Sony Demands Two Helpings of Spidey!

Rumours state the studio wants to shoot the fourth and fifth Spider-Man films at the same time.
by Larry_Chimp_Man

It's no secret that James Vanderbilt, scribe of David Fincher's Zodiac, has been hired by Sony to pen Spider-Man 4. Vanderbilt signed on to the film during the Writer's Strike last fall and has been cooking up a working draft since then. A few weeks back Vanderbilt turned in his draft to Sony and, according to Cinematical, they got more than they bargained for.



See, Vanderbilt didn't stop with one script, instead creating an arc spanning two Spider-Man films. Details of the plot aren't clear but one thing is; Sony is frantically reworking their deal with Vanderbilt to make his two-movie arc a reality.

As mentioned above, having scripts for both Spider-Man 4 and 5 completed simultaneously would allow the studio to shoot both flicks at the same time. Nothing has been confirmed but one can assume Sony is drooling over the possibility of two rapid Spidey releases and wants to make this two-picture deal happen.



If this is true and Sony decides to shoot Spidey 4 and 5 in unison who will return from the first three? Does Sam Raimi still have enough love for the character to return? What about Tobey MaGuire? Maguire almost dropped out of Spider-Man 2 because of his bad back. He also had complaints during the shooting of the third film, it looks doubtful he'd be willing to do two back-to-back. If MaGuire doesn't return one can assume Kirsten Dunst will drop out of the picture as well. Will Jake Gyllenhaal finally be given the chance to play Spidey? Who knows, Gyllenhaal has a full plate with Jerry Bruckheimer's planned Prince of Persia trilogy and he may not have time to fit Spider-Man into the picture.



Sony may have to clean house and bring in some new talent for Spider-Man 4 and 5 but I think it's a great idea to shoot the two films simultaneously. Releasing two films back-t0-back is great for the studio's wallet but it's also a treat for fans who don't have to wait years in-between flicks. Imagine the Lord of the Rings trilogy with three years separating each film, it just wouldn't be the same experience.

What do you guys think? Should Sony shoot Spider-Man 4 and 5 at the same time or should they take things slow and approach each film separately? Who do you think would make a great Peter Parker? What about Mary Jane? Post a comment and we'll start up a discussion.

Cheers.

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Spectacular Spider-Man's Saturday Morning Debut

Ultimate Spider-Man: Animated.

I woke up early, well earlier than normal, on Saturday to catch the first two episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man on the Kids WB. The show, which is being produced by Culver Entertainment, features a young Spidey on a timeline similar to that found in Ultimate Spider-Man. It also happens to be pretty good.



From what was shown in the first two episodes it looks like The Spectacular Spider-Man is going to stick around for the long haul. This is mainly because of aspect; connectivity. There seem to be quite a few subplots running through and fusing together each episode. Even after only an hour of animation I felt as if enough seeds had been planted to feed another three or four future stories. We may have only seen Vulture and Electro in action but Eddie Brock, Kurt Connors, and Dr. Octavius have all been established thus far. The one thing that bothers me the most with a show like this is when each story is self-contained. It looks like that won't be a problem with The Spectacular Spider-Man.

I'm also quite a big fan of the action scenes in the SSM. You really get a sense of movement when Spidey is in action as the camera swings and cuts quite a bit. The feeling is very cinematic and sets itself apart from other Saturday morning cartoons.



If I have one complaint about The Spectacular Spider-Man it's that it can get rather cheesy. Both episodes seemed to have a morale message tacked on that didn't really tie into the story. There's nothing wrong with sending a good message, I just felt that it was situationally unnecessary in both episodes.

Did any of you guys catch the first two episodes of SSM? What did you think? Post a comment and share your thoughts. If you haven't you can check them out on YouTube.

The Spectacular Spider-Man airs Saturdays at 10:00am on The CW.

Cheers.

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Amazing Spider-Man #550 Review

Brand New Day's second arc's second issue is a hit-and-miss affair.

I really enjoyed the first three-issue arc of Brand New Day. I felt Dan Slott and Steve McNiven did a superb job following up after the train wreck that was One More Day and I was genuinly excited to read Spidey again for the first time in years.

The second arc has tried to continue that fun and exhilarating Spider-Man style but it's not working as well as it did in the first arc. For starters, I'm already sick of the retro feel Marvel is shoving down our throats with this book. The silly opening/closing narratives feel forced and the editor comment box feels like it was written for children or readers partially retarded (or both?).



