Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield's 2012 Spider-Man movie megathread

[The Confessor]

I don't want to reveal too much, but it's actually kind of a sad movie. Watch it Confessor.

OK, fair enough. I might well check it out.

[RDMacQ]

An image of how things might have turned out.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1928891

[Joseph C.]

What do you guys think about the spider-man film franchise reboot that will happen in a couple years or so?

Did you like the films and see no need to start over?

Did you hate it all and am really excited for the reboot?

Are you indifferent either way?

[DKR]

What do you guys think about the spider-man film franchise reboot that will happen in a couple years or so?

Did you like the films and see no need to start over?

Did you hate it all and am really excited for the reboot?

Are you indifferent either way?

I'm looking forward to it.

Sure Spider-Man 3 wasn't as good as the first 2, but it didn't deserve to be rebooted. Then I found out what they were trying to plan for 4, and realized it was for the best.

After some initial hostility about it, I had some fun speculating what they can do with it. I'm just hoping they don't go all Ultimate on it like they're saying.

As long as Spidey's still getting movies.

[Micro]

Well, to add some context to the question for those that don't know. The reboot, is said to be:

Directed by Marc Webb - He has only directed one movie which was (500) Days of Summer, which I never saw, but got mostly positive reviews. He is known mostly for directing music videos, and did direct one episode of The Office.

The Script will be written by James Vanderbilt - He is best known for writing Basic, and Zodiac, and also The Losers(which at this moment I think is still in theaters).

There seems to be no word on who will play Spider-Man/Peter Parker as far as I know, but we have been told it will be in 3-D and released in 2012.

I liked the first two Spider-Man movies at the time they came out, but was never really super excited about them. The third movie was just....not very good. I am completely okay with them rebooting the films, but it really depends on what direction they take it in.

The early rumors seem to suggest, they are going for a "Gritty and Contemporary" take on the character, and frankly that sorta worries me. I basically fear them trying to copy Batman's success and try to bring that same feel to Spider-Man. I'm all for a more serious tone, but Spider-Man is not really a dark character, and I don't want to see it overdone.

A few of my concerns are:

Are they just going to spend the first movie retelling the origin again?

Are we just going to see Spider-Man vs the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn as the main story?

Is Peter Parker still going to be a "lovable looser," still in high school trying to "get the girl of his dreams?"

While, I wouldn't mind those things on their own, but I feel the movie should and would profit from moving past the "Super hero movie cliches." I would love to see just a great Spider-Man story that can stand on it's own. Frankly, I'm sick of Goblins and Osborn(in everything, comics, tv, movies), and dwelling on glory years of Spider-Man in high school, struggling to find his place. Those stories are classic, but there is more to Spider-man than just that one era.

I also worry that Sony might be trying to rush this movie into production to avoid any rights possibly returning to Disney now that they own Marvel. I am not sure of the inner workings of the contracts and such, but it is something that I wonder about.

Oh, and please, I hope they don't end every movie with Spider-Man's mask coming off at the last battle.

In general I am cautiously optimist about the reboot. I think the quality of the movie will likely depend largely on the cast they pick for it, and the rest of the production crew, which we know little about. The writer and director seem like decent choices for making a good movie in general, but perhaps are very untested with a commodity such as this. Either way it will be interesting, I hope they are up to the task and deliver a great movie.

[Keehar]

I'm all for it. I think Raimi's movies ran their course.

[Vakanai]

Well, I'm a bit fearful to tell you the truth. First, there is the fact Sony is doing this. From what I understand, they were partially responsible for the suckiness of the last movie, forcing Raimi to use Venom, who he didn't care for. And from what I heard about the behind the scenes stuff for the fourth one that never came through, they were more invasive than ever. It seems Sony just wants a director who will ask 'how high?' when they tell him to jump, and don't care one bit for artistic vision. I mean, their new director only has one movie under his belt. Sure, the people who have seen it seemed to like it, but the lack of experience still worries me. Then there's the whole 'rushing so Disney does not get the rights' thing. Add on the possibility of 'darkening' it up to be more like TDK, while getting a cast to cash in on the 'Twilight' tween girl market (not saying that's happened, just that it is a fear that might happen) and, well...
Oh, and the whole 3D gimmick. That seems like nothing more than a ploy to cover up a lame movie with gimmickiness.

I'm hoping for the best, but I have little faith. I think the best thing would have been for Sony to lose the rights back to Marvel. I can understand why that will never happen as long as Sony has any say, because Spidey is a cash cow. But still, with them in control, I'm not expecting much. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. Or maybe this will be the new Batman and Robin and we'll all be talking about how much we miss the third one.

[Mister Mets]

Some recent rumors about the Spider-Man 2012 reboot...

Apparently Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) is the frontrunner to play Peter Parker.

Josh Hutcherson was also considered, but there was a scheduling conflict.

Frank Dillane (Tom Riddle in the most recent Harry Potter film) is Sony's back-up plan.

Meanwhile rumors are that Michael Fassbender's been offered the role of the villain of Spider-Man 4 and Magneto in X-Men: First Class. And Fassbenderhas to choose between the two. And the Lizard's supposed to be in the screenplay.

[Spidey_62]

I think they could pull off a great story with the Lizard. I've been pulling for him as the villain since SM3 came out.

They've said the story will focus on Peter Parker being pretty distraught over the fact that he had the power to prevent Uncle Ben's death but chose not to. I think him trying to stop the Lizard and save his teacher and friend/give his family a happy ending, and not make that mistake again could make for a good story.

[E. Wilson]

All the problems I'd have had with the Lizard being in Spidey 4 would be fixed if he was in Spidey 2.0. The Lizard is a fairly straightforward rampaging monster, so he doesn't need so much attention paid to his development. More attention can be paid to developing the new Spidey and his world.

[Hawk I 21]

As long as Josh Hutcherson is not Spider-Man I'll be okay the guy looks like a complete douche bag.

[Elijah Dexan]

Funny.

Didn't Raimi comment on the Lizard being his favorite villain and wanting to use him for a movie?

[DKR]

Looking at more pics of Bell, he could probably pull it off (plus I didn't know he was the guy in the "Wake Me Up When September End" music video, and he was good in that).

As for the Lizard, that's cool but I really think that if they just used him for Spider-Man 4 (along with Kraven), we wouldn't be even having a reboot.

[Vakanai]

Just as long as we don't get all the 'Kraven's Last Hunt...with the Lizard' crap fan wishing again, I'm cool with it.

[Mulbard]

Isn't Bell kind older than high school age? And with the Lizard, it would kind of make more sense if they used the Dr Conners they developed in the previous films?

Seriously why do they need to reboot it?