In which I revisit old articles from Filmquisition and Unreality.
Never mind Batman. Never mind Iron Man.
Never even mind Captain freaking America himself. Spider-Man
is always going to be the hero that I return to time and time again, regardless
of how many times his movies let me down and how drastically he pales
against Marvel’s proper Avengers lineup.
Spider-Man has always been my
superhero: the one that I unquestionably turn to when looking for a good time.
Despite being ahead of the comic book curve at the time of its release,
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man always seemed to miss the point of the character.
And despite its innumerable flaws, Marc Webb’s short-lived Amazing
Spider-Man movies at least got nearer to the heart of the franchise
than any of the previous three movies. But with Marvel’s newly cemented
relationship with Sony, the companies have the chance of giving audiences what
they’ve been waiting decades for: a proper Spider-Man outing on the big screen.
While I do have complete faith in Marvel’s unerring
cinematic quality, there are a few things that I desperately want them to
include in the new movie. And while, yes, I could go on about a few
narrowly-drawn gripes – like wanting Spider-Man to shoot organic webbing or a
checklist of in-universe references that I want them to hit – there are a
few big things that are at the top of my wish list, ranging from
unlikely to near certainties.
J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
– Say what you will about Raimi’s roughshod take on the franchise, but J.K.
Simmons’ portrayal of libelous news paper mogul J. Jonah Jameson was absolutely
perfect. He was comically over-the-top, yet unquestionably realistic.
He was infuriating, yet oddly endearing. He was exceedingly
expressive, yet still managed to look like a real person.
He hit all the proper notes of the character
and was absolutely the best-realized aspect of that entire trilogy.
Simmons was so perfectly suited for the role that The Amazing
Spider-Man reboot didn’t even try to recreate him. The most that
we ever got of Jameson were a few Baily Bugle ads and some e-mail exchanges
with Peter Parker.
I know that it’d be a stretch to bring Simmons back
for the role in the upcoming Spectacular Spider-Man. Coming off of a well-earned Oscar, his asking price is probably a Hell of a lot higher
than Marvel’s willing to dish out for a fairly bit part. Given the uphill
battle that they already face with franchise fatigue, Marvel would be loath to
remind audiences of the previous (and still pretty recent) takes on the
character. Plus, there’d be more than a few movie-goers who’d probably be
confused if this was supposed to be the same universe as the first three movies
(the same Jameson, the same Parker). Despite these (and other) issues,
however, Simmons is too perfect for the role to at least not warrant a second
look.
Clark Gregg as Principle Coulson
– When it comes to Spider-Man, Disney’s Ultimate Spider-Man tv
show pretty much gets everything right. Sure, I prefer my Spidey to be a
solo act. Sure, some of the (thankfully minor) recurring villains end up
being a bit dull (the Trapster being the prime example). But when it
comes to the character, the story and the world around him, the series is the
perfect template for what a big screen version of the franchise should look
like.
One of the strangest – yet most oddly satisfying
– decisions made with the show was to include S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson
Midtown High’s acting principle (all the better to keep an eye on Parker and
his teenage team of superheroes). It made perfect sense for S.H.I.E.L.D.
to keep an ear to the ground when dealing with not only superheroes, but
teenaged ones at that. Coulson – ever S.H.I.E.L.D.’s PR guy – was the
perfect candidate for the job (basically doing a more full time version of what
he did with the various Avengers in Marvel’s Phase 1).
Now, I don’t expect this to be a particularly
realistic course of action with Coulson now being the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.,
but this version of Spider-Man is supposed to have been around for a while.
His movie won’t actually be an origin story (we’ve had enough of those
already) and he’s actually scheduled to appear in a Marvel movie before The
Spectacular Spider-Man. He could have easily been assigned to Midtown
High to keep a watchful eye on the newly created Spider-Man before his supposed
death (to be referenced in dialog or flashback). It would be a clever
touch – keeping in the peculiarities of the character – that would be rife with
cinematic potential.
Gwen Stacy as Peter’s love interest
– Despite being Spider-Man’s longest-lasting love interest (going so far as to
actually marry him in the comics), I’ve never especially cared for Mary Jane
Watson. She just never had much of a personality beyond being pretty.
