Art by Mike Deodato Jr
It was big news when the plans to make Spider-man 4 were scrapped by Sony and director Sam Raimi was dropped form the series due to his concerns that he could not meet the film’s May 2011 release whilst still upholding his creative vision. In a bold move by studios they announced the reboot of the series and the recasting of Peter Parker altogether.
When it was confirmed that relatively unknown 27 year old Andrew Garfield had won the part it was a surprise to many, though the actor has made quite a name for himself in films & TV and also impressed the execs over at Sony who after seeing his screen test knew they had found their new Spider-man saying:
Andrew Garfield - Spider-Man Reboot
The role demands an extraordinary actor. You need someone who can magically transform himself from Peter Parker into Spider-Man. An actor who will depict the vulnerability of youth and the strength and confidence of a legendary figure at the same moment. We have found that actor in Andrew Garfield. From the first time we saw him in the upcoming film The Social Network, to his glorious screen test, which floored all of us, we knew that we had found our new Peter Parker
Originally when the casting call went out, the word was that the new film would go back to the high school years of Peter Parker’s character with a fresh take on the role, but now it seems likely the backdrop will be a college setting. Marc Webb has been tapped as director which seems an odd choice for this genre compared to the talented Raimi whose visuals and directorial style served the comic genre perfectly.
Producers Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin with director Marc Webb and star Andrew Garfield
Webb’s films haven’t been box office champs with his previous work being character focused such as the downbeat 500 days of Summer with Joseph Gordon-Levitt who co-starred in the Nolan dream flick Inception.
The studio’s claim their intention of this reboot it to take a fresh look at this comic genre which will lean away from the high end visuals of Raimi’s work and focus on the characterization and tone which has helped redefine the Batman films.
James Vanderbilt is writing the script for the film who was brought in by studios to write the proposed fourth, fifth and six in the series which indicates the studios are happy for him to continue. The proposed fourth was intending to feature the character of Dr. Curt Connors who becomes the villainous Lizard bad guy, but as yet no confirmations of who Spidey’s nemesis will be in this version. At this stage little details of the story have emerged with filming scheduled to take place in December 2010.
The idea is that as far as comic interpretations go, it might be a throw back to the Ultimate Spider-man comic which in itself was something of a reboot. Brian Michael Bendis who wrote for that series tweeted that he had met with the new production to offer some pointers but denied that he was actually writing for the film saying that they have a great writer already. As far the romantic element, the word is that Parker’s love interest may no longer be Mary Jane but instead might be the Gwen Stacy character from the comics, played by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-man 3. This time the rumor mill is claiming that singer and actress Hillary Duff is in the running for the role, to help appeal to the new generation.
Spider-Man swings into cinemas in Digital 3D on July 3, 2012.
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