The Amazing Spider-man / Spider-man coming to Marvel!

Ladies and Gentleman! Its happening! Your friendly neighborhood Spider-man is coming home... sort of...

I awoke to the news that Spider-man will appear in an upcoming film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe along side Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, all your favorite Avengers. I am overly stoked for this news as I have written a couple of posts on Spider-man, from all the reviews of the Sam Raimi films.

Spider-man 1
Spider-man 2
Spider-man 3

To the overly criticized (I think a little bit unfairly) sequel to the reboot.

The Amazing Spider-man 2

To my thoughts on the hack at Sony and where Marvel should be heading in the future, especially if Spider-man joins the Avengers.

Sony Hacks
Future of Marvel Universe.

So as you can tell, I've written a lot about Spider-man and its all culminating to this day when the web slinger finally makes his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I cannot be more stoked.

In honor of this triumphant day, I watched The Amazing Spider-man to give a good idea of where this franchise came from, where it went to with its sequel and whether or not its a good film or not. What I plan to do is write the review for this film. Then at the end (or in another post, depending how long the second part is) I'll be talking about this new deal, what the perimeters are between Sony and Marvel, and what the future holds for both companies and franchises.

I was always a huge fan of the Sam Raimi Spider-man films. To me, they are very much the Godfathers of modern Superhero films. Sure they weren't the best movies in the world, and I'll talk more about that later in the review, but Tobey Mcguire's Spider-man had a special place in my heart.

So when this Andrew Garfield came around pretending to be Peter Parker, I was not having any of it. I didn't see the movie in theaters, and I just kind of sat back with my Sam Raimi films and just wished they would come back. Also, when they announced they were rebooting it, it just felt strange. It had been about 5 years since Spider-man 3, and it seemed a little bit early for ANOTHER origin story, a story we all know very, very well. It took me a long time to finally sit down and watch the film. Honestly, I only saw it once, enjoyed it and made tentative peace with the franchise as the trailer for the second one came out and it looked enjoyable enough.

You know the story, Peter Parker (played by Andrew Garfield) is your run of the mill brilliant social outcast who lives with his Aunt May (played by Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (played by Martin Sheen). What's a little bit different this time around is that instead of Peter Parker being a complete nerd the way Tobey Mcguire played it, he's more of a good looking, suave, skateboarding, kinda hipster outcast. Okay, that's... a little weird. The way I always knew Peter Parker was as the nerd and his alter ego was the arrogant obnoxious side of him...

I'll get back to that in a second. At the beginning, we see that Peter's parents abandoned him with his aunt and uncle when he was very little and he wants to figure out what happened to them. He finds a briefcase belonging to his father that leads him to Oscorp and a brilliant geneticist named Kurt Connors. (Played by Rhys Ifans). While on a tour, led by his crush, a smart, cute girl named Gwen Stacey (played by Emma Stone), Parker finds himself in a room with genetically enhanced spiders. He gets bitten by one and obtains the power of spiders, including super strength, enhanced senses, and all the powers you'd expect from Spider-man.

The interesting part is, the first third of the movie doesn't feel like a superhero film at all. In many ways, it feels like a really interesting espionage, action thriller. Peter doesn't dawn the suit till close to half way and everything leading up to that is actually a lot of fun. In a way, I kind of forget this is the Spider-man origin story and am just interested in the cinematic experience and storytelling the movie is putting me through. Like change the guys name, pretend he doesn't turn into Spider-man, this could actually be a really interesting story with science, espionage, and super powers but not in the classic superhero fashion we're used to. The first half of this movie, was exceptional storytelling.

As he's experiencing these changes, there's a pretty good relationship between him and his Uncle Ben. Martin Sheen really does well with what they give him. Unfortunately, as we all know, Uncle Ben's fate is that of tragedy and he dies before there's really a lot of development between the two. I think I like Martin Sheen a little bit more than Cliff Robertson (Uncle Ben from the Sam Raimi films) but that's only because this movie takes a little bit more time before killing him off. Uncle Ben's death is the catalyst to Spider-man's existence so in the Sam Raimi film they wanted to get that off the ground fast as opposed to this film where they wanted to develop the investigation into Oscorp and the work Peter's father did before he died.

And that's the other thing, this movie sets it up as Peter going after the guy who murdered Uncle Ben and never really finding him but going into vigilante work kind of by accident. Its done very well and its an eventual progression that really shows Peter as a character rather than just the alter ego of Spider-man.

