Spider-Man’s Origin Will Unfold
Over ‘A Few Movies,’ Webb Says

 

Marc Webb has big plans for Spider-Man. In addition to telling the story of Peter Parker, how he became Spider-Man, and his relationship with Gwen Stacy, the director plans to play with elements of the wall-crawler’s origin, mixing iconic elements with new ones developed for The Amazing Spider-Man, which opens July 3.

Webb recently spoke with MTV Splash Page about his many plans, which includes exploring the history of Peter’s parents, and why they’re no longer around.

“I wanted to give the audience something new, so that started off with getting underneath the parents’ story, which will unfold over probably a few movies,” he said. “We don’t totally wrap up that story in this first movie. It’s sort of an ongoing mystery. That was something that was interesting to me.”

The director moved on to iconic origin moments, like Peter being bitten by a radioactive spider and letting a robber get away at a wrestling match only to discover the same thief killed his Uncle Ben.

“This is probably a reveal,” Webb said, “but there is no wrestling match in this movie. The character is evolving in a different way. It’s about finding a balance between iconic elements of the ‘Spider-Man’ mythology — like how Uncle Ben’s death transforms him emotionally — but it happens in a different way.”

Webb even got coy on the subject of whether the power-giving spider would be radioactive, and stated that the heart of his version of Parker comes from the fact that his parents are gone and how that changed him.

While this news will surely upset some purists, this sounds like a good move. Audiences have already seen the wrestling match and a take on the radioactive spider in Sam Raimi’s films, not to mention hundreds of comic books, video games and cartoons over the years. A new take will also potentially help separate the efforts of Webb and Raimi in the minds of viewers who don’t follow the behind-the-scenes goings-on of Hollywood.

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Irrfan Khan, Denis Leary, Chris Zylka, Campbell Scott, C. Thomas Howell, Embeth Davidtz and Annie Parisse.