep it secret, then that’s internally consistent. But even with the One Hour limitation, it’s use as a safety/emergency device would save more lives than he ever could (bar a Nuclear Bomb or something). It strong and flexible, it shoots a mile and connects point A to point B and is transportable in tiny containers – and apparently a kid can make it without a factory set up.
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