A Look Back at the Spider-Man Franchise
Mon, February 1, 2010 The following article is an editorial. It doesn't reflect the views of TMT, the staff, or anyone else other than it's author, Eric Sopko.
I don’t know if you have heard, but Spider-Man is getting the boot! Reboot that is. Debate is raging across the internet and the Spider-Man fan base about the direction this franchise is currently taking. However, I don’t want to focus on the future right now. I want to take some time and reflect upon this franchise’s past!
In order to fully understand my feelings on this situation, we have to go back many years. Even before I was born. The Salkinds over at Warner Bros. were looking for a new franchise to bring them boat loads of cash. They turned to an untapped resource: comic books. Namely The Man of Steel himself, Superman. Eventually, Richard Donner was brought in to film 2 back to back Superman films. Donner faced many challenges in bringing the Man of Steel to life, the most basic of those being how to make him fly. He spent more money than the studio anticipated, and eventually was not even on talking terms with the Salkinds.
But, the end result was a phenomenon known as Superman: The Movie. Superman: The Movie was the beginning of the modern comic book film, and many future comic book films would rinse and repeat the 3 act formula utilized by Donner. The film was a smash hit, and Christopher Reeve became a household name. However, despite Richard Donner’s success in bringing Superman to life, and having a sequel 75% finished, the Salkinds would give him the axe, and replace him with Richard Lester, whom was brought in late as a mediator of sorts between Donner and the Salkinds. As I move forward with my history lesson, keep Donner’s story in mind.
Let’s fast forward to 1985. Outside of Superman, comic book films have yet to be really tested in the film industry. Superman III disappointed at the box office, so major film companies were still weary of the genre. Enter producer Menahem Golan of the notoriously low budget Canon films. Golan bought the rights from Marvel for Spider-Man, and tried desperately to bring Spider-Man to the silver screen. Despite his best efforts, Golan couldn’t get financial backing for the film.
Golan ended up selling the TV rights to Viacom in an effort to get his money back for the unused scripts for the previous Spider-Man film projects. He then sold the film rights to Carolco films, whom had made James Cameron’s hit The Terminator. This was a connection Carolco tried to utilize once again, as they commissioned James Cameron to write the now infamous script which featured things such as Peter cursing and having sex with Mary Jane on a bridge. Despite these story points, all the wheels were in motion to bring Spider-Man to the big screen!
Then came trouble. In 1993, Golan spoke out about his anger at Carolco trying to cut him out of the film’s production the best way businessmen know how: sue! Carolco responded the best way they knew how: counter sue! Pretty soon, Carolco was suing Viacom and Columbia Pictures, Viacom and Columbia Pictures were suing Golan, Carolco, and Marvel, and on and on the circle of paperwork would go. Marvel would file for bankruptcy in the midst of all this bureaucracy.
However, Marvel would rise from the ashes! In 1998, the original deal with Golan was ruled to have expired, so Marvel got the rights back to their most popular hero. They promptly would sell them to Sony, whom still has their grimy hands on the film rights. Director Sam Raimi, most known at the time for the cult classic Evil Dead franchise, would be brought in to adapt our friendly neighborhood wall crawler to the big screen. Tobey Maguire was cast as the beloved Peter Parker, and Kirsten Dunst was cast to play the beautiful Mary Jane Watson, though that bit of casting has been questioned ever since she landed the role.
Production was hard, effects took longer than expected, and the release date was pushed back from Christmas of 2001 to May 2002. This move would turn out to be a good deal for the wall crawler opening weekend.
I still remember May 3rd of 2002. I skipped school that day in order to suck in the moment my childhood hero came to life. I had my tickets a month in advance, my mother took me shopping for Spider-Man action figures in honor of the occasion at the above Toys’ R’ Us, and I got in line a full hour early. The entire city of New York was sold out for the weekend on the first day of the films release, and my anticipation for the film couldn’t have been greater. Watching the 9:00 showing was probably the greatest theater going experience of my young life.
Now, the film wasn’t perfect, by any means. The CGI is dated by today’s standards, it basically recycles the formula of Superman: The Movie, the Green Gobin looks stupid, and after the Green Goblin kills the board members of Oscorp, I still have no idea what he meant by wanting power. What kind of power do you mean? But, the film got the heart of Spider-Man: with great power comes great responsibility. The origin was perfectly done, Maguire and Dafoe were amazing, JK Simmons owned J. Jonah Jameson, and Elfman’s score was haunting at times. Despite some problems, this was a solid Spider-Man film. I couldn’t wait for the sequel!