All quibbles about the presentation aside, I'm enjoying where this book is going. Many seeds are being planted and it feels like the book is progressing substantially every week. The new villain nicknamed Menace, a Green-Goblin-esque character introduced in ASM #549, looks like he could lead to something big and I want to see where he leads. It's also nice to see Jackpot getting a portion of the spotlight.

One thing that really bothered me about this issue, and the last one for that matter, is Salvador Larocca's art. Larocca's Spider-Man is great. He's cinematic and stylistic and seems to always be in motion, I have no complaints. What bothers me is how the art quality drops once Spidey takes off his mask. Some of Larocca's faces are flat out terrible and many of his civilians are plain and boring. It feels like Larocca doesn't have the passion for drawing everyday Joes the same way he does for drawing superheroes.

The same can be said for writer Marc Guggenheim. He's great whenever Peter's in action but lacks the same punch once the costume comes off. A lot of his dialogue simply seems like filler shoved in-between the action.

I may be being too harsh on Marvel and the creative team behind this current arc. I'm enjoying Brand New Day and this issue was no exception. I just wish Slott and McNiven were back on the book. Oh well, at least it's only one more issue before writer Bob Gale and artist Phil Jiminez team up to bring us Brand New Day's third arc.

One Sentence Review: Better than your average issue but frustrating at the same time.

The next issue, Amazing Spider-Man 551, hits comic shops on Wednesday.

Cheers.

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New Spider-Man Animated Series Kicks Off in March

The wall-crawler is back in his Saturday morning time slot.

A few months ago Marvel announced that Spider-Man was once again going to be returning to the animated world under the title The Spectacular Spider-Man. The show, which features an artistic style similar to that of the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and the Cartoon Network's new Tranformers animated series, will hit The CW in just under a month.

The show looks like it could be awesome. Spider-Man animation needs to get back to where it was in the mid nineties and, while that may be a ambitious goal, I think this new show could do it. The Spectacular Spider-Man is all about Peter getting into the swing of being a superhero. He's young, inexperienced, and has a lot to learn; think Ultimate Spider-Man. Who wouldn't love an animated Ultimate Spider-Man?



The show will supposedly follow a similar timeline to that in the comics but condensed to introduce key characters and plot points at a quicker pace. Hopefully it isn't rushed but still manages to cover enough ground every week. The first episode features the introduction of The Vulture, Peter's first super-villain test in the show.

Hopefully The Spectacular Spider-Man is a success. I've been dying to see a faithful animated Spider-Man on TV for ages and hopefully this can do the trick. Well, at least until Fox and Marvel find a way to bring the 1994 Spider-Man Animated Series out on DVD.

The Spectacular Spider-Man premieres on Saturday, March 8th on Kids' WB! on the CW at 10:00am with two back-to-back 30 minute episodes.

Check out the trailer below.

Cheers.

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Watch a Segment of Spider-Man 3 NOW!

NBC.com has uploaded a seven and a half minute long segment from the film two months before release.

The segment, which is a collection of a few scenes and not an entire sequence in chronological order, shows off an intense fight scene with Harry as the new Green Goblin as well as a few more surprises. Be warned though, Sony has put out a disclaimer saying that not all the CGI effects in the clip have been finalized and that a portion of the post-production work on the film is still fairly rough.

Now, while this doesn't contain any huge spoilers it may take away from your enjoyment of Spider-Man 3. Then again, it's only seven minutes of the film, how much can it hurt? It's inevitably up to you.



NBC hosted the seven minute teaser for 24-hours but has taken down the clip. If you missed it you can find it HERE.

Tell me what you think of the footage, post a comment below.

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FILM: David Koepp to Pen Spider-Man 4

Writer of Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, and War of the Worlds, among others, to write the next Spider-Man flick.

David Koepp is one of those writers who's always in the Hollywood spotlight and seems to usually have some sort of input into the years' top blockbusters. He's worked with powerhouse directors to the likes of Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Ron Howard, and David Fincher as well as directing some feature films himself such as Secret Window and The Trigger Effect I think he should stick to writing, but that's my opinion. Koepp also recently finished writing the script for Indiana Jones 4.

Koepp hasn't signed a contract for the fourth film as of yet, but Columbia is pursuing the project and has confirmed that he will write the screenplay for the film. Koepp co-wrote Spider-Man, but wasn't involved the second film or the third installment which hits theatres in May.

