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    Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
    Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts

    Saturday, November 23, 2013

    Five SPIDER-MAN Spin-Off Films A Die Hard Fan Really Wants To See



    Earlier this week it was revealed that Sony Pictures are working on developing potential spin-off films for their Spider-Man franchise. The Spider-Man franchise as of today has grossed over $3 billion dollars worldwide, making it Sony’s most successful film franchise. After the success of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and the upcoming DC Comics Cinematic Universe, it is obvious that Sony wants in on the shared universe action. So today, I have gathered a list of potential characters whom could/might get spin-off films. So without further ado, here we go.


    1.    Venom
    Since Venom’s appearance in Spider-Man 3 back in 2007, fans have been demanding a Venom solo film. At a time, the film was in serious development, Sony Pictures even hired Chronicle director Josh Trank to direct the film. But since Trank joined Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot, the odds of him directing Venom seemed to get lower and lower every day. With the recent news of Sony creating spin-off films based on Spider-Man villains/heroes, the odds of a Venom movie just increased… by a lot. With a rich back-story and wonderful relationships with other Spider-Man characters such as Mary Jane-Watson and Carnage, a Venom film could be a really interesting superhero film. Tons of actors have revealed that they are very interested in the character such as Ryan Kwanten and Andrew Garfield’s best friend and Tron Legacy star, Garrett Hedlund.


    2.    Scarlet-Spider
    A lot of stuff came out in the 90s, some stuff was good, some stuff sucked. The Clone Saga falls into the ‘suck’ category, but it did introduce a very unique idea. What if someone cloned Peter Parker? Thus, the birth of Scarlet Spider! Not Ben Reilly, oh God no, I’m talking about the one, the only, Kaine. Kaine received his own solo comic book series in early 2012, and since then has been one of the best-reviewed Marvel Comics in recent memory. Reciting in Dallas, Texas, Kaine is the badass Peter Parker. Using the quote “all the power, none of the responsibility.” Kaine has become a fan favourite and his character could really make for a unique and interesting motion picture. The whole cloning story line could play out in the future TASM films, as no one really knows how Peter Parker received his powers, was he experimented on as a child? Or was it just a spider bite?


    3.    The Black Cat
    Every superhero has that one female enemy, you know the one enemy you do not want to get caught by the Police, or killed. Think about it, The Hulk has She-Hulk; Batman has Catwoman, and Spider-Man? Spider-Man has the sexy Black Cat. It was reported in 2008, that Sam Raimi was looking at Anne Hathaway to play Felicia Hardy in his Spider-Man 4, although she would not have been The Black Cat, but rather the Vultress. With recent rumours surrounding Felicity Jones playing Felicia Hardy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it seems the time is right for The Black Cat to receive a film treatment. I’m going to make the safe bet, that if Felicity Jones is playing Felicia Hardy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, we will see a Black Cat film by the end of the decade.


    4.    Spider-Man 2099
    I understand this one is a bit out of the blue, but would it not be awesome to see Spider-Man 2099 on the big screen? I mean, say what you want about Spider-Man: Edge Of Time, but the levels where you play as Miquel O’Hara were some of the best levels in recent Spider-Man video game history. It may seem a bit early in the franchise to introduce a future New York City, but that could be a really cool bridge between the Spider-Man 2099 world and the world of Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker. For instance we could have Mysterio go into the future or something and then it would be up to Spider-Man 2099 and The Amazing Spider-Man to stop him, sounds awesome huh?


    5.    Kraven The Hunter
    Kraven The Hunter is perhaps my favourite Spider-Man foe of all time. I love the character; a real highlight was when I was reading Kraven’s Last Hunt, and seeing the incredibly humane side of Kraven, and something you do not really see with many comic book villains. Like myself, both Andrew Garfield and director Marc Webb have revealed that Kraven is their favourite Spider-Man villain, so it is obvious that they have both brought up the character when talking about future spin-offs/sequels.

    So that is a wrap, whom would you guys most like to see on the big screen? Do you think Kraven could hold his own film? And do you think we left out any big name players? Comment below and let us know! 

    THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN's Andrew Garfield And Emma Stone Set To Tie The Knot?

    Image Credit: NY Daily News
    While this is not exactly superhero movie news, this is quite lovely news in a pretty aggressive world. The Amazing Spider-Man co-stars, Andrew Garfield and the lovely Emma Stone, have been in a relationship since first meeting on set of the first Spider-Man film in May of 2011. The couple's love and devotion was evident in The Amazing Spider-Man, when the two delivered possibly the best chemistry between two actors in a comic book movie. It has been reported (via US Weekly) that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are "Seriously considering" getting married and having a baby. US Weekly's source revealed "They want to marry and have a family. They’re discussing it. Their schedules have been crazy, but they’re madly in love.” Garfield (30) and Stone (25) have been every Spider-Man fans favourite celebrity couple for the past two years and now have the chance to become everybody's favourite married couple. You can check out Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone along side each other this coming May, when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swings into theatres. 