After the record breaking success of the first film, Spider-Man 2 hit theaters 2 years later. Now, this time, I made it to the theater an hour early, but was at the back of the line and had to sit in the front row! I had to move my head around to see all the things on the screen! Despite my discomfort, the film that I saw that day remains one of my favorite films of all-time, if not my favorite. Where Spider-Man was weak, Spider-Man 2 was strong. Where Spider-Man was strong, Spider-Man 2 was stronger! The effects were groundbreaking, resulting in an Oscar for the visual effects department. Alfred Molina was perfect as Doc Ock, right down to Ock’s dark sense of humor. But, what made this train run above all was the story. Watching Peter Parker grow in this film was a treat. From him losing his powers and letting go of this burden he put upon himself, to the moment he realizes that he can’t sacrifice his responsibilities in order to achieve his main goal, Spider-Man 2 was poetry in motion. The moment where the subway car riders pull an unconscious Peter Parker into the subway car after saving them from certain death is still one of the most haunting moments for me in film. This film was another smash hit, and Spider-Man was once again on top of the world!
Here is where the story starts to go downhill. Naturally, Spider-Man 3 was put into production. Sam Raimi decided to return, but with the Green Goblin and Doc Ock already used, where would they turn to for a villain? Sam Raimi had set up Harry to be a villain at the end of Spider-Man 2, so he was a natural pick. Raimi would also add classic Spider-Man villains Vulture and Sandman into the script with the focus on a storyline about forgiveness.
Sony wasn’t convinced this was a good follow up. The producers wanted Raimi to use the popular Spider-Man villain, Venom. Raimi didn’t want to use Venom due to being a fan of the Stan Lee era on Spider-Man, and not really understanding Venom. Never-the-less, the studio would get its way, and Venom replaced the Vulture in the script. Harry and Sandman were kept. Now, Vulture is a much simpler villain to explain than Venom, so adding Venom was no easy task. You have to cover the black suit before you can even talk about Venom, and that is practically a movie into itself. Then the studio asked for the Stacys to be added to the film to make it even MORE convoluted! The idea of doing this over two films was tossed around, but with no one under contract past Spider-Man 3, that really wasn’t a realistic possibility.
Spider-Man 3 would be one of the most hyped films of all-time. It would also become one of the biggest let down in blockbuster history. While Spider-Man 3 made over $900 million at the box office, the film would be met with mediocre, at best, reception. Spider-Man 3 continues to be the subject of much debate on various internet sites, and much of the fan backlash landed upon the shoulders of Sam Raimi, whom was once a god amongst the fanboy nation.
I personally don’t think Spider-Man 3 was bad. I thought it was very flawed, but still good. The effects are sketchy at points, but it also has great moments like the Birth of the Sandman. Elfman’s score is definitely stronger than Christopher Young’s effort, though I think his score was decent. In fact, I like a lot of the Sandman and Harry stuff. But, the story is definitely the culprit on this movie failing to meet the standards of the first 2 films of the series, and all the story problems stem from one subplot: Venom. The black suit doesn’t mesh in with the story well. The meteor randomly falls into the park Peter and MJ happen to be in? Sandman killed Ben and Peter is now full of hate? Not to mention Brock is in a very small number of scenes, which makes it hard to feel anything for him as he is ruined by Peter. He’s just kind of there. Also, the Butler knew about Norman! But despite all these interlocking plots, the film manages to reach some level of cohesion, and I feel it has enough of Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 in it to make it a decent movie. I know I am in the minority on this, don’t remind me. I’ve been fighting this battle for nearly 3 years!
Now that Spider-Man 3 was out, Sony still had 3 films to make under the current contract. Which brought about the question: Where do we go from here? Sony decided initially to bring Sam Raimi and co. back for a 4th film. He was also supposed to have been promised more freedom on this film. Now we’ll get a proper ending to his Spider-Man films. Spider-Man 3 won’t be his lasting legacy on the series I have adored and waited to see for many years before that faithful day in 2002!
Unfortunately, fate is not always so kind to us. Raimi and Sony were apparently fighting for control through most of the production on Spider-Man 4. Raimi wanted to use the Vulture, as played by John Malkovich. The studio apparently wanted to turn the character Felicia Hardy into a new villain called the Vulturess, likely to replace the unhappy Dunst and provide more action due to a lack of confidence in Vulture as a prime villain. Many rumors have long since been reported. That there was a kid involved in the film; Vulture was maybe killed by Spider-Man, Peter quits, etc. We don’t know what all happened, but whatever happened we know one thing: it was a mess. After much turmoil with the producers. After 3 successful films that grossed billions of dollars worldwide. After over 10 years of working on the character, Sam Raimi walked away from Spider-Man.
