We Very Nearly Got A Horror Themed SPIDER-MAN Movie In 1985 From Director Tobe Hooper

We Very Nearly Got A Horror Themed SPIDER-MAN Movie In 1985 From Director Tobe Hooper

Spider-Man: Far From Home is the wall-crawler's second solo outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but back in 1985, Cannon Films attempted to get a horror themed version of the iconic hero in theaters.

By JoshWilding - Jun 19, 2019 02:06 AM EST
Filed Under: Spider-Man
Source: Digital Spy
Spider-Man is fortunate enough to have more hits than misses on the big screen, but things very nearly went horribly wrong for the wall-crawler back in 1985 thanks to Cannon Films. 

After paying $22,5000 for a five-year option on the character, the studio (best known for making B-List schlock) decided to take Spidey down a similar route to David Cronenberg's The Fly. Directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) and written by Leslie Stevens (Outer Limits), their idea for the franchise didn't exactly stick to the source material! 

According to Digital Spy, "instead of being bitten by a radioactive spider, Parker was deliberately bombarded with radiation by a corporate scientist – named Doctor Zork – who transforms the ID photographer (not student, or journalist) into a giant eight-armed spider-hybrid, who’s so monstrous he swiftly becomes suicidal." 
 
They add that "This man-spider is encouraged to lead the scientist’s race of mutants, but refuses and fights the creations instead." Stan Lee was understandably unhappy with the idea and convinced them to drop it. Had this Spider-Man movie happened, though, it's hard to imagine that we would have gotten Sam Raimi's version in the early 2000s.

After all, superhero movies were few and far between at the time, and there's no way Sony Pictures would have been interested in the webhead after a disastrous effort like this. 

What do you guys think? 
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Liverpool4life
Liverpool4life - 6/19/2019, 2:32 AM
Hollywood is still this stupid.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 6/19/2019, 2:33 AM
...It's weird this idea apparently got half-baked before the Fly. Must have been something in the water.
bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 6/19/2019, 2:34 AM
If they didn't tie Spider-Mans name to it, it might as well happened. The 80s produced enough weird horror movies, this would fit right in
noahthegrand
noahthegrand - 6/19/2019, 10:49 AM
@MalseMarcel - I love 80’s horror
Saga
Saga - 6/19/2019, 2:36 AM
This was widely known already. Well at least I heard of it before, not really news..
Repian
Repian - 6/19/2019, 2:40 AM
A movie of monsters can be interesting, although it is different from the idea of ​​hooper.
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 6/19/2019, 2:44 AM
So they wanted to do a Man-Spider movie. I think something like that now is better saved for Sony's Spider-Verse franchise.

Man-Spider was scary in the 90s show.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 6/19/2019, 3:22 AM
(Why yes, it does bother me that this article uses images of Doppelganger instead of something like this:)



(Why do you ask?)
Chewtoy
Chewtoy - 6/19/2019, 3:59 AM
@Spock0Clock - it’s a cool image, but I can’t understand the decision to put that pointed chimney pipe under his one foot. It’s all I can look at.
Kumkani
Kumkani - 6/19/2019, 4:52 AM
@Chewtoy - It looks like he's gonna step on it and it's gonna hurt so bad
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 6/19/2019, 4:48 AM
Spider-Man is a great character. Period. And I don't care who knows it. When he premiered in Amazing Fantasy, everybody knew he was going to be one of the most inspiring characters in comics. And sure, he's had his ups and downs of the years, everybody does. But at his core, he remains the superhero with the most consistent legacy of representing the real world problems that readers face every day. And does it bog him down? ...Well, yeah, sometimes. That's part of the “downs”. The writers evidently do struggle with that in the comics in an effort to maintain that constant revolving door of soap opera drama. Tearing down everything in his life that starts to get “too good”.

So, I guess I'm just saying that I understand the difficulties in translating him. And I understand that live-action theatrically-released films don't always provide the most comprehensive avenue to tell his kinds of stories. And it's fashionable in our circles to kick the studios and producers and directors and actors for every misstep. But I sometimes think we're missing the forest for the trees.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 6/19/2019, 4:55 AM


Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 6/19/2019, 5:15 AM
I'd have watched the hell out of that. That's got "so bad it's good" written all over it.
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 6/19/2019, 6:06 AM
Reminds me of this cheesy classic...
marvel72
marvel72 - 6/19/2019, 6:36 AM
Kravens Last Hunt would of made a good sort of Horror Spider-Man movie.
marvel72
marvel72 - 6/19/2019, 6:41 AM
@marvel72 - would have not would of.
GoldGuy
GoldGuy - 6/19/2019, 6:48 AM
We dodged a bullet.
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