But damn, when Parker is Spider-man, this is where the movie does a little bit better of a job than the Sam Raimi films. Garfield's Spider-man is more arrogant, more obnoxious, and just a truer version of the superhero. I still love McGuire's Spider-man, but he was never really the arrogant and smooth the way Garfield is. However, he plays Peter Parker the way, I personally think, he should be played. Garfield is more of a punk emo outcast that I'm not totally sure why people pick on him, where McGuire was legitimately a nerd. I understand him being bullied, I don't understand Garfield getting bullied.

But where this movie really shines, is in the love interest.

Gwen Stacy is smart. Mary Jane was not. Gwen Stacy is funny. Mary Jane was not. Gwen Stacy contributed to the plot and helped Spider-man where she could. Mary Jane was the thing Spider-man had to save. Emma Stone is an incredible actor. Kirsten Dunst is... well... not as Mary Jane.

I think it only gets better in Spider-man 2, but Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker are just adorable in the Amazing Spider-man films.

In the first half, Peter is just getting to know Gwen, she cares for him more and more as the movie goes on and their relationship is actually really fun.

It only gets better when they don't try and play the whole, "I'm hiding my identity from you" Peter flat out reveals that he is Spider-man, pretty much on their first date. Which becomes even more interesting when we figure out that Gwen's father (played by Dennis Leary) is a Captain for the NYPD and is on the hunt for the vigilante Spider-man.

This is all just the relationships and build up of family and friends Peter has behind him. I haven't even begun talking about the main villain or the main conflict of the movie. That's how well developed this film is.

The main conflict comes when Peter starts working with Curt Connors with the formula developed by his father to help Dr. Connors achieve strides in his genetic research. Connors wants to develop a serum that would regrow limbs and help the sick and Peter helps him with that. And this is before he even becomes Spider-man. Again, even before Peter puts the suit on, this film ropes you in from the beginning.

Its when Connors is forced to pursue human trials for the serum that things go awry and the Spider-man villain, The Lizard is born.

What's fun about the Lizard is the sort of Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complex they go for in this situation.

It does breach on the same villain plot line that has been the case in every Spider-man villain in all time, where a science experiment goes wrong and suddenly he develops split personality, cause you know, villains are never developed they just kind of happen. But in a twisted way, Kurt Connors believes what he is doing is right. I guess that's kind of interesting and makes him a little bit of an interesting character.

The problem with The Lizard is that he's just not that memorable. When I think of all the great villains that have come out of the Spider-man movies, The Lizard is probably the last one I think of just because Kurt Connors isn't that interesting. I think Ifans does a good job and its serviceable to the film as a whole. But the concept is just a little bit strange and while fighting a giant lizard is kind of fun to watch, he's just not the villain that sticks with you at the end of the day. Say what you will about how cooky Willem Defoe played The Green Goblin, you will never forget that villain every time you think of the Spider-man films.

The Heart Osborne! First you attack his heart!

And that's why I have to say, the last third of the movie isn't exactly as fun as the first two. Its your typical race against time while Spider-man fights the villain while stopping his evil plot. Like the villain, its serviceable to the plot and the film as a whole, but overall, I just don't love the ending. Its good, but not great.

Which makes me say something that you might disagree with at first, but hear me out. The Amazing Spider-man, is not a very good superhero film, its just a better action thriller film. Honestly, I was more interested seeing this brilliant kid use his detective skills to uncover the secrets in this science lab. Yeah he got super powers but take out the whole Spider-man storyline, and you've got yourself a really interesting sci fi mystery action thriller. 

And that's why I think we're in a golden age of superhero films because its no longer enough to just give us a standard superhero origin story anymore. If that were the case, Green Lantern would have been much more popular. Its when directors and writers take the superhero genre and meld it with other genres. That is why Captain America: The Winter Soldier is probably the best superhero film out there today, because it didn't just feel like the same old superhero film we've seen countless times before, it had that espionage thriller edge to it that made it really good. 

So while I personally prefer the Sam Raimi Spider-man films over The Amazing Spider-man films, its only because I see those movies as better Spider-man films. I recognize that The Amazing Spider-man is, in essence, a better film. 

That may be a little bit confusing, but the fact of the matter is, the acting is good, the action is spectacular, the characters are a lot of fun and well developed. The visuals are beautiful. The story is intriguing and is just a good all around story. Raimi may have created a better story for Spider-man in particular in the campy fashion that he did, but The Amazing Spider-man is just done better and is an all around better film. 