I'm not sure this is a good choice for the franchise. All of Koepp's great films have had other writers working on the screenplay alongside him. Most of the projects he attempts alone are nowhere near as good as the projects he works on with other people. Also, he's one of those writers who just abuses the one-liner to death. Watch a movie like Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, or Mission: Impossible and count the amount of quips, it's astounding.



Koepp also usually keeps the films he writes fairly light-hearted. This is fine and dandy for the average blockbuster but he may be brining Spider-Man away from the dark world he is in now. Since Koepp left the production of Spider-Man 2 the franchise has been getting darker and has started taking itself serious. The last thing I want for a fourth film is it to go back to the quick quips and cheesy dialogue found in the first Spider-Man film. I think that Koepp coming back to write the fourth might also be a hint that Raimi won't be returning to direct the picture, but that's just speculation on my part.

What do you think about David Koepp writing the fourth Spider-Man flick? Is it a good thing of is the film doomed? Post a comment.

Cheers.

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Ultimate Spider-Man #105 Review

The conclusion to the clone saga. How will Brian Michael Bendis mop up this mess?

Maybe I'm a bit harsh calling Bendis' take on the infamous clone saga a "mess." Sure, the arc has been convoluted and all over the place, with so many details and characters being thrown around that it's hard to keep track of, but I've thoroughly enjoyed it. An homage to the original clone saga wouldn't be complete without a bit of confusion anyhow.

Well, issue 105 hit the shelves on Wednesday and provided, in 32 pages, a chance for Bendis to wrap up the enourmous number of events that have occured in this 8-part story-arc. When I say there were an enourmous number of events I'm referring to Peter getting cloned, clones going crazy, Peter's dad coming back from the dead, so did Gwen Stacy, Aunt May having heart attack, MJ turning into a wolf-beast, Doctor Octapus ending up out of jail, the Fantastic Four gotting involved, Shield getting involved. Am I missing anything? Probably. It has been a crazy arc and an entertaining one.

Now, unlike my Spawn 164 review, I don't want to give too much of this issue away. Ultimate Spider-Man 104 ended with the Fantastic Four giving Peter the question of a lifetime: continue as Spider-Man or let them take away the burden of his powers. Now, this question takes the entire issue to answer but is broken up by some key plot developments. We find out Nick Fury's reasoning behind sending all those spider-mechs to Peter's house in Queens. Peter also gets closer to Mary-Jane than he has since they broke up and must choose between MJ or Kitty Pryde. Peter must also deal with Aunt May who is recovering in hospital. She now knows her adopted Son is Spider-Man and Peter doesn't know if she will be able to cope.



Brian Michael Bendis does a good job wrapping up the story while leaving some of the story open for conclusion later on in the title's history. I think he did an excellent job with the Clone Saga and was able to throw so much at the reader without losing them (too much). I'm always in awe of how Bendis is able to really capture the human quality of things in such an action packed book. As much as I enjoy his fight sequences and the battle royales, I always appreciate the conversation scenes that much more. Sure, some of the stuff is corny and cheese fluff, but it works well in the book.

Mark Bagley is also up to his usual standards in issue 105. His compositions are top notch as usual and he does an excellent job nailing his characters' emotions in this issue. I don't think I'm saying anything new when it comes to Mark Bagely's art. He's done 105 consecutive issues on the title, the man knows how to draw AND meet his deadlines, something some of the best artists aren't able to do these.

I thought Ultimate Spider-Man 105 was a great issue and I'm looking forward to seeing what Bendis and Bagley can do with their next issue: Daredevil.

Cheers.

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Ultimate Spider-Man 100 Covers

100 unique covers, all proceeds go to charity.

A few months back Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man 100 hit the shelves of comic book stores all over, celebrating 100 continuous issues with the same creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. To celebrate, Marvel sent out 100 blank Ultimate Spider-Man covers to a vast array of comic book artists, each one given the task of creating their own unique cover to complete the milestone.

Well, Marvel is now planning to auction off all 100 covers at some upcoming comic conventions, and on eBay, with all proceeds going towards The Hero Initiative, a charity that helps comic book creators in need.



Some of these covers are simply amazing and will most likely sell for prices I can't even compute. My favourites have to be Clayton Crain's, Ron Garney's, Todd McFarlane's, and Humberto Ramos'. I also find it quite amusing that Guillermo Del Toro (director of Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) did a cover.

Check out all 100 covers HERE.

Cheers.

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