THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 IS MY MOST ANTICIPATED FILM OF 2014.
I believe it has incredible potential - there is a great cast, lots of new characters and the crew appears to be having a blast (always a good sign). But there are some things worrying me, or that I want to see, so sit back and relax as I attempt to unravel the mysteries surrounding Spider-Man’s next cinematic adventure. Much of this is still just speculation at this point in time.
WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS TO FOLLOW. READ ON WITH CAUTION.
IT’S A SEQUEL
Truth be told, I really enjoyed
TASM. Sure, it was flawed (I believe the plot holes and sequel-baiting were due to studio interference, but hey, that’s just me) but as much as I loved Raimi’s
Spider-Man, this version did the origin better. A great Peter Parker and Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield), a fantastic Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and a solid focus on Peter’s relationships. It’s not always the case, but we’ve seen that CBM sequels can be better than their predecessor.
Spider-Man 2. X2. The Dark Knight. Superman II. It’s up to this film to redeem the franchise once and for all. As a sequel, there are some things it should address.
1. THE UNTOLD STORY. We were promised the secret side to Spidey’s origin, but
TASM didn’t really deliver on that promise, so perhaps we’ll get more on the mysterious vanishing of Peter’s parents here.
2. SPIDER-MAN HAS TO GROW. Hopefully, during the time that’s passed from the first movie, Spider-Man will be more confident, more awesome, and more willing to save the day, rather than his personal vendettas (we did see glimpses of hero rather than vigilante, but I’d like more).
3. UNCLE BEN'S KILLER. Now, this one looks unlikely. There are plenty of characters crammed in this thing already, and you get the sense that the killer doesn’t matter to Peter anymore. When Captain Stacy told him that he thinks Spidey’s on a revenge-fueled man-hunt, Peter faced the realities rather than his feelings.
TOO MANY CHARACTERS?
My main worry for this film is that it may suffer from
Spider-Man 3 syndrome - too many new characters (especially villains), which causes the whole movie to become a cluttered mess.
The Dark Knight Rises was a recent example of this, but to a lesser extent. I’ll discuss more about the future of the series later, but I’m going to run through some of the characters here:
GWEN STACY. I’m going to leave Peter out here, because I’m quite open as to where he develops as a character. Gwen, on the other hand... well, I’ve got my predictions. We’ve seen set photos of Gwen in an outfit many fans will recognise. It’s from The Night Gwen Stacy Died. I’ve said this before - quite irrationally and stupidly - but I’m going to say it again: I want to see that story, or at least those crucial few pages, done justice. That means the Green Goblin. I’ll talk about him again soon, but because it appears Sony plan to kill her off, I’m a little disappointed that Electro is the main villain, as this implies he’ll kill her. The impact from that comic comes that Spider-Man himself indirectly kills the love of his life, and the tragic realisation of this. Call me a purist, but this is something I want to see done right.
ELECTRO. Despite what I said about Gwen, I like the idea of Electro being the main villain; it’s a good change of pace from the Spidey foes we’ve seen on screen before. I think it’s a very bold move to cast Jamie Foxx in the role, too. It shows that the filmmakers aren’t worried by race, they’re focusing on the performance, which I believe is the right thing to do. It’s unclear whether Sony/director Marc Webb will pull a “Mandarin” on us or whether he will be the main mastermind. You can never be sure with CBMs nowadays.
NORMAN & HARRY OSBORN. There’s a lot of talk surrounding these two. It’s confirmed that Chris Cooper will play Norman and Dane DeHaan will play Harry, but it’s not clear whether either will become the Green Goblin in this film. There are some interesting points I’d like to discuss, though: one, Felicity Jones has been cast in a role, where she says she’s the Goblin’s girlfriend. Is this Harry, or Norman? Norman seems a bit old for her, so point one to Harry. Two, we’ve been told Norman is critically ill. Perhaps this means he will be cured, bringing back his health but also turning him into the Goblin. Point one to Norman. I talked about The Night Gwen Stacy Died earlier. If Sony are putting the Goblin in - either Norman or Harry - then it would feel rushed just to have him appear and suddenly kill Gwen. There’s no development to that. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe having Gwen wear that costume is to throw fans off who
think they know what’s coming. But still, consider what I’ve said.
RHINO. Marc Webb has said that his role, played by Paul Giamatti, will be a small but still relevant part to the story. I’m interested to see if he will look like the comics version of Rhino or if he will stay the same as we’ve seen in set photos.
MARY JANE WATSON. I had no opinion on Shailene Woodley playing MJ, but I felt it was the right decision to take her out of the sequel. “I made a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship,” Webb said. From the sounds of it, her role would just be quite small, to give her a little bit of development or even just saying she was there. But say Gwen does kick the bucket, having Mary Jane come in
while Peter’s grieving doesn’t feel right.
THE DAILY BUGLE? I’m wondering if, or when, we’ll see J. Jonah Jameson and his famous newspaper in this sequel. As amazing it would be to have JK Simmons back, I think for a new series we need a new JJ. It’s like the people hoping that Christian Bale will be back as Batman in the
Superman/Batman movie (I refuse to call it
Superman vs. Batman, that title just sucks). It’s not going to happen. His time is done. Their performances were very highly rated, but there would be some serious continuity errors. Then again, Judi Dench kept playing M even with a rebooted James Bond, so perhaps it’s not so silly afterall...
A SINISTER FUTURE
There’s no hiding the fact that Sony are assembling their own Spider-Man universe, and all these new characters appear to be building to something huge - the Sinister Six. The line-up changes in the comics, but if they are planning for the supervillain group to appear, it needs to be lead by Doctor Octopus. That’s a constant, and a must. He built the team. Obviously, this movie is a bit full, so save him for
TASM3, or even
TASM4.
People accuse Hollywood of playing it safe, with lots of sequels, remakes, reboots and adaptions, but CBMs are taking plenty of risks. We saw
The Avengers. It’s hard to believe now, $1.5 billion later, that it was an
extremely risky plan.
Superman/Batman is another risk.
Ant-Man. Guardians of the Galaxy. Justice League (when it happens). The Sinister Six. These are all things fans have been longing to see on the big screen, and in the next few years, they’re
all happening. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a comic book fan. These big ideas and concepts are being realised because the genre is a success; some are billion dollar franchises. The future looks bright. Sony are building a path, and maybe it’s a bit cluttered, but it’s leading to big things.
Join me next time for another ONE MAN PANEL! Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments, and feel free suggest future topics.
- staypuffed