Marc Webb Officially Lands Spider-Man Gig
Well that sure didn’t take long. After last week’s rumours about potential directors to take over the Spider-Man franchise, Sony has now confirmed that (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb has officially been handed the keys to the franchise. He had this to say about the opportunity:
“This is a dream come true and I couldn’t be more aware of the challenge, responsibility, or opportunity. Sam Raimi’s virtuoso rendering of Spider-Man is a humbling precedent to follow and build upon. The first three films are beloved for good reason. But I think the Spider-Man mythology transcends not only generations but directors as well. I am signing on not to ‘take over’ from Sam. That would be impossible. Not to mention arrogant. I’m here because there’s an opportunity for ideas, stories, and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas, and creative voice to Spider-Man.”
Sony went on to confirm that they wanted a director who could capture the “small, intimate human story about an everyday teenager” and give “real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age and coupling all of that with the adrenaline of Spider-Man’s adventure”. I suppose from that point of view Webb should be a decent choice. Of course, it also means they can make a much cheaper Spider-Man flick. THR’s Heat Vision Blog is reporting that the budget will be $80 million and the cast will be relative unknowns. Inspiration for the new flick will come from Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man comics. What do you think, are you excited about a fresh new start for Spider-Man? Is Marc Webb the right man for the job?
Comments (27)
no maguire wtf its gonna be really hard looking at some one else play spiderman
Posted by juan on January 20th, 2010(500) Days of Summer is in my Top 3 of the year, so I’m definitely looking forward to this reboot. Also because I never fully fell in love with Raimi’s Spiderman movies, so I’m curious if Webb’s Peter Parker interpretation can win me over 100%.
Posted by SirPrize on January 20th, 2010Well he’s got the last name for it. HAR HAR HAR HAR!
Posted by Itchy-Finger on January 20th, 2010I’m cool with a restart. Lets go back to the beginning.
But this scares me…
“Inspiration for the new flick will come from Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man comics”
I hate Bendis. Please just keep it basic to the icon early Lee/Kirby days.
Posted by Rick on January 20th, 2010so far so good.
Posted by Napalm on January 20th, 2010I’ve said it before and all I really care about is new villains. Going with a regurgitated villain with have me lose interest real quick.
Posted by Itchy-Finger on January 20th, 2010While I was pretty tickled with the idea of Wes Anderson getting this gig, this is far from the worst choice. I was sure Sony was going to go with a Brett Ratner/Jon Turtletaub/Rob Cohen type director, and they didn’t. Marc Webb brings something interesting to this franchise. If you were to ask me if I’d rather see a Marc Webb reboot or Spider-Man 4 with Raimi/MacGuire, I’d probably have the latter as long as Sony didn’t meddle with it. But I’ll still go see this.
Posted by Nate on January 20th, 2010sounds like they’re going to try to capture some of the twilight audiences (girls) and keep the spiderman core audience in tact (Guys).
Having said that, i actually think this is a great choice. Hopefully he brings something new to comic book movies instead of doing whatever Gavin Hood did with Wolverine.
Posted by Mike on January 20th, 2010I hope he learns from Christopher Nolan first Batman film and gets his mind around shooting action. its a big leap for your first action film to be SPIDERMAN!!
Posted by rus in chicago on January 20th, 2010I would rather see him take a cue from the Bourne films as far as action goes, I couldn’t follow any of that shaky shit action in Batman Begins, Better in the Dark Knight though.
I think M. Webb should be ok. I mean there wasn’t anything in Nolan’s or Singer’s resume that said this guy should be helming a comic book franchise film. It sounds like they are thinking of robooting the origin story unless I am getting it wrong? That sounds like a mistake to me. Could you really do a better origin story than Spiderman 1 ? I don’t know the graphic novel source material that they are going to be drawing from but I would like to see them push it into the future some rather than retreading the past.
Posted by xego on January 20th, 2010@ Xego
“I would rather see him take a cue from the Bourne films as far as action goes, I couldn’t follow any of that shaky shit action in Batman Begins”
HAHAHAHA!! the bourne movies are known for the shaky cam…have you seen those movies?
