January 21, 2010

  • This week, it was announced that the new person in charge of the Spider-Man movie reboot is going to be Marc Webb; the director of "(500) Days of Summer" which was one of my most favorite movies of 2009. I wasn't sure what to make of this news, especially when they said that this was going to take the character but to the high school days. Then I read information that this reboot was going to be based more on the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic book series. THAT was the best news I've heard about this, because I'm a huge fan of that book. To my chagrin however, apparently not many people in the internet are happy about this (figures).

    To quote some of the things I've read...

    "They're basing this on that ultimates crap? Forget it! I won't even bother to see it. That ultimates universe outright blows"

    "The 1960's comics are the way to go. I'm all for updating and changing bits here and there, but grounding the movie on the ultimate spiderman story line? please, don't."

    "I remember one day when I used to read comic books. Spider-man was a Man, dealing with adult issues and fighting murderous monsters like Carnage, Carrion, Venom, Electro, Scorpion. Then this guy named Ezekiel showed up and turned his life upside down. And then this chump named Morlun came and ripped out spideys eyes, and they he went in a cocoon. I WANA SEE THAT!!! BACK TO SCHOOL???"

    ...and with that last quote, you can see why people have a problem with this. It's the "ah dawr, giv me mo action" mentality. 

    IMHO, the Ultimate Spider-Man series is the BEST adaptation of the story out there, and I've been reading Spider-Man since the early '80s. In fact I would go as far and say that it's better than Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's original take on the character. USM was the first time I've seen a writer actually take the characters in a world that contains super heroes seriously, by combining realistic aspects from our regular lives into their fantastical lives, and then creating new classic stories for the mythology. So many alterations to the Marvel Universe in the Ultimate Universe, just made sense. The mutated Green Goblin in USM makes more sense realistically, than a rich dude who decides to wear a Goblin costume. The relationship between Peter and Mary Jane in USM makes more sense. The USM version of Venom made more sense. The writing overall for USM has just been brilliant, and this Peter Parker / Spider-Man has got to be one of the most believable incarnations I've seen yet. Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis simply took advantage of looking at the Spidey books that's come before him in hindsight, and *fixed* it's problems.

    I prefer the balance that Bendis did with Ultimate Spider-Man between Parker's personal High School life drama and his super hero adventures. Most super hero books always seemed to be just another tale about another villain that has to be fought, in another earth shattering melodramatic event. Ultimate Spider-Man was about the characters first and foremost, which I really appreciated. I also generally liked the serialized nature of USM and how it made it seem like a world that not only felt believable to me, but actually seemed to "age in time." Most super hero universes always come off as "stuck" in one era and one age forever, which I've honestly grown tired of (business wise I understand why though).

    Original Spider-man director Sam Raimi had a similar idea like Ultimate Spider-Man, by balancing the realism with the comic book fantasy, but it honestly was mostly just an homage to Stan Lee's and Steve Ditko's originally take on Spidey. BTW Spider-Man 2; which is regarded highly by many, IS similar to the feel of an Ultimate Spider-Man story (although USM has more humor). So if Marc Webb can capture that humanistic aspect of the Ultimate Spider-Man books, then I'm all for this reboot. Haters be damned, but I'm now pretty darn excited for the upcoming Spider-Man movies.