    Friday, November 15, 2013

    FEATURE: 10 Things You May Not Know About The SPIDER-MAN Franchise



    Spider-Man is perhaps the most successful superhero of today’s generation. You name it, Spider-Man’s done it. The Spider-Man franchise is deemed one of the most successful franchises of all time, with four feature films to it’s name, with another three films set to come out before 2020, the franchise has also grossed over three billion dollars worldwide over the course of its four films. But, believe it or not, there was a time when Spider-Man was impossible to bring to the film screen. The likes of James Cameron and David Fincher couldn’t bring the character to life, so without further ado, I invite you to take a seat, and sit back and enjoy ‘Ten things you may not know about the Spider-Man franchise’.


    1.  James Cameron Tried To Bring The Wall Crawler To Life… Twice


    Who would ever think that a film by James Cameron, the guy behind fricking Titanic would never get made? Well, thank God this Spider-Man movie didn’t get made. James Cameron was a fan of Spider-Man and attempted to bring a realistic, gritty version of the character to the big screen in the early 90s. Cameron’s film was set to feature Doctor… Or should I say, Professor Otto Octavius as the bad guy. Octavius would have been portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and would have featured Leonardo DiCaprio as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. After the studio declined Cameron’s original script, he sent in an updated 47 page screenplay, instead of Professor Octavius as the bad guy, it featured Electro and Sandman as the film’s main villains. The film was heavy in profanity, featured a climatic battle atop The World Trade Center, and featured Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker having sex… How touching. When Sony announced the rebooted Spider-Man, Cameron was offered the director’s chair but declined saying he didn’t want “sloppy seconds.”

    2  2. The Joker Almost Played Spider-Man


    When Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film entered pre-production, Sony Pictures went looking for some of the hottest actors of the time. On the shortlist to play the wall crawler was none other than Leonardo DiCaprio, Freddie Prinze, Jnr, Chris Klein, Wes Bentley and believe it or not, The Joker himself, Heath Ledger. Ledger read for the part, but nothing else was ever revealed, and Harry Osborn actor, James Franco screen tested for the role, despite not getting it, Franco impressed Raimi so much that he cast him as Harry Osborn instead. Despite the list of A-list actors, unknown Tobey Maguire was cast and the rest is history.

        3. Add Green Goblin To The List Of Roles Nicolas Cage Almost Played


    When Sam Raimi was looking for his perfect Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, he went to the best, so why did he offer Nic Cage the role? I am of course joking, but Nicolas Cage was offered the role but turned it down. No word on why he turned it down, but eventually Willem Dafoe was cast, and now whenever I hear Willem Dafoe, I always scream, “avenge me.” Dafoe has since slammed the rebooted Spider-Man film, The Amazing Spider-Man, calling it "unoriginal." Harsh words from a guy who starred in John Carter.

        4. Spider-Man 2’s original pitch and title were ‘Amazing’


    Just after Spider-Man swung into theatres in May of 2002, Sony hired Michael Chabon to rewrite the Spider-Man 2 screenplay and to shake things up a bit, shake things, he did. The film’s title was originally going to be ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ named after the character’s long time comic series. The film’s storyline was also significantly different, with Dr. Octopus actually being a love interest for Mary Jane and resembled more of the Ultimate Doc Ock than the 616. Harry Osborn also teamed up with The Daily Bugle, with putting a $10 million price on Spidey’s head. Producer Avi Arad turned down the idea, but tweaked the Osborn idea a little. The film was then rewritten a third time, and was based on the ‘Spider-Man: No More’ storyline and Superman 2.

       5. Trevor Slattery Was Almost In Spider-Man 3


    Ghandi himself! Sir Ben Kinglsey was in negotiations to star as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture in Sam Raimi’s original draft for Spider-Man 3. Kinglsey was a fan of the previous films and was looking forward to playing the role, before the part was cut due to the studio wanting Raimi to add Venom instead of Vulture, thanks Sony! Kinglsey later starred in Iron Man 3 as Trevor Slattery/The Mandarin. Venom’s alter ego, Eddie Brock, did however have a small part in the original screenplay, and it was said that Topher Grace was always Raimi’s ideal Eddie Brock.

