The Spider-Man franchise was never going to lie dormant for long. Arguably cinema’s most profitable superhero (the Marvel franchise took until The Avengers, its seventh film, to top the box office takings of three Spider-Man offerings), the series has nevertheless been on a downward spiral for over a decade with only the first two installments of director Sam Raimi’s trilogy standing up as excellent comic book adaptations. Following the weak Spider-Man 3, Sony rebooted the franchise and, despite strong leads in Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, the new series never rose above its roots as a cash in on the license. In contrast during this time Marvel shot to prominence, releasing their own duds (The Incredible Hulk, Thor 2) but also a stream of hits that flew in the face of their contemporaries by valuing sharp script writing and character work as much as spectacle. They did this all without the rights to their A-list characters: The Fantastic Four, The X-Men and especially Spidey himself.
Then, in February 2015, that changed. Marvel and Sony announced that they would collaborate to bring Spiderman into the world of the MCU (primer for non-geeks: the Marvel Cinematic Universe). This seems mainly to have been a matter of pride for Marvel who actually appear to gain very little from this arrangement. They inherit the burden of a flailing series and cannot possibly hope to boost their already astronomical box office takings. Sony, on the other hand, get to cash in on Marvel’s huge fan base whilst (hopefully) reversing the nosedive of the last three films: all, if reports are to be believed, for free.
An excellent solution…or is it? The Spiderman films have long reeked of compromise, with no singular creative vision to guide them since Raimi was forced against his will to include the deeply naff (but popular) villain, Venom, in Spider-Man 3. A collaboration between two studios, neither of which seem to value a strong directorial vision, seems unlikely to change this. Marvel in particular have a strange habit of hiring interesting directors only to completely reign them in to its established formula. This approach has caused more than one controversy not least of which was Edgar Wrights’ sudden departure from his long-term project, this summer’s Ant-Man. Only Joss Whedon (The Avengers) and James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) have succeeded in placing their personal stamp on their films and even they made large concessions to the tried and tested formula. This hasn’t held Marvel back particularly, as audiences are still largely getting to know their comparatively obscure roster – however, Spider-Man’s popularity demands that his next entry breaks the established rules. Nobody wants a third retread of Spiderman’s high school years and audiences will not flock to see a Spiderman that doesn’t stand out within the Marvel universe.
However, there are a few ways that the series could carve its own unique identity:
1: Make it funny. Previous films have flirted with Spiderman’s witty wisecracking but have remained focused on Peter Parker’s everyday angst. The next film could benefit from ditching this approach and aiming for a tone consistent with Guardians of the Galaxy (or even better Ghostbusters!) by using humour to redefine the character we know and love.
2: Characterise the villain. This is a real weakness of the Marvel films, only Tom Hiddleston’s Loki has been developed beyond cardboard ‘shouty man with army of minions’ clichés. In the Spiderman series too, only Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus was really fleshed out. Spidey has a great rogues gallery and a relatively unknown bad guy like Kraven the Hunter or Mysterio could be developed into a fun and interesting antagonist.
3: Bring back J.J Jameson: J.K Simmons was hilarious as the manic Daily Bugle editor in the Raimi films, why not bring him back in a beefed-up role to match his Oscar Winner status? Nobody does flustered rage quite like him.
4: Ditch Peter Parker: Since it was announced that Andrew Garfield would not be returning, speculation has been rife that the next reboot would eschew the original Spider-Man in favour of another, more interesting webslinger. Chief-in-line seems to be Miles Morales, a black-hispanic teen who took up the mantle after Parker. Superhero cinema needs to move away from its current dearth of non-white faces and putting Morales under the mask would be a huge positive step. If Sony go down this route then smart money is on Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino, aka Troy from Community) for the role since he apparently inspired the character and has openly talked about his desire to play Spidey.
Whilst the future of the series may be up in the air, Marvel Studios certainly have the best shot at reviving it. The studio are experts at humour and character development and, above all, they know the importance and iconography of Spiderman. Hopefully Marvel can find a fresh way of translating the character to the big screen that distinguishes him from both their output and previous incarnations and gives fans of the webhead the film they’ve been waiting for.
Pete Brearley
Image: Sony