A Darker Spider-Man
April 15, 2007 | 2 Comments
I am certain that putting Spider-Man back in the black suit was primarily a marketing ply to bring him inline visually with the new Spider-Man 3 film coming out this summer. It can’t help but sell comics if the book on the newsstand looks just like the character on the big screen.
However, I have been pleasantly surprised by how they are playing out this change in the books. First of all, in the wake of Civil War, Aunt May was shot by a sniper hired by the Kingpin. All evidence indicates this bullet will be lethal, but for now she hangs on, in a coma, sustained by life support. He vows to avenge her by all necessary means. In fact, as you can see in the image on the left, he intends to find who is responsible and he “is going to kill them”.
Additionally, Peter Parker decides not to take the pardon offered by new director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Tony Stark/Iron Man. This leaves him as a criminal fugitive in defiance of the Superhero Registration Act. As part of this he remains a member of the New Avengers who are now made up entirely of heroes in a similar situation. Now led by Luke Cage, the New Avengers are made up of Wolverine (Logan), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), Ronin (unknown), Echo (Maya Lopez; formerly Ronin), and the surprise addition of Doctor Stephen Strange. This is a group who are known far more for street level crime fighting as opposed to global/galactic/cosmic level events. They start right out fighting Elektra and The Hand, but Spider-Man is here to fight the Kingpin’s crew.
This newly formed team is certainly darker, with a much more aggressive take on crime fighting. The US government considers all of them criminals and this combined with their plans, means they will be taking out their aggressions in potentially lethal ways. I would not want to be a street thug in the Marvel Universe with these guys out for vengeance. The image below shows that they are not implying this, but stating it outright.
Al of this leaves us with a Spider-Man who has turned to much darker tactics. His life has taken a dark turn. So… using the black costume as a symbol of his new stance both to fans reading the book and to criminals he will encounter in the Marvel Universe is a nice and accurate touch. Again, the marketing aspect of this change had me a bit hesitant about their decision to make this change, but I’m loving the story lines that are emerging.
Tags: "black suit", "Spider-Man 3", aunt may, avengers, danny rand, dark, doctor strange, echo, elektra, iron fist, iron man, jessica drew, lethal, logan, luke cage, marvel, marvel universe, maya lopez, new avengers, power man, Ronin, shield, spider-man, spider-woman, stephen strange, the hand, tony stark, vengeance, Wolverine
Spider-Man 3: NBC.com Exclusive HD Preview
March 6, 2007 | 2 Comments
If you don’t like to know much about upcoming movies and truly appreciate the surprise and enjoyment of seeing things for the first time in the theater, stop reading now.
NBC.com is running an exclusive HD preview of Spider-Man 3. The catch is that it will only be online until 12AM tonight! (Of course then you’ll just have to look for it on YouTube or Google video…) This is more of a clip, or full scene than a preview. It is a full 7m 31s long clip that shows three major scenes and then ends with a few short clips in preview style.
First it starts with Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson hanging out in a web expressing their love for each other. This then cuts to a scene with Peter telling Aunt May his intentions to ask MJ to marry him. Aunt May tells a touching story of how here and Ben met, as well as the fact that they would have been married 50 years if he had not been killed. She then gives Peter her engagement ring to give MJ.
This then cuts to Peter on his scooter where he is attacked by the new Green Goblin. After throwing him around quite a bit, the Goblin removes his mask, revealing Harry Osborn, and tells Peter he is going to kill him. Peter argues that he did not kill Harry’s father Norman and the chase begins.
This fight continues for a majority of the preview. The fight is particularly brutal. At one point Peter nearly loses Aunt May’s ring, but is able to fight off Harry long enough to get it back. At this point Harry starts pulling out some of his special goblin weapons.
Peter is able to use them back against him and catches Harry off guard. He finally gets enough distance between himself and Harry to setup a clothesline of webbing to surprise and takedown Harry.
We then see Harry fall four or five stories onto the pavement where he is seen unconscious. Peter rushes too him and begins CPR. We are left wondering if Harry is in fact alive. Having seen other clips in other trailers, Harry does end up in a hospital, so this must mean he survived.