Posted by Mike on January 20th, 2010Sounds like a major stretch to go for this guy. But it seems like more and more directors aren’t being typecast as “action” or some other genre. Probably good for him to get some range so that he can take on different projects.
Posted by Maopheus on January 20th, 2010@ rick
…I agree 100%. I just read “secret wars” by bendis… fucking awful.
I’m personally glad they’re rebooting spiderman. I think marvel just needs a reboot period.
Posted by mark on January 20th, 2010Rus in Chicago summed up my thoughts exactly. 500 Days to Spiderman? I don’t see the connection…
Posted by HFD on January 20th, 2010I didn’t word it correctly – Christopher Nolan was clueless on shooting action in Batman Begins, he got his footing on The Dark Knight.
Posted by rus in chicago on January 20th, 2010I was 100% against this, but I LOVE the Ultimate Spider-Man comics so that at least now has be intrigued if nothing else.
Posted by Slushie Man on January 20th, 2010Sony’s gonna want a name for whoever plays Spider-Man. I don’t believe this “cast of unknowns” business.
Posted by projectgenesis on January 20th, 2010i don’t see why they wouldn’t cast Joseph Gordon Levitt. I guess he’s a little old to be in high school, but so was the previous Peter Parker.
Posted by Mike on January 20th, 2010I’d be down with Joseph Gordon-Levitt also. He’s almost 29, but he’s one of those guys that will always look younger than he actually is. Plus, judging from those wall climbing back-flips he did on SNL, he seems to be a good fit for Spider-Man!
Posted by Brendan on January 20th, 2010NICE PHOTOSHOP sean!
Posted by KYriakos on January 20th, 2010I have nothing to say that would oppose the casting of Zac Efron. Dudes got talent. Hot girlfriend.
Posted by Robin on January 20th, 2010While I don’t understand the love for 500 Days of Summer (badly regurgitated Annie Hall with a decent performance from Levitt) I do understand Sony’s draw to a smaller film starring relative unknowns. Spidey’s the easiest character to give the Twilight treatment, what with all the teen drama and super-villain teachers. I’m personally completely uninterested in this route but from a business standpoint it makes sense. Besides, Spider-Man’s sort of a kid’s thing anyway, I loved him when I was one but leave me my Batman and I’ll keep quiet…:)
Posted by Fatbologna on January 20th, 2010Ugh, this is going to suck. 80 million dollar budget?! Smaller spiderman? This is stupid, its going to be one of those high school dramas, where the kid in class who always picks on peter will end up secretly being the villain, and the big battle will be in the high school football field or something. I garuntee you this is the direction they’re going to take it, probably to cash in on the whole Twilight craze. This basically sounds like the boring and uninteresting first 30 minutes from Spiderman 1, extended to feature length.
Posted by bullet3 on January 20th, 2010Here that sucking sound? That’s Sony sucking every last dollar they can out of the Spidey brand. It makes (warped) business sense to put out two, maybe even three “cheapie” Spider-Man movies, with hopes the mindless masses will continue to attend another Summer Blockbuster… whether they are quality movies or not. I’m guessing some of the creative differences with Raimi centered around Sony’s desire to “dumb down” the storyline, with flashy new villains (Ann Hathaway as Vultress…really?) to pull in the teen-boppers and mom’s with little kids. And yeah, I’ll be watching them too… only thru gritted teeth.
Posted by HFD on January 21st, 2010oooh! get the guy from Third Rock From The Sun, what’s his name..
the guy in the picture. He’s a great actor and he has the perfect look for Spider-Man!
Posted by Phil on January 21st, 2010Joseph Gordon Levitt would be PERFECT casting!
Posted by Phil on January 21st, 2010One more comment: we really don’t need the origin story.
Just start the movie with Spider-Man already in his career, etc.
Would be so much better!
Posted by Phil on January 21st, 2010Leave a Reply