We live in a movie marketplace dominated by reboots and superhero movies, but one franchise has ripped through its fair share of both. Along with Bryan Singer’s X-Men, director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man helped usher in the modern superhero era. It set a massive opening weekend box office record and kicked off a franchise that continued with the critically acclaimed Spider-Man 2, and concluded with the muddled and compromised Spider-Man 3. However, Sony Pictures wasted no time in keeping the property alive despite Raimi’s exit, hiring Marc Webb to oversee a new reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. That film did solid business and received so-so reviews, but its sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, was not particularly well-received by critics or fans. So Sony decided to reboot again, but this time they have some help.
In an unprecedented move, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios came to an arrangement that sees Marvel producing a new standalone Spider-Man reboot and using the character in its Marvel Cinematic Universe. With a 2017 release date looming, the studios have settled on their star (Tom Holland), director (Jon Watts), possibly writers (John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldestein), and a clear direction (high school-set stories).
But Raimi is the one that started it all, so when MTV caught up with the filmmaker at Comic-Con, they asked his thoughts on this new reboot’s direction and whether he saw the Webb-helmed films:
“I saw [both Marc Webb movies], they’re great. And I’m really glad that Marvel’s taking it to high school. I think that’s gonna be refreshing, and just like my favorite of the Spider-Man comic-books. And I have a lot of faith that they really know their stuff… The difficulty of going through high school is so unique to a superhero. It’s unique and that’s what Spider-Man’s all about, so that they’re gonna explore that head on is very exciting.”
Raimi has no involvement in this new reboot, but it was clear with his films (at least the first two) that he had a strong handle on the Spider-Man character, so it’s certainly interesting to hear his two-cents on Marvel’s new direction. And while the filmmaker seems to be happy working on different kinds of projects, the fact that he's talking about Spider-Man again serves as yet another reminder that he was planning a redemptive Spider-Man 4 with John Malkovich as Vulture. If only…
