So Sony's rebooting the Spider-Man movie franchise. This has caused some alarm amongst the Spidey fans, some good and some bad. To make matters worse is Sony's announcement that it's taking the Spider-Man franchise in a different direction in favor of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. This too has been met with mixed reactions. So I went on to reading the first few arcs of Ultimate Spider-Man as to gauge the possibilities this film has to offer and I'm writing this article to break down, analyze, and find out what it takes to translate the comic into a good movie. But first a few words before I break-down of the first issues of Ultimate Spider-Man.
First I want to address one rumor floating around. "This is going to turn into a 90210, Gossip Girl, Twilight knockoff starring our oh so likable, lovable, and now homosexual Spider-Man!" Sony's press release stated "The touchstone for the new movie […] the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley where the villain-fighting took a back seat to the high school angst." This somehow was translated into “We want the high school musical they couldn’t get on Broadway” to most fans. Sony is talking about high school angst. High school angst that has much more relevance in a Super-Hero flick then it ever had in movies like Twilight and the CW dramas. Those shows were never even about teenage angst to begin with, they were shows about groups of spoiled, whiny, bratty teenagers making the worst possible choices a teenager can make just for the sake of drama. Real teenage angst, when done right, had made for excellent movies (Donnie Darko, Dazed and Confused, Rushmore, need I continue?). Also angst, in and of itself, exists in every good superhero movie, there's no getting around it. Being a superhero is tough and showing that angst reveals a sense of humanity and depth to the character that allows audiences to open up and to connect with those characters. Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Watchmen, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, and even Raimi's original Spider-Man movies had angst (which was in excess in the 3rd movie, but most here know that). Like I said it can work once it’s done right.
There’s some concerns out there with Marc Webb directing the Spider-Man reboot. He only has one movie under his belt and it was neither an action nor an effects-driven film. Many people think “what does the guy who made “500 Days of Summer” possibly know about Spider-Man?” Honestly I wouldn’t know. But let’s look at what we (or at least I) do know. I’ve seen “500 Days of Summer” (which I recommend all of you, both Spidey reboot haters and non-haters, to go see) and the best way I can describe it is as a coming of age story. It’s a movie about how this one guy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has this ideal with this whole fantasy surrounding it and he continues to build it up until, all in one instant, it comes crashing down. He gets a serious wake-up call. He sees the divide between fantasy and reality, and he grasps it. He learns from this whole experience and he grows from it. Is JGL’s character really that different from Peter Parker? Isn’t that what Spider-Man’s learning curve is all about? Isn’t that what most superheroes go through? The whole movie was about character development and growth. The whole movie not only played off of angst but did it beautifully. It’s wasn’t some cheesy chick flick, it wasn’t some lame CW drama, and it wasn’t –ahem- Twilight. This guy knows his stuff and he wants to get somewhere. He’s serious. He’s not looking to make crap movies. He knows how important this franchise is to its fans. He knows how great Raimi’s adaptation and interpretation was. He’s not looking to fill Raimi’s shoes. He’s not looking to exceed him. He just wants to make his own vision of Spider-Man and bring it to the big screen. He certainly has my full faith.
I went on to read the first 39 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man. While I can’t say that I’m in love with the series, I do understand and respect why so many others do. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good:
(1) Greater depth and insight behind the establishment and development (not origin) of Peter Parker as Spider-Man
(2) Great balance of High School and Spidey-time. I don’t think there was more of High School life then Super Hero life in the comics or vice versa.
(3) An excellent portrayal behind the struggles and strains of leading a double life. If any comic fails to accomplish this, I feel that the comic has failed altogether.
(4) Storylines brilliantly layered and melded into each other, the way each storyline sets up the not only the next storyline but also future storylines.
The Bad:
(1) Huge divergences from the original comics, though I do realize there’s no getting around that. Divergences I’m talking about in particular is how they made MJ’s character closer to Gwen Stacy, and Gwen Stacy just some poor, misunderstood, knife wielding, rebel. I’m also not a fan of the stricter, bitchier, hard-ass Aunt May.
