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Monday, September 8, 2008
New Spideys on the way: How to fix the series?
Last week news broke that not only has Sony locked in both Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi for Spider-Man 4, but that the the studio hopes to shoot parts 4 and 5 concurrently.
I greet the news with ambivalence. On the one hand, I would like to see another Spider-Man movie, so that the series can right itself after stumbling a bit with part three. On the other hand, I worry that Sony might be aiming too high by trying to do 4 and 5 at the same time. It was just that sort of excess that hurt the franchise last time.
That said, I still believe people came down a bit too hard on Spider-Man 3. It wasn’t a BAD movie, but it was clearly the weakest entry of the series, largely because it bit off more than it could chew. Too many villains, too many subplots, and an overdose of angst weighed the whole thing down.
To right itself, the series needs to get back to the basics. There shouldn’t be more than two villains - and if they have to have a second villain, that should only be setup for part 5. I really hope the villain is The Lizard; otherwise they’ve absolutely wasted casting Dylan Baker as Dr. Curt Conners, one of Peter Parker’s professors.
I’m a little uncertain about Raimi being at the helm. I have absolutely nothing against him, but Spider-Man 3 showed he was burned out. I would have preferred to see new blood for Spidey so Raimi can move on.
And speaking of uncertainty, there’s been no word yet as to whether Kirsten Dunst will be back as Mary Jane. So that begs the question: Does the series need her? Should she be recast? I like Dunst, so I would like to see her back, although I’m not sure she needs to be in both 4 and 5.
What do you all think of the news? What would you like to see happen with the series?
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