The next Spider-Man film will be a reboot of the franchise, not a continuation of series Sam Raimi created back in 2002 — in a move similar to Batman Begins restarting the Batman franchise seven years after Batman and Robin underwhelmed fans and critics.
This time around, the series will place Peter Parker in a more contemporary setting, as a teenager battling today’s issues. The decision to go with an origin story stemmed from Sony developing two Spidey projects simultaneously. According to studio insiders, Sony was working on both Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 and the new origin story from James Vanderbilt, who wrote Zodiac. The original plan was to keep the Spider-Man gang together for one last film in 2011 before rebooting the series in 2012. When it became clear that Raimi would not be able to make the summer 2011 release date planned for Spider-Man 4, the studio opted to scrap Spider-Man 4 altogether, and focus solely on the series reboot.
Who will helm the new film is anyone’s guess but with the studio interested in a more gritty, contemporary redo of the series, they are certainly focused on younger directors making waves in Hollywood. One name that has popped up is Marc Webb, the man behind (500) Day of Summer. He was previously in discussions with the studio to take over Moneyball, but that job went to Bennett Miller. Michael Bay has also previously expressed interest in taking over the Spider-Man franchise and Seabiscuit director Gary Ross worked on one of the drafts of Spider-Man 4 and is said to be a huge fan of the comic book series.
OK, I’m officialy done with Spider-Man
Same here. How can a series be rebooted when it’s still fairly new? And Tobey Maguire is out? Heck no. I’m done.
See: The Incredible Hulk
Why oh why does everything have to be gritty? That is okay for Batman because of the nature of the character. Don’t put a square peg in to a round hole. It did not work for Superman and it won’t work for your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.
I agree. Spiderman shouldn’t be gritty, otherwise it won’t be Spiderman! Anyone who’s read the comics could tell you that! Why do they think the series has been such a hit across all ages especially young kids. Save the gritty for Batman or Spawn!!! An unhappy fan
lmao Dr Rock!
tobey mcguire sucked anyway, he shouldve never gotten that role. with the exception of alfred molina, that series had some of the worst casting imaginable. after the abomination that was spiderman3, a reboot is greatly appreciated.
I agree. This makes no sense. The first spiderman started off with Peter as a teenager in a contemporary setting. And if they hire Michael Bay then they’re going to DESTROY any chances that film might have of being good. This whole thing is dumb. If there’s no Tobey MaGuire, then there’s no spiderman. I can live with a recast of some of the other characters…mainly Mary Jane, but Tobey is perfect!
You’re right; the first movie began with Peter as a teenager and we saw his origin as Spiderman. So…we’re supposed to disregard that and see it again so soon?
I don’t know what to say to this….I mean why??? it’s in no need of a reboot. Sure Spider-man 3 was crappy but they can just make spider-man 4 spectacular and everyone will forget about that, I agree with celia get rid of kirsten dunst but toby????why?????? god I hate hollywood it’s so full of crap
I’m in the CIA but I can’t talk about it or the MIB’s will come for me.
I’m done with Spider-Man too. I think this is a HORRIBLE idea. The original Spider-Man franchise was fine just the way it was.
Everyone should send out emails to Sony and protest that everyone is saying that Sam Raimi should get with another studio that wants his ideas and Sony will get they hard feeling of the fans that rebooting is a mistake and if we can protest all around the web or world, another Studio might consider hiring Sam or Sony will listen to Sam for his 4th installment. I know this proably won’t work, but everyone send emails to your friends who are fans of the Sam Raimi Spidey franchise and say give Sam another chance. I know I am a little crazy, but it’s worth a try. If anyone knows Sam personally, tell him or email him to go with a new studio and quick so we can protest against this crazy reboot and have an awesome Spiderman 4 film.
Joss Whedon! First name that comes to mind when I read “gritty” and “teenage”. I didn’t like the recent Spiderman movies so I would be open to a new, deeper reboot.
I agree, Joss could make it gritty and light-hearted simultaneously.