This is where the “scene” portion of the preview ends. We then see the text “and the story continues…” Then it transitions into a series of clips from the movie. The most significant being of Sandman and Venom. I really love how they show Sandman as able to become huge in this clip.
Finally we are treated to our first clear, high quality shot of Venom. Sadly, it is the same shot we have seen blurry in previous leaked and official trailers.
I continue to be excited about this movie, but I am starting to think they are showing us too much. If this is the entirety of the Goblin vs Spider-Man action in this film, I will be a little let down that it was shown so completely to us. As much as I enjoyed this, I do appreciate secrecy and surprises in the theater.
Tags: "black suit", "Spider-Man 3", aunt may, ben parker, engagement, film, goblin, Green Goblin, harry osborn, mary jane, mary jane watson, mj, movie, nbc, nbc.com, peter parker, preview, ring, Sandman, sony, spider-man, spiderman, spiderman 3, theater, trailer, venom
Spider-Man Pewter Chess Set
August 14, 2006 | 6 Comments
SOTA Toys is releasing a $499 pewter Spider-Man themed chess set this August. I have to admit, the geek in me was intrigued… at first.
I really like the board itself. It’s themed like a rooftop in fairly ornate detail. This includes a non-flat surface creating a much more three dimensional and real experience. I was surprised to have not seen this idea sooner, it’s just brilliant.
The cast for pieces is good, at least on first glance:
Heroes
King: Spider-man (red & blue)
Queen: Symbiote Spider-man (black)
Knight: Punisher
Knight: Moon Knight
Bishop: Daredevil
Bishop: Black Cat
Rook: Cloak & Dagger
Rook: Blade
Pawn: Spider Tracer
Villains
King: Green Goblin
Queen: Doctor Octopus
Knight: Scorpion
Knight: Sandman
Bishop: Electro
Bishop: Lizard
Rook: Venom
Rook: Rhino
Pawn: Spider Slayer
This list is where I became frustrated. To begin with, why have both red & blue suit and black suit Spider-Man? What a terrible cop out. Let’s instead put Black Cat in that spot. Hell, if Spider-Man wasn’t also Peter Parker Black Cat would still be attached to Spidey. Alright, don’t like Black Cat? How about Spider-Girl? Or one of the three Spider-Woman characters? Surely any of these would be better. I’ve got no love for the clone-saga, but frankly I’d take Scarlet Spider over two Spider-Man’s on the chess board…
Next, what’s with Moon Knight?!? I suppose they fought alongside each other occasionally, but I’d much rather see Human Torch, Silver Sable, or even Firestar in this lineup. Cloak and Dagger seemed strange at first, until I realized they first appeared in a Spider-Man comic, leading me to accept them far more readily. The rest of the heroes are good choices.
On to the villains… this is a tough one. Spider-Man has one of the deepest rogue galleries of any super hero I’ve ever encountered. The ones chosen here are a solid list. At first I really wanted a female in the “Queen” slot, but as I poked around in my head, I couldn’t come up with an A-list (or even B-list) female villain for Spidey. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not free of complaint when it comes to the villain list…
First off, we have Blade on the good side, but no Morbius on the bad? Who did Blade show up to fight? The dude kills vampires exclusively!
This lack of match-up has me concerned for Daredevil, Punisher, Black Cat, Cloak and Dagger, and Moon Knight. These guys all fight organized crime. That’s their shared niche and where Spidey teams up with this crew. Where are the major crime villains? Where’s Kingpin? Tombstone? Hammerhead? The Enforcers?
As I said before, there are a lot of villains, so I can understand them leaving some out. What I don’t get is why, knowing this, they would decide to make all the pawns the same? One or two unique spider-slayers is tolerable, but why not pull some other thugs up as pawns when you got all these other big names to choose from: Beetle, Chameleon, Carnage, Shocker, Hydro Man, Mysterio, Morbius, Man Wolf, Kraven the Hunter, Vulture, or Hobgoblin?