Overall, I really like The Amazing Spider-man. Its not a ground breaking movie, but its a good film, plain and simple. 

So its 2012, I'm Sony and my Spider-man reboot has been a commerical and critical success. What happens now? There's obviously going to be a sequel, but in a world where The Avengers just broke world records and cinematic universes are all the rage, where does the Spider-man franchise go?

Unfortunately, this is a horrible trap Sony fell right into. Sony holds the movie rights to Spider-man and all his villains and allies that showed up in the comics, but honestly, there's only so much you can do with that. There's no possibility of any team up or assembly movies like the huge success of The Avengers. What is the plan? Well at the end of this film there's a little bit of a teaser to the future. Kurt Connors is visited by a mysterious stranger with a fedora who hints at further mystery in the Spider-man universe, a promise of more answers in future films... and could this have possibly been a sort of evil Nick Fury team up proposition perhaps?

The answer in short is yes. 

This mysterious man or, "The Gentleman" is the oncoming storm that was suppose to be building up to an Avengers style team up film for a bunch of villains called The Sinister 6. 

Further hinted at in The Amazing Spider-man 2, a villain team up movie was something that hadn't really been thought of before. I was excited about it, I think a lot of people were excited about it. And what better way to set up this movie by knocking it out of the park and teasing it in The Amazing Spider-man 2. 

Well, I think that's the biggest tragedy that came with ASM 2. The movie had so much riding on it and was suppose to be the launching pad for Sony to have its own Cinematic Universe. 

But I have to ask, how?

Yeah sure, I get it, you wanna do a team up movie with villains, that's kind of cool, there are some interesting villains in the Spider-man universe. But what then? Well another Spider-man movie of course... Okay, but what then? ... Maybe an all female superhero team? With who? I don't know, Spider-woman... Black Cat... other... people... Okay, I'll bite, what then? ... An Aunt May movie?

Like what the hell were they thinking with this. Now none of the films that I mentioned were ever confirmed, nor was a Venom movie or anything like that. All of these films were theorized on, but a lot of it rode on this sequel being the best thing since sliced bread, especially since these films were announced before The Amazing Spider-man 2 came out. A sequel that came out sandwiched in between some of the best superhero films to date. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past, AND Guardians of the Galaxy, a film about a talking raccoon and a tree...

And to add insult to injury, while Sony was already scrambling after the poor turn out of The Amazing Spider-man 2, this was all made public by the hacking that took place. Suddenly all panic and scrambling that was at once happening behind closed doors, was made public and public outcry did the rest. 

That brings us to today. 

Not a lot has been said about how exactly the deal is going down, but the way I understand it is, Sony and Marvel are collaborating in order to get Spider-man to appear in upcoming Marvel properties. Sony will maintain distribution rights, have final creative say, and still own the character, but Spider-man will appear in a Marvel film in the next few years. If you look at my Spider-man in Civil War rant, you'll know, Spider-man appearing in Civil War is my pick, and I'm pretty sure that will be the case. 

This news surprised me. For years, the question has been, will Sony just sell Spider-man back to Marvel or will they work out some deal to have him in there while Sony maintains licensing. The answer I thought it was always going to be was that Sony would just cut their loses and sell the rights back, or work something out where Marvel gets creative control and technically owns it but Sony will maintain distribution. But no, this is a collaboration. Spider-man still belongs to Sony, it just sounds like they're lending him to Marvel, which is bold wording for Sony. 

Again, not a whole lot has been said beyond the fact that Spider-man will appear in an upcoming Marvel film, and that Spider-man will have his own standalone film that takes place in the Marvel Cinematic universe. The film will premiere on the date Thor: Ragnarok was suppose to premiere and the entire schedule will push back with the exception of The Infinity Wars films. 

Frankly, the legal measures of the deal don't matter, its more the fact that this is the day Comic book fans have been waiting for for years and it has finally come. 

Another part of the deal that is unspecified is whether or not this Spider-man is a third reboot, giving us a new MCU Spider-man, OR if this is a continuation of The Amazing Spider-man films and the universes are just colliding. 

In other words... what happens to Garfield? Will he continue to play Spider-man or will they recast the part again. 

Personally, I don't think Garfield will suffer incredibly if he is not included in this new future of Spider-man. He's a talented actor, he's bound to get work, I'm not worried about that. 

But after watching the first film, I kind of don't want them to recast again. Garfield is a really good Spider-man. Yeah, I'm not wild about his Peter Parker, but I could see him web slinging with the Avengers and it would eliminate any need of Marvel to restart his origin. There are a lot of plus sides to having the worlds just collide.