Joss Whedon is good at making his own universes, but is terrible stepping into an already made universe. Whedon needs to focus on protecting the legacy he made with Buffy, since there is rumor of a reboot for that too. This ADD driven culture is destroying movies, we are so quick to redo, reboot, whatever without any thought about what went before or how long ago it was. Everone wants to come in and put their own finger prints on everything. Spiderman 1 and 2 were great movies, McQuire was the perfect Peter Parker/Spiderman. Like Superman and Indiana Jones the franchise should stop when the lead actor doesn’t want to do it anymore. The fact they were planning a reboot even before this movie fell apart is just sad.
The Buffy reboot is already underway… and even worse… it is not a reboot of the series, but of the original movie.
Truth, you speak the truth.
Rebooting Spiderman? worst. idea. ever.
silly comic book guy i completely agree with you.
Disapointing news, catholicdatematch
I’m for Michael Bay. Nobody does action better (except Cameron and John Woo).
Raimi’s version took place in the 60s? Was I watching the same movie? Still not on board with this reboot.
Raimi set his Spider-Man in the 60s? That is news to me
Ed was obviously joking – hence the question mark. He was making the point of how ludicrous it is to have a “contemporary” reboot of a very recent film already set in the modern day.
Series reboot?? Can’t the whole series just go away?
No, the spider man movies were not set in the 60′s, what the hell are you talking about?
As much as I loved the first two films, after the third I really didn’t think they had anywhere to go. This is the right move.
No it’s not at all. To start all over is just dumb. They’re going to end up in the exact same place. He can only stay a teenager for so long! I haven’t read the comic books, but it seems to me they already covered the origin story. We saw him turn into spiderman in the first one…and I don’t care what Raimi says, those movies were not set in the 60s.
I agree. This is a stupid move. It’s been less than a decade after the first Spider-man. Why in the hell would you reboot the series? Just have Venom come back and do a killer movie with him!!!!
by 60′s he meant that raimi only got info on the 60′s spider-man comics and nothing else.
Alright. Spidey needs to head in a new direction. Spider-Man 3 was a disaster. I wouldn’t mind a new cast and starting over with the potentials to be even better than Spidey 1 (the only good film out of the three).
Didn’t have anywhere to go? We got to watch Peter grow up through the original series. There were tons of way to go with a young adult Peter. De-aging him and telling the same story again is the thing that’s going to limit the storytelling.
Also had no clue that Raimi’s was set in the 60s.
I think a gritty Spider-Man story can work (like the classic story Kraven’s Last Hunt), but I hope Spider-Man himself still keeps a sense of humor.
Like the article cites, Batman Begins rebooted Batman only a few years after Batman and Robin, so I don’t think that this is too soon. It feels like forever since a Spider-Man film came out, and this one is still years from being released.
Batman Begins was 8 years after Batman & Robin. Spiderman 3 was released in 2007. The reboot in 2012 will be a 5 year gap.
In that case why not re-boot the Lord of the Rings franchise. It’s been 7 years since the last one came out. Maybe they can hire Sam Raimi to direct Tobey Macguire as Frodo. Sony can hire Peter Jackson to direct Elijah Wood for the new Spiderman reboot. Maybe Tim Burton can get Paul Reubens and Johnny Depp to take on the roles of Louis and Gilbert in the new Revenge of the Nerds reboot! WOO-HOO!!!! Soundtrack by Danny Elfman of course.
I didn’t know they had laptops in the 60s. Apparently that decade was far more technologically advanced then I originally thought it to be.
The HS scenes were the late 70′s, his uncle had a 73 Oldsmobile, that got car jacked, etc.
I didn’t know that there were laptops in the 60s. Technology was far more advanced in that era then I previously thought.
Sorry, a server timeout disrupted my first post, hence the double-posting.