Back on the hero side, I’d love to see them use regular people, friends, and family as pawns instead of the lame spider tracers. For instance, take your pick from these: Mary Jane, J Jonah Jameson, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, Betty Brant, Flash Thompson, Robbie Robertson, or Harry Osborn. Wouldn’t that be a lot more fun? Imagine having to sacrifice Gwen Stacy to take down the Green Goblin. It just begs to be setup this way!
In conclusion, with the stiff $499 price tag, they could have, should have, gone the extra mile to make this chess set irresistible to all fans. At this price they need to do something, their target market will all have similar complaints to mine… Save your money or buy more comics.
Tags: "black suit", aunt may, Beetle, Betty Brant, black cat, blade, Carnage, Chameleon, chess, cloak, Cloak and Dagger, dagger, daredevil, doc ock, Doctor Octopus, electro, enforcers, firestar, flash thompson, game, goblin, Green Goblin, gwen stacy, hammerhead, harry osborn, hero, heroes, hobgoblin, human torch, Hydro Man, j jonah jameson, kingpin, Kraven the Hunter, lizard, Man Wolf, mary jane, moon knight, Morbius, Mysterio, organized crime, osborn, pewter, prowler, punisher, rhino, Robbie Robertson, Sandman, scarlet spider, Scorpion, Shocker, silver sable, spider slayer, spider tracer, spider-girl, spider-man, spider-woman, spiderman, spidey, the enforcers, tombstone, vampire, vampires, venom, villain, villains, Vulture
Spider-Man: Identity Revealed
June 19, 2006 | 6 Comments
As a side effect of needing to choose a side in Marvel’s Civil War event, Spider-Man has been put in a position where he needs to reveal his identity to side with Iron Man’s pro-registration views, or become a criminal with Captain America and the other super heroes who are anti-registration.
Amazing Spider-Man #532 is the big lead in to his monumental decision. They brilliantly cover the topic from many angles as Peter Parker and family explore the many facets of his character. In the end, Peter has made his decision, he’s going to run. Until Aunt May meets him on the way out the door. To her their is clearly no option about the decision he has made, he will reveal himself, she believes more in his character than he does. This is the last bit of reassurance he needs to make the hard decision. It then cuts to him at the press conference with Tony Stark who has already made clear his identity Iron Man connection. The final frame of this issue was exhilarating. In his classic red and blue costume Spider-Man steps to the podium and says: “Hi, good morning. Thank you for coming. I’m standing here today because… well, because… I have an announcement to make.”
I had to wake my wife up to read that one page panel. This was a crazy conclusion that was clear to be one of the most significant events in the history of Spider-Man. This rivals the death of Gwen Stacy or his marriage to Mary Jane. It obliterates the new costumes and recent power changes. This is an event that cannot be taken back and changes the stories for the entire future of Spider-Man.
As a fan, I feel a little mixed about it. In many ways I hate to see some of the old formula modified. In other ways I’m happy to see them do it in a way that can’t be taken back. I can clearly see how this spins all new fresh stories and excitement for Spider-Man.
Civil War #2 hits shelves this week and is being clearly promoted by Marvel as the issue where Peter reveals himself as Spider-Man. Following issues are being unified under the Spider-Man Unmasked event title. The major media has latched onto this story and its actually gotten coverage on CNN, MTV, NY Times, USA Today and more. It’s fun to see printed comics find their way into main stream media occasionally. Usually that honor is reserved for comic based movies…
Immediate repercussions I expect to see will hopefully answer some age old questions. What will J. Jonah Jameson’s reaction be? How Peter’s school sees him when he returns as their teacher. How will newly hired gym teacher and former bully/biggest Spider-Man fan Flash Thompson react? How will this effect the daily lives of Mary Jane and Aunt May? How does this fit into the larger Civil War story arc? Can Peter finally be less poor? Will Spider-Man be less hated by the public?
It’s an exciting time to be a Marvel fan and definitely great to be a Spider-Man fan.
Tags: aunt may, civil war, comic, comic books, comics, costume, fan, flash thompson, gwen stacy, iron man, j jonah jameson, marvel, mary jane, powers, secret identity, spider-man, spider-man unmasked, spiderman, tony stark, unmasked