Marvel’s tried to countermand that
shortcoming already. Ultimate Spider-Man has her as an ambitious
journalist trying to get a job at the Daily Bugle (essentially taking over that
side of Parker’s day-to-day life). And while that mostly works, the
character was never as interesting as Gwen Stacy: a character that always had a
lot more going for her and a lot more in common with Peter than any of his
other love interests over the years.
While arguments can certainly be made for Betty
Brant (who really hasn’t shown up in the movies yet) and Felicia Harding (who
doubles as the superheroine Black Cat), Gwen Stacy still seems like the best
option available to the franchise. Helped out by Emma Stone, she was the
best part about The Amazing Spider-Man movies (in the same way that
J. K. Simmons was for the first Spider-Man films). She’s a
likable character with a lot of personality, that audiences are already at
least somewhat familiar with and comes with her own iconic narrative built into
the character (“The Night Gwen Stacy Died”).
Asa Butterfield as Peter Parker
– When it came to the new Spider-Man, Marvel’s had a few very specific ideas
for the character. While a lot of fans were hoping for Miles Morales (the
black Spider-Man from the Marvel’s Ultimate imprint), Marvel’s on
record that it’s going to be Peter Parker behind the mask. And while both
of Sony’s versions of the character were on the older side (both circling
closer to college than High School), the plan is to keep Spider-Man young: in
the neighborhood of fifteen years old.
This naturally puts a lot of restrictions on the actors that they have to choose from for the role. You need somebody
good enough to headline their own movie and yet young enough to actually look
the part of a high school freshman. A lot of names that were initially
thrown out were a bit tweeny for my tastes, though, particularly
Logan Lermann from Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Dylan
O’Brien from Teen Wolf. In recent weeks, however, the roster
of possible Spider-Men has broadened to include Asa Butterfield, who I feel is
ideal for the role.
Not only is Butterfield a good fit for the part
physically (his age and physique are consistent with what Marvel wants out of
the character), but he’s a legitimately good actor in his own right. He’s
already headed up movies like Hugo and Ender’s Game with
the competence of far more seasoned actors and there’s no reason why he
couldn’t do the same for Spider-Man. He’s the ablest choice of those
allegedly being looked into for the role, would be a pretty cheap acquisition
for Marvel and could convincingly age with the character over any number of
solo and crossover movies.
Vincent D’Onofrio as the Kingpin
– Marvel did damn near everything right with their Daredevil series on Netflix, none more so than casting veteran character actor Vincent D’Onofrio
as its principle villain: Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. He added a considerable
deal of nuance to a character that could have just been a large guy with a
villainous smirk in a suit (ala Clark Duncan) and was instantly the most
memorable and endearing aspect of the entire series.
Despite traditionally trading punches with Daredevil, the Kingpin has often been as much of a Spider-Man villain, and it’s
really no wonder why. Both Daredevil and Spider-Man are based in New
York. Both are understandably keen on fighting crime, and the Kingpin is
on the top of the pecking order: the man through which virtually all crime in
the city flows.
Growing up on the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon, I
knew the Kingpin as the man responsible for creating Scorpion, forming the
Sinister Six, funding Alistaire Smythe and frequently hiring iconic Spidey
thugs like Rhino and the Shocker. If there’s one thing that I want to see
in The Spectacular Spider-Man, it’s D’Onofrio’s Kingpin as the man
pulling the strings: creating, hiring or otherwise assembling Spider-Man’s
menagerie of villains to crush the wall-crawler from day one.
D’Onofrio would lend just as much credibility to
the second Spider-Man reboot in recent memory as he did to the small-screen
reboot of Daredevil. It would considerably raise his character’s already
illustrious profile and create further interest in the rampantly successful
Netflix series that he debuted in. It could also open the doors to more
small-screen tie-ins, like cinematic team ups with Daredevil, Skye and
Mockingbird or squaring off against villains like Crusher Creel. Besides,
Marvel’s proven that it pays to have forward-thinking plots play out with a
high-end villains pulling the strings from the shadows.
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