The problem for me isn’t that the last Spiderman movie was too recent, (like the article says, BB was only 7 years after B+R). My problem is that they started this cycle only tens years before they’re rebooting it! I mean the first Batman film cylce (although they were only loosely held together) was almost 20 years before the reboot! Also there was never really any developed orgin story in the first Batman (same goes on both points for Bond) like there was in the first Spiderman. This whole idea just sounds lazy.
Completely agree with you Bay. Plus, IMO, Batman is much more of a complex character than Spider-man, especially when doing an origin story. Maybe that’s why it worked so well.
Exactly, rebooting Spider-Man now is soo stupid, the series just started less than a decade ago. The Batman thing is just totally different, the original series started way back in the 80′s and the last 2 films were absolute garbage. Spider-Man had only 3 films and they were all successful even though the 3rd movie was lacking it was nowhere near reboot time. Its sad that Sony seemed to get it right with the first 2 movies but screwed up with the 3rd when they got involved with Raimi’s process and they are making the same mistake again. Do we really need to see Peter in HS again and learning his powers again, and going through more teenage angst again. If you look at every other reboot, at least they made some sense, including The Hulk, Superman, and Batman. This just seems like a bunch of know it all execs who want to put “their” movie on the screen. Good luck with that, as a huge Spidey fan, i can say that you are pushing fans away!!
Hulk – Everyone cheered the reboot because the first movie was awful.
Batman – Everyone cheered the reboot because it was 20 years after the first Batman Movie.
Superman – Everyone was glad to have a Superman again, the “darker image” thing? did not go over so well with fans, so now they are thinking of a reboot of that franchise… only going darker still, is the studio listening?
Spiderman – One of the things that sucked about the last movie was the attempt to make Peter and Spidey “darker” or if you like, more gritty. so now you want to throw the rest of it in the crapper too? Sony…. stop, breath, think, do not do just for the sake of doing something!!
Way too soon, and way too unnecessary. Batman & Robin was a travesty that put the nail in the coffin for that particular Batman “universe.” The first Hulk movie did the same thing for that incarnation. Superman hadn’t been in the movies in decades. Meanwhile, the Spiderman movie franchise is much younger and while the third movie wasn’t great, it wasn’t a universe-killer (note Spiderman 3′s gross vs say, Batman & Robin’s). This is a reboot for the sake of a reboot and the usual follow-the-leader Hollywood tactic. “The Batman reboot made loads of money! Quick, what franchise can we make darker and edgier?”
Man,this is one of the things that makes me mad about Hollywood these days.In Hollywood,they made eight Halloween movies before they rebooted that all over again.Why can’t Sony do the same with Spider-Man and stop being lazy?
Huh, the difference is all those movies were flops. Batman & Robin was just pathetic, Superman Returns was not very good, etc… Spiderman 3 may have been bad (I don’t think so – not entirely) the saga it was part of was very popular and are now a part of pop culture while the movies above were not.
I agree with Jose. Spiderman is the last comic book movie adaptation series that successfully combined the comedy and campiness of comic books while having good action and melodrama. Superhero movies are taking themselves too seriously these days. Plus, Spiderman is so silly (radioactive spider giving superpowers), a serious, gritty adaptation is too radical and unbelievable.
Please use this reboot to erase from our memories spiderman 3 and do a proper intro story with the death of gwen stacy.
I agree with um about this being the worse idea ever but I don’t agree that Spider-Man 3 was bad.I think it was better than Spider-Man 1 and 2 combined.It had more action and better characters.Now about this reboot is a really stupid idea.It is way too soon to restart the franchise over.They are not giving the fans what they want.Nobody wants to see Spider-Man all over again.If anyone does,then they are retarted.If they restart Spider-Man all over again,I might just stop being a Spider-Man fan
worst idea ever. one bad film doesn’t negate the fact that SM 1 and 2 were great superhero films.
watch the first two after watching a real superhero movie like the dark knight. while spiderman 2 is closest, they aren’t anywhere near great. spiderman 1 was awful upon rewatching. this is absolutely the best move.
Well, that ought to end the conversation.