(2) Weak supporting characters (outside of Aunt May, MJ, and Gwen), there’s no character development and they’re not too involved in Peter’s life. More or less they’re all just there. (Although I hear these characters are further developed later on down the line)
(3) Mutant/racial hate: I understand it’s an important topic and a good way to relate to racism, but just seems out of place in Spider-Man Comics. We have Ultimate X-Men for that
(4) Constant name-dropping of current celebrities... We get it. It’s new, it’s current, it’s with the times. No need to constantly shove it in our faces. This just really annoyed me.
(5) Uhh isn't it a Secret Identity supposed to be... well a SECRET?! Just about everyone, or at least everyone who matters in the Ultimate universe knows who Spider-Man is and I mean heroes and villains alike.
The Ugly:
Spider-Man will never leave High School, and though the comics are about him establishing himself as the Superhero we all know and love he never really gets there. Reason I put this outside of “The Bad” is because, like it or not that’s how the comics are and that’s how the movies are going to be. Regardless the point I’m trying to make is that a good story can still be told while he's in high school.
All in all I have to say I’m still not a fan of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics but I can certainly see it being made into a great set of movies just as long as it doesn’t follow the comics bit by bit, which let’s face it, no comic book movie has ever done. The direction the movies supposedly will take are about how Spider-Man establishes himself as a superhero in the world, similarly to the way Batman does in Nolan’s take on the character. Meaning the movies tell more than just an origin. They follow the character’s growth and acceptance into the role that’s been given to them. I believe the Ultimate Spider-Man comics are the best source material they can get for that story. They went into the major issues of what the superhero life entails and it shows how Peter Parker grows into the role.
If they were to adapt the comics into a trilogy of movies (more or less than a trilogy depending on its success) from what I read I say go with these storylines:
(A) Taking on the Kingpin/Ultimate Electro (Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #8-13)
Great story, nay, amazing story… Spider-man realizes how futile his efforts are when the big fish are still out there untouched. Also realizes from his fights with Electro and Kingpin, not every fight can be won by simply battering the bad guy, brains before brawn. Spidey wises up and starts his smart-mouthing (I laughed so hard when he did the “Kingpin, you are so fat” jokes). The storyline shows how resourceful he is both as Peter Parker and as Spider-Man.
(B) Ultimate Doctor Octopus (Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #14-21)
Doc Ock gets push to the brink of insanity, then is pushed further. Shows how suits like Justin Hammer can manipulate men like Otto Octavius and the public image of a guy like Spider-Man (Marvel please make Sony cast Sam Rockwell for Justin Hammer again, excellent crossover opportunity). Spider-man for the first time rises up from public enemy to hero of the people. This was a wonderful story that shows us what the public think of Spider-man, how this affects him, how easily their opinions can be swayed, and how he deals with the dilemma of doing the right thing by defending men like Justin Hammer. I know Doctor Octopus was already used in the movies, if they really want they can swap him out for another villain but please, PLEASE use this storyline. It really was a great one.
(C) Ultimate Green Goblin (Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #1-7 & #22-27)
Yes, I honestly think they should use him, just not all hulked out. The way Osborn finds out Spider-Man’s identity and how it affects his (Spider-Man’s) battles was played greatly. The random battle in the school with Spider-Man and the Green Goblin was great, another good way of showing how Peter’s life as Spider-Man affects his personal life, and what impact Spider-Man has on the kids there (If they have a battle like that before having the Green Goblin as a central villain in the first movie and another one in the second movie, though not in the school, that would be so awesome, and yet so very unlikely). The second part of the storyline shows how Spidey deals with villains who know his secret identity (which happens fairly often in these comics), along with the strain of his relationships when they become jeopardized, especially between him and Mary Jane who knows he’s Spider-Man. Also it was a nice run-in with S.H.I.E.L.D. (Again great crossover opportunity. Marvel get Samuel L. Jackson to reprise his role, I mean the movies currently do use the Ultimate version of Nick Fury). If they must have the formula change Osborn, at least have him look like the original goblin (honestly can’t see this storyline working without Norman transforming at all).
