*I have written this as merely a guide of everything we know about the planned reboot.
Spider-Man (2012), is a planned reboot of the series which will be released in 3D on July 3rd, 2012. The reboot will have Peter Parker back in high school, trying to balance his studies with his adventures as a crime fighting teenage superhero. They are using a script written by James Vanderbilt that “focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises".
Entertainment Weekly reported on January 12, 2010, that the studio is interested in doing a more “gritty, contemporary” redo of the series.
The director of the film is Marc Webb. Webb directed the critically acclaimed film “500 Days of Summer”, a story about an architect (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who falls hopelessly in love with his boss’s assistant (Zooey Deschanel). The film was nominated for two Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actor (Musical or Comedy).
Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment responded to Marc Webb; “"At its core, Spider-Man is a small, intimate human story about an everyday teenager that takes place in an epic super-human world. The key for us as we sought a new director was to identify filmmakers who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker's life. We wanted someone who could capture the awe of being in Peter's shoes so the audience could experience his sense of discovery while giving real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age and coupling all of that with the adrenaline of Spider-Man's adventure. We believe Marc Webb is the perfect choice to bring us on that journey."
Marc Webb has also directed many music videos, including Green Day’s “21 Guns” which won 2009 Best director award, and AFI’s “Miss Murder” which was awarded 2006 Best Rock Video award.
It was announced on July 2nd, 2010 that Andrew Garfield will play Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the new Spider-Man films. On selecting Andrew Garfield, Marc Webb responded "Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor's work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker." Andrew Garfield starred in the recent critically acclaimed film “The Social Network” for which the film was nominated for over 6 Golden Globe Awards, including one for Garfield’s performance; Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
On October 6th, 2010, it was reported that Emma Stone had been cast as “Gwen Stacy”, Peter Parker’s friend and love interest in the upcoming film. Commenting on this announcement, Webb stated that ““The chemistry between Andrew and Emma was stunning and made Emma the clear choice. At the heart of the story of Peter Parker is not only the amazing Spider-Man, but also an ordinary teenager who is wondering what he has to do to get the girl”.
The film began shooting on December 6th, 2010, and is a 3-month shoot which will be filmed in New York City and Los Angeles. Pictures of Emma Stone at a funeral were revealed to be the first scene that would be filmed. It is believed to be that this will be Captain George Stacy’s funeral, Gwen Stacy’s father. George Stacy is a police officer who will reportedly be chasing Spider-Man throughout the film. Captain George Stacy will be played by Dennis Leary.
On November 4th, 2010, Rhys Ifans was reported to be playing “Dr. Curt Connors” who in the comicbooks turns into the Lizard. On receiving this role, Ifans stated “"It's a great script, great director and the money ain't bad”. Miles Elliot has been cast as Billy Connors, Curt Connor’s son.
Other casting includes Chris Zylka who will be playing Flash Thompson, a high-school jock who relentlessly bullies Peter Parker in the comic books, Martin Sheen as Ben Parker (Peter Parker’s uncle), Sally Field as May Parker (Peter Parker’s aunt), Campbell Scott as Richard Parker (Peter Parker’s father), and Julianne Nicholson as Mary Parker (Peter Parker’s mother).
On December 3rd, 2010, Heat Vision reported that Irrfan Khan is in talks to player a villain named “Van Atter”, who in the comicbooks turns into the “Proto-Goblin”. Little is known about this role thus far. Annie Parisse has been confirmed to be playing Van Atter’s wife.
Other rumors include John Slattery and Sam Elliott both being in the running to play newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson, and Zooey Deschanel to play Betty Brant, Jameson’s secretary at The Daily Bugle. Recently, Entertainment Weekly reported that C. Thomas Howell has joined the upcoming Spider-Man film playing a character named “Ray”. Little is known about this role thus far.
Heavy speculation has been placed upon the film’s villain being The Lizard. Recently, Columbia Pictures released a press photo of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, attention has been placed towards “claw” marks on Spider-Man’s chest, indicating that Lizard could be the villain of the new film.
The suit marks a departure from Raimi’s suit, sporting a different, mesh material, and unusual usage of red and blue colors on the arms and gloves. It has been speculated that the costume also has a belt wrapping around Spider-Man waist, although the newly released photo does not show one. The picture also confirms “webshooters”, which are noticeable on both of Peter Parker’s wrists. Peter Parker seems to be leaving a fight; the suit has suffered noticeable damage and he has a bruise across his face; this provides evidence of the previous press release promising a more “contemporary and gritty” Spider-Man film. Peter is also wearing his backpack, indicating his trouble to keep his superhero and adolescent life separate.
It us unknown whether Mary-Jane Watson will be playing a role in this film, despite being featured prominently in the original trilogy by Kirsten Dunst. There has also been no information of Harry Osborn being in this film. Peter Parker's best friend in the comics, he was portrayed by James Franco in the previous trilogy. In interviews, Emma Stone has confirmed that this film will be the start of a new trilogy, in which she will take part of. In the comics, her character Gwen Stacy is infamously killed by Spider-Man, which indicates that her death may take place in the 2nd film. It has been rumored that the budget of the film will be over $80 million, indicating a much smaller budget than the previous films.
Stan Lee (co-creator of Spider-Man), tweeted “"It’s been an exciting week for me, but I got a phone call last night that really flipped me out! I’m bustin’ to tell you about it. My pal Avi Arad, producer of the new Spider-Man movie, called to tell me how excited he is about the film. Then came the surprise—Avi told me my cameo is all set for Spidey 4, and when he described it, I realized it’s the best, most unusual one yet!I wish I could tell you what my cameo is, but that would kill the surprise. But I’ll tell you this much—I’m finally in an action scene!"
News arrived last week of scenes being filmed in a high school gym. Examiner reports that “Last week the "Spider-Man" reboot was filming at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California during the school's Christmas break. The school's gym was redone with a new logo featuring a panther dribbling a basketball and the intitials "MSHS."
On Location Vacations reports that that “the production is filming all day today at Taft High School in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles. Today's filming reportedly involves a helicopter landing on the basketball courts, as well as other assorted mayhem including smoke, emergency vehicles with flashing lights, weapons being brandished and talent crashing through windows”.
I hope that this has helped people who are looking for information about the upcoming reboot, as there is a lot of false information floating around the internet. I will be updating this with more information once it becomes available.
I will leave you with one question, with all the current information available, are you excited for this upcoming reboot? What do you think?