You hear that everybody? Mal says that it’s not a real superhero unless it’s like The Dark Knight… make it so Hollywood… make everything like the Dark Knight… like a “real” comic book movie.
Get over yourself.
The Dark Knight was a good movie only because The Joker made it a good movie. He was the star of the movie. Spiderman has always been the star of his movies and he’s not boring. I’d rather watch spiderman 1 and 2 over and over again then sit there for 3 hours falling asleep
Hey, folks, how about we agree to disagree? Whether you liked the first 3 or not, and whether you’re psyched about the next one or not, it’s on the fast track, so get used to it. You don’t have to spend the money on it if you don’t want to, or you can go see it 4 times if you like it that much. This is the beauty of entertainment, and all the different options we have these days. Enjoy the variety that’s available to you, and cherry pick to your heart’s content!
I disagree. I loved the first two spiderman movies. They had a nice balance of comedy and darkness and they felt like real comic book movies. The most recent batman movies are trying to be too realistic, it kind of takes the magic out of it.
Sorry, mal, but Spider-Man 2 has moments of genuine, moving human emotion that no other comic adaptation has come close to achieving. I love both of the new Batman movies, but there is nothing in them that feels like what happens when Peter saves the people on the train or when Mary Jane finally sees who Spider-Man really is.
@thin: Or the part in Spiderman 3 when the Sandman is created. I thought that part was pretty emotional and well done even though the movie sucked.
Disagree. Spider-Man 2, like The Dark Knight and X2, is one of the great “second” superhero movies. The first Spider-Man is only good, and the third, while weak, isn’t as bad as people say, honestly. Not “franchise-killing” bad, anyway.
What a ridiculous and lazy move. You can tell Sony put about zero thought into this, given that the reboot idea only came out when Raimi refused to rush out a crap fourth film.
Re: mal
So before 2008 there were no ‘real’ comic book movies?
Its funny you should say that, considering the rebooted Batman franchise is using a ‘realistic’ approach instead of a comic book feel.
They so were not great superhero films. They were only OK at best. Re-boot is a stupid idea but this franchis sucks already anyway. Comic is awesome though.
I’m so sick of reebots of things less than 10 years old! If you can’t come up with new ideas, don’t do anything at all or wait a couple of years ’till you come up with something that moves the series forward.
Greedy, greedy Sony. I’m done with Spiderman too.
Ugh, Spidey is not gritty! Just because it worked for Batman doesn’t mean it will work for Spider-man!
And Michael Bay as a director?! Yeesh!
I’ll just wait for the reboot of the reboot that will happen in another 7 years.
An origin story! Awesome! I can’t wait to watch ANOTHER movie based on a 15 page story from almost 50 years ago.
Batman Begins worked because Tim Burton didn’t bother going into the origin beyond flashbacks to Wayne’s parents dying, and other reboots have just stuffed that information into their opening credits (The Incredible Hulk, Superman Returns, etc.)
We get it, a spider bit him and his Uncle got shot, spare us 2 hours and work on an original story.
(Also, “gritty?” Really? He wears blue and red tights and makes fun of mad scientists and criminals dressed as animals. Excuse me if I don’t see it)
I think the idea is to work from the origin source material they already have, and to creatively build upon that. The world is their oyster.
Exactly. Although Superman Returns was not a reboot. Its a sequel to the sequel. Which I find incredibly disappointing. The last Superman movie had been in 1987. finally 20 years later we have a new Superman movie and its just a copycat of the Donner/Reeve movies? Its almost as if people think that’s the only way to do Superman.
I’m officially sick of the reboot concept. It’s only been 8 years since ‘Spiderman.’ Too soon to be talking “reboot.”
Exactly! I didn’t even know the franchise was “booted”. Lame idea!
Soooo…
I have to sit through all his angst again?? I have to go through his being bitten by a spider AGAIN!! STUPID STUPID HOLLYWOOD….Go gritty if you want, but don’t tell the freaking story again!!