Storylines to stay away from
(A) Ultimate Kraven (Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #16-21)
Oh god, this went as wrong as it possibly could. Character-wise it was the same guy but with such a weak back-story. Kraven here was a –shudders- reality TV-show host. Something like the Crocodile Hunter of the Spider-Man world, yeah he was even Australian. I mean seriously? You had to change it that much just to “contemporize” him? The original Kraven was a badass and this story just wrecked all that, but I was like fine, whatever, when it came time for his fight literally right after Spidey took down Doc Ock. I was like great! Spidey’s winded and Kraven’s on the up and up. This should turn out to be pretty interesting, man how wrong I was. Spidey took him out in a single punch, like it was a joke. I don’t know if they expand on his character later and actually come a little closer to the original but from what I saw I was sorely disappointed. Please, please, please stay away from this character. Do us all a favor just use the original Kraven we all know and love.
(B) Death of Captain Stacy (Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #29-32)
Captain Stacy’s role was never as big in the Ultimate Comics as it was in the 616 comics, hence there wasn’t as big of an impact when he died (It did make an impact, just not a big one). Worst of all it wasn’t a super-villain fight that got him killed, hell it wasn’t even a fight involving Spider-Man (well it did but indirectly). He was killed by some punk who dressed up as Spider-Man just because it would be cool. Yeah I at first I thought Chameleon? But in the end it was just some Joe Schmo, never even explaining how he got Spidey’s web shooters. It was a good story showing us Spidey’s life as Peter Parker with him dealing with an imposter smearing his good name and reputation and how both Gwen and he dealt with the death of George Stacy, but outside that I thought the overall plot was weak. It felt lazy and uninspired, like it was just meant to be a segue into the next storyline, and speaking of which…
Storyline I’m not sure of…
Ultimate Venom (Ultimate Spider-Man Issues #32-39)
I’m not sure where to categorize this one. There were some things I liked and some things I didn’t. First I’ll start with the good. I like how there was already a friendship between Eddie and Peter. It was good because there really wasn’t much of a friendship between Peter and Harry. They were friends but not much like the original comic. The strain his friendship with Eddie puts on Spider-Man once they fight. In the outcome nearly quits because of this. It was a much darker take on the story then the original. If the movies want to play off angst I say this storyline fits beautifully with that. The one thing I didn’t like about this storyline is the short amount of time that Spidey had the Black Suit on for. He had it on for all of one night in the comic. I know in the original storyline he also didn’t have it too long either but it did last for more than a night. I think the black suit would have been a great storyline in and of itself. I did however like when Spidey lost his temper the suit reacted and changed with his rage. Even though I like how they gave Eddie a pretty solid backstory, I don’t know if I like him that much in this story. He wasn’t very much like the original Eddie Brock but I’m guessing that was the point. Don’t really know what to say about him. Like I said I’m not all that sure about this storyline, there were things that worked for me and others that didn’t. I liked the original Venom story more, but this wasn’t bad either. It was just different, and it certainly was interesting take on the character. I'm just not all that sure how I feel about the storyline altogether.
Honestly I'm not for or against the reboot. The whole reason I wrote this article was just to gauge and point out the possibilities this film has to offer. Yeah it's true that without it even going into production it already has several strikes against it, but the movie hasn't even been filmed yet. We don't have a cast. We have no idea what direction the story or the characters will take. This can be good or bad. Really, no one should be getting overly excited or critical for the movie. I say wait for some news see how production goes and wait for a trailer. Mind you I'm not trying to tell any of you what you should be think or what your opinion should be, I'm just asking politely to keep an open mind. This movie can go either ways and if we do get a good movie, it will be one of the greatest Comic Book Movies upsets of all time. It will have been well worth the wait.