       6. Sony Hired James Vanderbilt To Write Two Separate Spider-Man Films


    James Vanderbilt, the man behind 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, was hired by Sony Pictures in May of 2008 to rewrite the Spider-Man 4 script and to write a reboot of the film series if worse comes to worse. Of course, Spider-Man 4 was scrapped and the studio went for a new, fresh take on the Spider-Man character, simply using Vanderbilt’s screenplay. Vanderbilt’sSpider-Man 4 screenplay featured such iconic characters as The Vulture, Mysterio, The Lizard and Felicia Hardy. While his reboot, featured Green Goblin as the main villain, resembling the first six issues of the successful comic book series, Ultimate Spider-Man.

        7. David Fincher Was In Early Negotiations To Direct The Reboot


    When it was announced that Sam Raimi had left Spider-Man 4, the Internet exploded, people were confused and sadden. And then out of nowhere, a new man arrives, Marc Webb. Webb who was most famous for his indie rom-com, (500) Days Of Summer, was not however the first man to pitch something for Sony. The Social Network director, David Fincher pitched an idea to Sony that would have been based on the graphic novel, Spider-Man: Blue and would tell the story of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy’s love, from the moment they first lay eyes on each other to Gwen’s horrible death.  As much as I love Webb’s film, it would have been bloody brilliant to see what David Fincher would have done.

    .   8.  Mary Jane Was Originally In The Amazing Spider-Man


    Before Marc Webb was announced to direct, Sony were pretty keen on keeping Mary Jane Watson as Peter Parker’s main love interest. The studio even looked at some actresses for the part including Ophelia Lovibond, Diana Agron and Emma Stone, the latter of course went on to play Peter Parker’s other love interest, Gwen Stacy in the film. Mary Jane’s part in the film was cut and was left on the shelf for the sequel, which again, the part was cut, this time having Shailene Woodley miss out. Maybe third time lucky?

       9. Ang Lee’s The Amazing Spider-Man?


    Ever since The Amazing Spider-Man hit theatres in 2012, fans have been coming up with multiple theories and explanations for the origin of Spider-Man. While at the film’s surface it may just seem like another ‘boy gets bit by spider’ story, there is apparently a lot more there. The whole storyline with Peter’s parents was actually expanded on in the original test screening for Sony executives in February of 2012. Marc Webb held a screening of his cut, at his home in February, his cut of the film explained how Peter Parker got his powers in what has since been described as “Ang Lee Hulkish.” According to many sites, Sony hated Webb’s cut because it simply gave away a storyline that they felt could be a mystery throughout the entire franchise. The film was taken back to the editing room.

    110. Jamie Foxx Is (Apparently) Writing A Song For The Amazing Spider-Man 2


    A very recent entry in this list is arguably one of the coolest ones. Grammy winning Jaime Foxx revealed in an interview a few months ago that he is planning to write a song for the anticipated Spider-Man sequel, which he will star in as Electro. Foxx has revealed a few details about the song saying “"When it (music) really ramps up, when the orchestra comes in, that's when you see the big fight. Imagine the orchestra playing and then, in slow motion, breaking their instruments and running from everything." Honestly, I’m super keen.


    Well that brings this ’10 Things You May Not Know’ to a close, hopefully you guys enjoyed it and maybe we can do this again? If you like what you see here, you can always bookmark us, and even follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook!



    THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2: The Daily Bugle Viral Reveals Dr. Ratha's Fate


    When The Amazing Spider-Man hit theatres everywhere in July of 2012, many were confused over what happened to a seemingly important character, Rajit Ratha (played by Irfran Khan). Many assumed that Dr Ratha died on the bridge during Spider-Man's first confrontation with The Lizard, while others thought that the deleted scene (linked below) where Ratha is killed by The Lizard is actually in continuity with the film. Well, according to a new article on The Daily Bugle's Tumblr site, Ratha is in fact dead, and all signs point to The Lizard being the killer of Ratha. According to, reporter, Dilbert Trillby (you can read up on him here)
    The New York City Coroner’s Office yesterday positively identified a badly decomposed body found in the sewers beneath lower Manhattan as that of Dr. Rajit Ratha, 46, formerly of Oscorp Industries.  A resident of New York City, Ratha was born on March 13, 1967 in Jaipur, India. Ratha was the Director of Business Development in the Biogenetic Division of Oscorp in Manhattan.
    With this new piece of info regarding Dr. Ratha's death, do you think his death will play a role in the sequel? Or will it be forgotten completely? And with all this viral stuff from The Daily Bugle, do you think the popular newspaper company will pop up in the sequel? 



    Source: Daily Bugle Tumblr