TASM: Why Marc Webb Nixed The Iconic "With Great Power" Quote From The Movie

TASM: Why Marc Webb Nixed The Iconic "With Great Power" Quote From The Movie

The phrase "with great power comes great responsibility" is almost as identifiable with Spider-Man as wall crawling, so why did director Marc Webb decide to leave it out of his reboot? Read on..

By MarkCassidy - Jul 02, 2012 06:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Spider-Man
Source: MTV

It's a mantra known by every Spidey fan out there, and is an essential part of Peter Parker's journey to becoming a hero - so why won't we hear it in The Amazing Spider-Man?. Marc Webb explains..



"We played around with the idea of using it, but ultimately it felt like it was in the subtext of the film in so many places. I think we've all heard it so many times that I didn't think that it was necessary to use. Uncle Ben, of course, issues a statement using some of the similar words to kind of convey that idea.

There were moments where we thought about using it, but it didn't feel as emotionally honest to the scenes and to the sequences. We were trying to create something more naturalistic. Because we had seen it so many times before, I didn't think it was absolutely necessary."


In one way I understand why it wasn't used. Think back to how many times the phrase is uttered in Sam Raimi's trilogy? It could have come across too repetitive here. Then again, surely having Uncle Ben say it just the one time couldn't have hurt? What do you guys think?









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TheAntiGrif
TheAntiGrif - 7/2/2012, 6:45 AM
First. Yippee
Demonwolf
Demonwolf - 7/2/2012, 6:45 AM
Boooooooo!
TheAntiGrif
TheAntiGrif - 7/2/2012, 6:46 AM
I wonder if he tells petey that in the midst of the whole fighting fiasco
BarnaclePete
BarnaclePete - 7/2/2012, 6:46 AM
Good move
JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 7/2/2012, 6:53 AM
Ummm who cares they are going to make a lot of changes in the origin of Spider Man in this movie
SuperSomething616
SuperSomething616 - 7/2/2012, 6:58 AM
Can't say i disagree really...its like Superman being from Krypton...everyone knows the statement:

"With Great Power...Comes Great Responsibility"

Comes from spiderman...and honestly who in the real world would ever utter such a cheesey statement...

beane2099
beane2099 - 7/2/2012, 6:59 AM
Good. Don't need it. With great power come high electric bills. Electric bills, y'know that artsy show with the ducks dressed in neon? [cricket chirps] ... No? Nobody? Okay, I tried. See ya all later.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 7/2/2012, 6:59 AM
It hasn't already been posted, the interview only went up on MTV today, July 2nd.
superotherside
superotherside - 7/2/2012, 7:02 AM
Hmmm.. idk I wouldn't have minded them using it.
thalidomide
thalidomide - 7/2/2012, 7:03 AM
Manny Pacquiao ruined that quote.
BlanketMan
BlanketMan - 7/2/2012, 7:03 AM
Uncle Ben never said it in Amazing Fantasy #15, either. It was Stan Lee's omniscient narrator. It really doesn't make sense for Uncle Ben to say it, since he was not aware that Peter even had "great power." It came across as a bit forced in Raimi's movies, too.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 7/2/2012, 7:06 AM
That's true actually..well, not that it seemed forced, I think it worked pretty well.
ManofSteel23
ManofSteel23 - 7/2/2012, 7:13 AM
Yeah I watched the 2002 spiderman the other night,and when uncle ben says it in the car,im thinking...well he doesnt know he has some sort of power,he only punched a kid in school,otherwise you should be telling that quote to everyone lol
hueyfreeman
hueyfreeman - 7/2/2012, 7:15 AM
Great... now the only cheesy lines in Twilight-Spiderman will be the romantic ones
thalidomide
thalidomide - 7/2/2012, 7:16 AM
It's a metaphor, Peter was a weak kid before he got bitten by a radioactive spider. Punching Flash was his first exposure of having a so-called "power" and Uncle Ben was worried he might abused it.
ThreeBigTacos
ThreeBigTacos - 7/2/2012, 7:16 AM
Having watched it last night, I agree with Mark Webb: it would of felt very forced and unnatural: kind of overlapping the whole 'modern' approach to Spider-Man (excellent movie by the way!).
KeithM
KeithM - 7/2/2012, 7:18 AM
It was a mistake not to use it. The phrase is important to Peter, because it's an iconic, easy to remember, but profound reminder of his duty to use his powers responsibly. It coming from his Uncle Ben is important, because of the added weight it brings after his death and it's important to US, the audience, because the phrase both defines him and is inextricably linked to him.

Without the phrase being used at least once, by his Uncle Ben, then it makes it seem less 'genuine', less like the 'real' Spider-Man and more like an Elseworlds/What If...? "a filmmaker thought his ideas were better than Stans and his costume design was better than Steve's" type deal.