However, I get the feeling that part of this deal is that Garfield is out and they reboot, once again. From what I know about past talks and what I guess could be the vision for Spider-man in the MCU is that Marvel wants creative freedom to go where they want with Spider-man and not be bogged down by what has been created by Sony. 

The fact of the matter is, where were The Avengers when Electro went nuts in Time Square? Where was Spider-man when aliens invaded New York? Where is Stark Tower? Unless they want to waste time explaining all the inconsistencies, its probably best for Spider-man to have new origins and a new face in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Its sad, but true. I mentioned this in my Spider-man in Civil War Rant, but my idea is that Spider-man's origin should be tweaked a little bit where Spider-man is inspired by the Avengers to dawn the Spidey-suit. 

In my Civil War rant, I laid out my ideal situation, here's what it is. 

"Spider-man is doing his thing in New York. But Spider-man is doing his local stuff in New York, he's small time compared to the Avengers. You could even say that Peter Parker was inspired by the events of the Avengers 1 to do his vigilante stuff in New York. At the end of Age of Ultron, the inklings of the Civil War are already startin. The post credit scene could be Tony Stark looking over the new government legislation that is the subject of conflict in Civil War. He then starts talking about the PR campaign and he pulls out a folder. Says, I think I know the perfect poster boy for this new legislation. At the end of the scene, the camera pans over to the file Stark is looking at and you see a picture of a nerdy young adult in New York and at the Bottom of the page the file says, Peter Parker."

Maybe its too late to get that End Credit Scene in Age of Ultron but something like that would make a lot of sense to me. Spider-man getting recruited to serve as poster boy for this Civil War and getting caught in the middle of Captain America and Iron Man's feud is the best thing that could ever happen to the MCU and a perfect way to introduce Spider-man without giving him another origin story which we were sick of when The Amazing Spider-man 1 came out. 

I'm getting sweaty just thinking about how awesome this could end up being... if its done right. Kenny!

Honestly, I'm so excited that I don't really care who plays Spider-man or which direction they go with this. If its possible, I'd like to see Andrew Garfield return and just see a collision of worlds, but if they end up casting a new Spider-man I won't be too bummed. 

So who should play Spider-man?

If they do recast him, they'll have to get someone young in order to get him in a deal that spans multiple films. Its just how these things work. The thing is, I don't know the younger generation of actors that well outside of those few people I've seen in young adult films like Hunger Games and Divergent. And no I do not want any of those people playing Peter Parker. I will not stand for a Peeta Parker or... some reference to Divergent. 

No my pick for Spider-man is a little bit strange and it might garner some hate, but hear me out. 

I want Shia Labeouf to be the next Peter Parker. 

You may be saying, "What? That plagarizing, paper bag wearing douche?" 

Yes I understand 2014 was not a good year for Shia. I don't know what happened with this guy but if he was going for an image change, it happened. No longer did people see Shia as the loveable kid from the Disney channel, that quirky kid from Transformers. Shia is not kind of a bummer with all the depressing news about him and his darker tone in movies. 

However, I think that the guy can act. Put aside all the BS about the paper bag and all his personal drama, I think the guy is a talented actor and given the right script, I think we can put a smile back on Shia's face. God knows how long its been since there was one there. 

The fact of the matter is, the guy is the age that Garfield started his tenure as the web slinger. Shave off the beard, and give him the opportunity to be a little bit more of a fun character and give him the opportunity to be apart of a franchise that isn't a total bomb like Transformers, I know the guy is better than that. 

I think being in a superhero franchise might be the best thing for Shia to make him more likable to a larger audience, give him a little bit of padding so he can go off and do his indie stuff later, and just give the guy a god damn smile these days. 

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but look at this picture tell me this isn't an interesting idea at the very least. 

Beard be gone!

Again, this is my dream cast so I know its probably not going to happen. But this is where I'm interested in your thoughts. Who do you think should play Spider-man in the new MCU Spider-man movies?

Along with that, what are your feelings on Spidey joining the MCU at all?

And finally, what do you think of the Amazing Spider-man. 1 or 2, did you think they were good? Did Sony ever have a chance with that franchise or was it dead on arrival? Comment and Discuss below! Also shoot me a tweet @cmhaugen24 on Twitter and follow me to get more movie news and movie reviews. 

I'll leave you with this. This was a long rant... so I'm going to just do the easy route and just give you the Honest Trailer for The Amazing Spider-man. Enjoy!