This whole matter brings me back to Donner’s situation once again. Superman: the Movie was a great film, but a personally frustrating one for me as a fan. The film is almost perfect, until the turning back the Earth ending. The film then becomes incredibly confusing on the logic behind it and how it exactly worked, and is a bad lasting effect on a film that had me truly believing a man could fly. Instead of making up for the lame ending, Donner got the boot from a film he almost finished. Sure in 2006, we got a DVD release of Donner’s footage into a new, and if you ask me far superior, cut for Superman II, but it isn’t the same. That film feels incomplete due to not having a new ending made by Donner. I can see his Superman II and only imagine the possibilities had Donner got to finish his work.
I look at Spider-Man 4 in the same way. Raimi had a vision, and just when I felt a proper ending to his Spider-Man series could have finally been made after years of fighting over Spider-Man 3, I am left with that same bitter taste Donner’s Superman II leaves in my mouth. That feeling of unfinished business. That feeling of a story left on the cutting room floor.
Now, before I get accused of condemning the reboot, I don’t want the reboot to fail. I hope Marc Webb brings us something truly incredible. I have been a Spider-Man fan for as long as I can remember, and I always will be. I would never hope for the demise of my favorite character just to vindicate a man I like. I hope Webb brings me that joy I felt in 2002 once again.
That is not the focal point of this piece, however. I just wanted to bring back the good times I had watching this franchise develop over the Raimi’s run, and maybe show all the people who have condemned Raimi post-Spider-Man 3 that there was a time before that when we could look at this series, and be proud of having the best comic book franchise in all of comicdom.
Lastly, I also want to thank Sam Raimi. Mr. Raimi, thank you for all your hardwork these past years. You gave me a theatrical experience I will never forget, and made what will probably be my favorite film for many years to come. No matter what the Raimi haters say, and no matter how this reboot turns out, either good or bad, I will always be able to look at these films, and smile. You at least made one Spider-Man fan happy.
Reader Comments (6)
Great article! I hope Webb does a good job as well. But from what they've already said publicly about the reboot I'm not sure it will match up to what Raimi did (regardless of Spiderman 3). I was looking forward more to Raimis Spiderman 4 than I am this reboot.
Hopefully this new trilogy at least does the character justice. I'm sure we'll be getting Sony’s vision of Spiderman and not Webb’s which is somewhat disappointing.
I'm hoping this new trilogy does the character justice, also. But, the fact they seem to be heading towards a more Ultimate Spider-Man based series and the supposed darker image makes me a bit weary of the reboot. That, and Sony was dictating a lot of things to a man that made them literally BILLIONS at the box office. I don't see them somehow giving Webb the keys to the car without telling him how to drive it, either.
That's just my personal opinion, though.
I think you’re exactly right. Sony is going to put Webbs name on this project. But really we know it’s going in the direction they want it to; He's someone who's willing to be a Yes Man for Sony. Don’t get me wrong I'm looking forward to seeing what Webb does with the reboot, but I honestly think Sony could have done better as far as someone to takeover what’s arguably their biggest franchise. I don’t know that this new trilogy will rake in the billions that Raimis did. Being that its shaping up to be more of a teen drama then an Action/Comic book film. I don’t expect to see too much action in the reboot which isn’t all bad as story is obviously very important as well, But the action sequences were accustom seeing in Spiderman films I think is a big part of what appealed to general audiences and "fanboys" alike. I hope they get the character right but I don’t want to see them get Peter Parker 100% and not Spiderman. Being that this won’t have the budget these films normally receive I doubt we'll see anything spectacular in terms of effects.
Now that Raimi is gone I'm looking more forward to when Sony’s 6 picture deal expires and the rights go back to Marvel. They can start most likely yet another trilogy. But we'll have more confidence that it’s done right assuming this trilogy won’t match up to the previous instalments.
Great article! Hopefullly the reboot will be great . I think it was for the best . And in the end , while flawed, it wrapped up the trilogy anyway. I'm glad they didn't go the way of the Batman films of the 90's. The character is greater then any one version and it'll outlast all of us.Lol.
If ever I have read an article that perfectly summed up my feelings towards the series, and the upcoming reboot, this is it. I was beyond disappointed when they decided to ditch the opportunity to let Raimi close out his series.
Thank you guys so much for the feedback! I'm glad you guys enjoyed my article :)