Five Ways To Make Spider-Man Sequels Un-Amazing!

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN certainly had its work cut-out in trying to surpass the previous movies, something reflected in the mixed responses to the film. Whilst most seem to think it’s pretty good, general reactions are that it was too reminiscent of Sam Raimi’s origin story. Despite this, Sony Pictures has announced plans for a further two films to complete a whole new SPIDER-MAN trilogy. THN has already covered ‘Five Ways To Make Spider-Man Sequels Amazing‘, highlighting what we think the next films should do, but how about what they shouldn’t do? Let’s take a look at the five things that could kill the franchise dead…

Another Good Scientist Turned Evil

We get it! With great power comes great responsibility, and scientists tend to have knowledge which could be used for both good or evil. So far, The SPIDER-MAN films have used this device for Norman Osbourn/Green Goblin, Otto Octavious/Doc Ock, and Curt Connors/The Lizard. Not to say these characters should be avoided altogether – just make them villainous to begin with or have them struggle with their ethical choices. After all, Osbourne jut went bat-shit crazy, Octavious was corrupted by his mechanical arms, and Connors gave in to his animalistic nature. Let’s stay away from crazy scientists for now. Otherwise there’s a danger they’ll end up using ‘The Spot’…

Follow The Japanese TV Series

In the 70s, Japanese company Toei acquired the rights to use Spider-Man. Rather than make actual SPIDER-MAN movies, Toei pretty much just used his image and the name – everything else was 100% original and very Japanese. Spider-Man is given his powers by an alien from the planet Spider, which had been destroyed by Professor Monster – it’s up to Spider-Man to ensure that Earth doesn’t share its fate. Spider-Man also has a giant robot called Leopardon. Fans of POWER RANGERS and GODZILLA may be fine with this (Stan Lee liked it), but let’s not deviate from the Marvel comics too far…

Skip Ahead To Carnage Or Hobgoblin

Both Carnage and Hobgoblin are very popular characters, but their origins are closely linked to previous villains, Green Goblin and Venom. As both were covered by the previous trilogy, Sony may be apprehensive about using them again so soon. But both Venom and Green Goblin’s alter-egos are so emotionally connected to Peter Parker, they are formidable and effective antagonists indeed.It’s possible that without fleshing this out properly, the impact of either Carnage or Hobgoblin would be lost. Whilst it’s fine to make certain changes when adapting, some narrative aspects are so important it’s important to remain faithful. However, Hobgoblin would eventually prove an interesting choice – his initial appeal was that nobody knew who he was. Could a superhero movie get away with a whodunnit mystery?

Base It On The Musical

We’ve all heard of ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’ for all the wrong reasons. Just reading about it makes me die of embarrassment for all involved. Granted, I haven’t seen the thing, but I did catch the Green Goblin take over NYC’s New Year’s party. It was incredibly painful, and had Green Goblin laughing continuously for 2 minutes, before playing the piano and trying to start a news network. I can sit through BATMAN & ROBIN in French, but I can’t handle this.

Choosing Terrible Villains Or The Same Ones Repeatedly

We all know that Green Goblin has to come at some point, just as The Joker had to appear in a Nolan’s Batman reboot. But let’s not forget the success Nolan also had with The Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul, characters less established in the public consciousness at the time and untested on the big screen. The Spider-Man comics have some fantastic villains to choose from – many we are yet to see in the flesh. However, not all will transfer believably to the screen, and even classics such as Electro and Vulture can be slightly gimmicky at times (I’d personally love to see The Spider-Slayers designed by Alistair Smythe). But if Sony are looking for fresh villains, we’re yet to see big robots in SPIDER-MAN movies, and the destruction they cause to the city could be epic. Or they could go insane and use left-field choices such as White Rabbit, Tarantula, or the terrifying Kangaroo.

Let THN know what you wouldn’t like to see from the upcoming SPIDER-MAN sequels in the comments below!