First I think it is important to say that I don’t hate any of the Spider-Man films. Spider-Man 2 is probably the best and Spider-Man 3 is by far the worst. In that we see what makes a great Spider-Man movie- a focus on Peter Parker that explores his personal life, his feelings, psychological state and really finds that heart of the character. Of course this should be underpinned with great Spider-Man action and SFX.
The Amazing Spider-Man films have got some of this right in that there is a large Peter focus and I think a lot of that is down to the casting of Andrew Garfield; for me has everything from the characterisation to the look of Pete/ Spidey, so to lose him would be a huge shame.
Where to go with the next few films then?
Sony e-mails have reportedly compared the Spider-Man franchise to James Bond, saying that it is pointless re-treading old ground but that it is important to take Spider-Man in a new direction. They are looking at Kraven’s last hunt which would be cool and implies they want a darker edge to the series. Baring all that in mind here is my alternative for a future trilogy of films that fixes duh duh duh the symbiote saga:
Web of Lies
In this film we see a broken Peter Parker (Garfield or no) that, despite trying to battle on as Spider-man, has fallen into a dark place. He is mourning the death of Gwen and through montage we see his Spider-suit slowly destroyed through battle and neglect until he finally throws the tattered remains of the mask into a bin and collapses on a bed in his small apartment.
We see Pete bump into the girl-(in-the-flat-)next-door Mary Jane Watson- a young lady embarking on a modelling career (I always picture Bella Thorne), on the way out of his apartment. She asks him if he wants to grab a cup of coffee but Pete freaks out over the idea of dating again.
MJ- Easy Tiger, I meant as friends- you know the whole neighbourly thing.
Pete- I had a friend, it didn’t work out so great.
At Aunt May’s house he comes across a video of himself playing with a young Eddie Brock and decides to look him up (a la Ultimate Spider-Man ‘Venom’). Brock reveals ‘the suit’ their parents were working on together for a company called Roxxon and that his parents died under similarly suspicious circumstances. Pete secretly steals part of the suit and is motivated by its adrenaline rush to return to his vigilante ways as a more brutal Black Spider-Man, whilst taking an internship at Roxxon to explore how they were involved in his parents’ deaths.
This prompts the city to commission Roxxon (Under Mayor JJJJr’s watchful eye) to create the Scorpion to apprehend Spidey.
After an initial battle Scorpion goes a bit crazy from the pain the suit is causing him. Spidey collapses due to injury on the way back to his apartment only to be discovered by MJ and nursed back to health. Meanwhile he has also discovered that his father and Brock actually had a fallout over the suit- his father left the project fearing the suit was too powerful and Brock was killed trying sell it to terrorists.
The Scorpion goes after JJJJr for his role in his creation. Pete intervenes but in a symbiote induced rage rips the tail from Gargan’s back, leaving him crippled and in comatose due to extreme shock.
Pete rids himself from the suit but is guilt ridden by his actions- even a being promoted to a full time researcher at Roxxon doesn’t cheer him up. Our final Pete scene sees him knocking on MJ’s door
Pete- It turns out maybe I could use a friend after all.
MJ- Well then face it Tiger; You just hit the jackpot.
The final scene of the movie sees Eddie- who now hates Peter due to his reveal of his Father’s dubious morality- bonding with the remaining suit sample.
Venom- We will be poison to you Spider-Man, We are Venom (growl)
During this film Pete also bumps into Flash who reveals that he is joining the Army after being inspired by Spidey.
Web of Shadows
Set a few months later this film sees Pete in a bit better place- he is almost dating MJ with the two almost kissing in some nice Rom-com-ish moment towards the start of the film. He is doing well as a scientist at Roxxon under the watchful eye of mentor Alistair Smythe.
Unfortunately Smythe isn’t on the straight and narrow and we see him selling weapons that include Oc tech to opposing crime families vying for control of the city now that Spider-man has once again disappeared. This results in the creation of Shocker from a mob enforcer and Vulture from the corpse of a hero police officer. Vulture takes up much of the screen time out of these two, clashing with Police and once with a street clothes Spider-Pete who investigates a blood sample to identify the Vulture and what has happened.
A more sinister angle plays through the film as Eddie resurfaces- stalking Pete and MJ to a semi-date and vandalising MJ’s apartment as Venom. He also reveals Pete’s secret to Aunt May and puts her in the hospital. After this MJ is able to convince Pete to become Spider-man again but he is defeated by Venom who attempts to unmask Pete in front of JJJJr. Pete however escapes.
In the movie’s big action sequence a gang war erupts in New York with the Vulture and Shocker destroying huge amounts of the city when they lock horns. Pete cannot resist joining the fray and defeats Shocker. Whilst locked in battle with the Vulture Pete is able to restore the memories of the officer by reminding him of his family. The sequence seems to be the positive Villain reformation Spidey story we are used to until Venom strikes from the shadows, killing the Vulture and disappearing.
Recognising the Ock tech that allows the Vulture to mentally control its wings Spidey mistakenly and angrily accuses Doctor Octavius of selling his tech to gangs and engages him in combat which results in an accident bonding Ock to his arms.
Pete vows to return as Spider-man to make his city safe again. He and MJ finally kiss.
(6 0f 6 villains (inc rhino and Electro) and Smythe now established for SS)
Web of Spider-man
Pete and MJ are now dating whilst Pete returns to Spider-Man full time. He is also recruited by Horizon labs to become a senior researcher but leaves Roxxon on good terms with boss Smythe.
Pete immediately begins work into using sonics for everyday tasks and this results in his first patent- using sonics to help stimulate nerves in a damage spine and move towards curing paralysis (see Web of Lies Scorpion).
Flash returns from War having lost his legs and is hailed a hero. He and Pete re-connect.
The main drama erupts from the shadow of Brock hanging over Pete, Mj and Aunt May. He psychologically tortures the gang until he challenges Pete within horizon labs. During the fight Pete discovers that sonic waves are the creatures weakness and later lures him to a church at the stroke of midnight to defeat the creature. Eddie is left weak and cancer-ridden.
Pete proposes to MJ- she has pulled him up from the darkness and he know life is short.
Mid credit scene shows Flash recruited for Project Venom (sets up Venom solo movie).
There it is folks, will you go see my movies? :-P Sound off below.