The Amazing Spider-man

[johnnygobbs]

Just please don't let it be Zac Efron, or any of the Twilight cast...

[The Dark Knight]

As I have said, I'm not happy about the decision to reboot. I don't need to see more of Peter Parker as a teenager. Tobey Maguire was a great Spider-Man. Why change that?

While I liked it a lot, I felt like the filmmakers were at least trying to learn from their mistakes of Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man 4 would be better. Oh well. Such a waste of an era for no reason.

If it has to happen, personally I would prefer they went the opposite direction and made him older, tougher and less angsty. It would fit the character just fine, I think.

Spider-Man 4 would have been the chance to go further with Spider-Man, show him seasoned, also in his professional life. Why leave this chance for a cash-in and reboot with uncertain cast and director? This is a bit as if EON had sacked Sean Connery after 'Goldfinger' to reboot with a Young Bond storyline. I strongly doubt Sony has made the right decision here.

[thecolorsblend]

Just please don't let it be Zac Efron, or any of the Twilight cast...

I realize you're making a funny but this is my big fear.  I've got a great many concerns about this reboot but this is on the list somewhere between 0 and #2.

Let's face it.  For some reason, it's difficult for Hollywood to grasp the idea of a comic book.  I find that weird and inexcusable on many levels given the patent fantasy Hollywood practically dwells in outside of celluloid but there you go.  It's hard to find a filmmaker who believes in the material (whatever it may be) and can deliver something from the heart.  Somehow, there's always this temptation to make a comic book film self-aware, ironic and, in a word, stupid.  It can't be thought of as a slice of myth, no no, it has to have some sense of "irony" to it, little winks to the audience saying "hey, we don't believe in this material and neither should you" kind of bullsh.it.

All of this to say that finding someone like Sam Raimi to develop these kinds of films is effin' HARD.  The reality is that when you adapt comics into films, you're more likely to end up with Joel Schumacher's Batman than you are Jon Favreau's Iron Man.

The next guy may very effin' well be someone so amazing that we forget Sam Raimi entirely... but history doesn't inspire much confidence.

Sadly, we're far more likely to see some hackjob tool director take on the material, make a fuc.king joke out of it and cast whoever the American equivalent of Robert Pattinson is as Spidey, The Poptart of the Month as MJ and so forth, wrecking the franchise and thereby necessitating another reboot when the old version worked just fine.

And don't tell me that isn't a possibility.  Hey, Raimi supposedly asked for more time to do the movie properly.  The entire cast supposedly backed him up.  And supposedly that's the entire reason we're getting a reboot in the first place.  Sony wants a Spider-Man movie out there SOON.

In scenario like that, sure, you may get the Spider-Man equivalent of Christopher Reeve headlining the flick, but ya know what?  Don't effin' hold your breath!  Isn't this whole enterprise still locked in for a 2011 release date?  You mean to tell me that Sony expects to find a badass director like Raimi to get pre-production knocked out, a script written, a cast hired and the other logistics of building an entire franchise from the ground up with the first movie thereof scheduled for a release date in about a year and a half?  Sure, it could happen.  I can cite some films that beat those odds.

But ya know what?  I can cite even more that friggin SUCKED, and the overwhelming majority of 'em just might've turned out better if they'd had proper development time.

So yeah, we may get a director with a passion and vision for the material like Raimi did.  But given the time crunch Sony's already facing, I find it easier to believe that they'll give the job to which ever warm body is available right now, cross their fingers and hope for the best.

That philsophy is insane enough no matter what (particularly given that we're talking about scrapping a billion dollar franchise here) but it could possibly have been justifiable back in the 80's when comics films didn't have tons of cachet.  But nowadays?  Forget it, man, audiences expect bad assitude from their comics adaptations.  Crossed fingers and hack directors ain't gonna cut it anymore (if they ever could).  Spider-Man, TDK, Iron Man, X2, Blade and other comics films have awakened audiences to the goldmine that is the source material.

Somehow, I don't think mass audiences will readily buy into Michael Cera as Peter Parker, Taylor Swift as MJ and Hack McDouchenozzle as the director.

And frankly?  Spider-Man has FANS.  Fans that stretch beyond the comics sub-culture that birthed the (again, INSANELY PROFITABLE!!!) films.  Quality aside, are they going to accept a new continuity with a new cast and a (probable) new tone?  Maybe... but maybe not.

If Sony does everything absolutely perfectly and finds the exact right director who has enthusiasm for the material that would freak even Raimi out and assembles a script and a cast that blows everyones balls off, glues 'em back on and blows 'em off again... the best odds Sony can hope for is 50/50.

Hardcore Spidey comics fan or just a casual admirer of the movies, we ALL deserve better than 50/50... particularly when the Raimiverse had 90/10 odds in everyones favor.

Fu.cking idiots...

[The Dark Knight]

Brilliant post colors. You expressed it all.

As a Spider-Man fan, I'm just gobsmacked by Sony's move.

[johnnygobbs]

Just please don't let it be Zac Efron, or any of the Twilight cast...

I realize you're making a funny but this is my big fear.  I've got a great many concerns about this reboot but this is on the list somewhere between 0 and #2.

Unfortunately, I wasn't joking...
http://www.empireonline.com/features/10-actors-who-could-take-over-spider-man/

[Kamdan]

All of these ?casting considerations? that are being posted in the news (like Robert Pattinson and Michael Cera) should be COMPLETELY IGNORED at this point. They hardly have a script and there is no director attached to it. One they announce that, THEN expect a casting decision. Let?s not forget about all of the casting rumors from the first film: Leonardo DiCaprio, Freddie Prinze, Jr,, Chris Klein, Wes Bentley, and even Heath Ledger were all rumored to be Spidey. Did any come true? NO! Marvel does actually have a say on who is to be cast for their characters. I think they have an ?integrity of character clause.?  They will ignore Paterson and Cera types, just like the other after-mentioned actors. I mostly disagreed to all of those considered on Empire's list, except for a few: Anton Yelchin might be good, but I'd rather see him as Harry Osborn. Aaron Johnson would be interesting, but he's already in Kick-Ass, a Spidey-type of role, which will "kick ass," by the way. Best guy I can think of now would be Thomas Dekker from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

[Paul (ral)]

I wouldn't rule out all of those Empire mentioned

I do think it should be someone young (for longevity of the series) who has good acting experience (they have to be Parker) and not one of the current "pretty" boys (again they have to be Parker - not Efron or Patterson)


I thought there was a script for the new direction

[The Dark Knight]

I thought there was a script for the new direction

I don't know what the HELL is going on. I'm a big fan of the character, but at the moment, I really don't care. I've got a mixture of anger and depression. But mostly depression.

[Azrael]

Nobody would think Sony is that stupid. They had a guaranteed moneymaker there, and was it really that hard for Raimi and Sony's "professionals" to settle down on a script that could be worked as a movie to make the geeks, the audience, and most importantly, accountants and merchandise partners happy? Or (Batman voice) there's something else?

Then, they showed ingorance and arrogance a couple of years ago with the launch and marketing strategy of PS3. I know we're talking about totally different divisions of this corporation here, but it's not the first time Sony disappoints some people that have invested in its products.

[thecolorsblend]

I don't know what the HELL is going on. I'm a big fan of the character, but at the moment, I really don't care. I've got a mixture of anger and depression. But mostly depression.

I feel for you guys, I really do.  I'm not the fan of Spidey that I am of Superman and Batman (and in that order) but I've been getting into the Michelinie/McFarlane run on Amazing the past week or so and, generally, dig on the Spiderverse.  Big fan or not, this is bad news for all fans of comics properties.