It's just another one of those "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" things Webb seems to have done just for the sake of doing it 'differently' - without any due consideration to whether it's actually better.

Not dissing on the film as a whole, but things like this do make me a little crazy with the "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!!" of it all.
ATrueHero1987
ATrueHero1987 - 7/2/2012, 7:19 AM
He could've said it once in the movie but it's nothing to cry over because it's not in the movie.
thewonderer
thewonderer - 7/2/2012, 7:27 AM
This was the same excuse execs used for not saying Avengers Assemble in Avengers.

People need to STFU, this is a problem. They have all this other weird ass dialogue "we all have secrets, the ones we keep, etc." that sound way worse.

ATrueHero1987
ATrueHero1987 - 7/2/2012, 7:28 AM
At least Webb provided a good reason. Unlike Matt Tolmach, who provided a dumb reason to why The Lizard only wore the lab coat once.lol
HarryOsbournesFathersGlider
HarryOsbournesFathersGlider - 7/2/2012, 7:29 AM
Gutted, this is worse than them not saying Avengers Assemble in the Avengers
fanboy03191
fanboy03191 - 7/2/2012, 7:32 AM
We've heard it so many times, I think we all get it. Its not like they ditched the whole power, responsibility thing right?
deanwilkins
deanwilkins - 7/2/2012, 7:33 AM
Agreed. I've become annoyed by that saying.
Phlegmbot
Phlegmbot - 7/2/2012, 7:36 AM
I've seen the movie at a screening and this is BS:

"There were moments where we thought about using it, but it didn't feel as emotionally honest to the scenes and to the sequences. We were trying to create something more naturalistic. Because we had seen it so many times before, I didn't think it was absolutely necessary."

There's a scene -- and it's actually the ONLY poorly written individual scene in the whole movie -- where they go through SO much trouble to avoid the phrase, it comes off as forced.

I forget the wording, but it's a long convo w/Peter and Ben, where Ben says something akin to, "Peter, you have a moral responsibility to do good." It was like they sat there trying to come up w/different ways to say the REAL line that it ended up feeling even more forced.
SkywayTraffic
SkywayTraffic - 7/2/2012, 7:37 AM
"Avengers Assemble" anyone?
TheJoshider
TheJoshider - 7/2/2012, 7:45 AM
i read amazing fantasy 15 yesterday, and as far as i remember uncle ben doesnt even say it.
googleplex
googleplex - 7/2/2012, 7:57 AM
@keithm, the idea of changing things up is so that it will fit better in the story being told. while it worked fine in the comics it might not work here in this movie. i do like how he commented that the concept behind the phrase is still present in the film just not spoken. remember this is a visual media. we don't need everything told to us.
FireKnightRises
FireKnightRises - 7/2/2012, 7:57 AM
and that still doesn't change the fact that the suit is piece of shit
Blitzed
Blitzed - 7/2/2012, 8:00 AM
It's funny to see the regular trolls like Therealgoomba write that Uncle Ben saying the phrase is iconic to Spider-Man even though he never said it in the comics. It just shows how these kids were wiened on Rami's films and have no other knowledge of Spidey to reference. They are Rami fans not Spidey fans.
webheaded
webheaded - 7/2/2012, 8:04 AM
THAT is about the only gripe I have with this movie. I understand it's a reboot and you have to be super different, but that is one thing you don't take out.
FireKnightRises
FireKnightRises - 7/2/2012, 8:04 AM
"Raimi kind of gave that line to Uncle Ben but he never said it in the comics. And now everyone thinks that Uncle Ben said it for the first time, that's when you know who became Spider-fans after the Raimi movies, and who were fans before that."

well I was a kid when 2002 spider-man come out and that time I only know spidey from cartoon and I haven't touch US comics, give me a break okay :D
uvsk420
uvsk420 - 7/2/2012, 8:08 AM
hell i'm not gonna pay to watch this movie, i'll just pop some popcorn and stay home and watch spiderman 1 and 2 on the hd tv wit the surround sound "f" this remake
Dedpool
Dedpool - 7/2/2012, 8:08 AM
Makes sense, it's his mantra, and we know that, but after it being used in the Raimi films and the cartoons and so on We've heard that exact line done to death. Hell people are even turning it on it's ear now. So something similar that gets the exact same idea across works.
GLprime2814
GLprime2814 - 7/2/2012, 8:22 AM
Stan lee used it as a narrative thing, same thing with superman the whole faster than a bullet powerfull than a locomotive it's for benefits of the reader.
Yeah in the most recent comics peter now says my uncle Ben taught me but before the first movie, I don't recall him ever saying it in comics.
AnonymousGuy
AnonymousGuy - 7/2/2012, 8:24 AM
In the first comic, it's the narrator who says it, not any of the characters. It's not meant to be explicitly stated within Spider-Man's story. Marc Webb, if anything, is staying true to the comics.
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