With The Amazing Spider-Man coming up shortly, and since director Marc Webb has been coy enough to say that there are winks and nods to other Spider-Man villains and lore within the film, we decided here at SuperHeroHype to make a list of the things we want to see in The Amazing Spider-man in relation to that and how it affects the future of the series. These are by no means a definitive list nor are they a ‘make or break’ for the movie either, just a quick selection of some serious character bits and more lighter tags simply for the fans. Now since we’ve had three other Spider-Man films before and are now getting a brand new series, it’s only fair that we can start to get a little picky with the things that we would like to see.
Warning: Potential spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man (or just wishful thinking).
Wise cracks and one line zingers are essential to the character of Spider-Man. Sure they were present in the first series but the best funny lines never belonged to Peter Parker (leave it to the man Bruce Campbell to steal all of them). After the most recent trailer with the “Tiny knives” line, I have faith that the humor has remained intact in its transition from comic to film, but we all know that some films of this nature spring the funniest lines for the actual trailer and very few actually end up in the film. However, with a movie of this caliber and scope it’s hard for me to believe there’s only two funny lines in the whole film. Also since Emma Stone has a background in comedy and her chemistry with Andrew Garfield already appears to be incredible, I’m expecting to see a lot of nerdy Peter Parker laughs as well as Spider-Man being a smart aleck.
The Nicknames
It’s not imperative that the movie has these, but since it seems Denis Leary’s Captain Stacy will be the more personal attacker on Spider-Man in lieu of J. Jonah Jameson, it is something to wonder about. Jameson hit a popularity climax due to J.K. Simmons’ portrayal of him and his constant bashing of Spider-Man. Without him in the picture, the only front and center character here to speak disparagingly of Spidey is Captain Stacy. To be specific, I’d like to at least hear one of these– “Web head”, “Wall Crawler”, “Web Slinger”–and it would be even better if Garfield referred to himself as the “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” but that might be jumping the gun a bit. Though after the public tongue lashing it seems Stacy sizes up the character with in the trailers, he might need to do a bit of a PR scuffle toward the end to win points with New Yorkers.
Now Marc Webb has already said that this is in the film and I certainly hope that most of these references aren’t completely obvious like in The Incredible Hulk film (remember the line, ‘It would be an ABOMINATON’ ? Yuck). What I want is more subtle things that not everyone will notice, something that we might not see until a second or even third viewing. We already know that Oscorp will function as a sort of background piece in the film so that’s already a hint towards Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Also, since it seems Dr. Connors will be working for Oscorp, why can’t we expect to see more scientists in the background that would prove to be future antagonists? The best choices for this would of course be Dr. Otto Octavious (Doc Ock) and Spencer Smythe (the creator of the Spider Slayers). Plus New York will of course have an odd reputation by the end of the film for harboring both Spider-Man and a giant lizard, so this creates great proving ground for a sequel with Kraven the Hunter.
Costume Designs
As seen in the comics and the Raimi trilogy, it takes Peter a while to come up with a proper costume for his antics and after looking at the new suit there’s no way this was his first choice. The evolution of the costume, as well as Peter’s thought process for it all should be a definite contribution to the film as well as a good character building moment. Not to mention that there’s plenty of room to reference other Spider-Man costumes in his sketches. While this would no doubt be simply for the fans, it would still be fun to see Garfield drawing Spidey costumes that we all already know about and love. Plus if there is a sequence where he “designs” these fan favorite costumes, what is stopping him from sticking them in a drawer and digging them out in a later sequel?
Head over to Page 2 to see the rest of the list!
