Spiderman 4 - The Amazing Spiderman - Comic Hero Returns to Theaters

Over the last few years there have been a few Superhero movie series that have gotten re-boots. The Superman movie “Superman Returns” was a re-boot that did not fare well at the box office due to a less than stellar script and lackluster acting on the part of the entire cast, and many questioned the casting of Brandon Routh as the man of steel left many fans very unhappy. Another series re-boot is the Batman series of films beginning with the movie “Batman Begins” and its sequels “The Dark Knight” and next summer’s final sequel “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment Re-Boots Spiderman

A series that we did not expect to get a re-boot was the popular Spiderman franchise, with actor Toby Maguire in the lead role as Peter parker/Spiderman. But apparently after there were issues with Maguire and actress Kirsten Dunst coming back to reprise her role as Mary Jane Watson, Parker’s love interest in the series, we believe that Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment decided that it was time to begin a new telling of the Spiderman saga, and so as Spiderman 4 was cancelled Sony Pictures Entertainment made the announcement of the series re-boot with The Amazing Spiderman.

The Cast

In this new film, actor Andrew Garfield will play the (ill fated?) Peter Parker, with Martin Sheen playing Peter’s Uncle Ben Parker, Sally Field will be playing Peter’s Aunt May Parker, actor Rhys Ifans will play Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard, and in a twist that brings us (the fans) back to a bit of Marvel Universe continuity, actress Emma Stone will play Peter Parker’s ill fated love interest Gwen Stacy.

The Plot

Well, from what we have been able to gather, this is supposed to be the classic retelling of the tale of how a nerdy and picked on Peter Parker’s life is transformed in a single ill fated moment when he is bitten by a “radioactive spider” in a high school science lab. And of course all of the trails and perils that go along with becoming aware of the powers that go with it. While there aren’t many details at the moment, we do know that it’s being reported that the script written by James Vanderbilt is being called very “gritty” and contemporary. And director Marc Webb will be behind the cameras for this film.

The Villain

For those of you out there not familiar with the history of Marvels main super-arachnid hero, Dr. Curt Connors played by actor Rhys Ifans is actually a reluctant villain. Dr. Curt Connors is a scientist who is trying to find a way to gain the use of his lost arm. And so he uses himself as a test subject conducting experiments on himself and injecting himself with a “lizard” type of serum.

Unfortunately for Dr.Connors (but not for Spiderman fans) the experiments go tragically awry and Connors is transformed into the villain The Lizard. Actor Ifans is said to have done his own acting and stunts while portraying the Lizard and that he actually wore a CGI motion capture suit in order to portray the Lizard, and in this statement said to reporters “The majority of the time I'm me, I'm a human, not a lizard.” “That's hard enough. I did have the CGI suit for certain scenes. The Lizard is nine feet tall. There was one day that I went on set and they had a double, a big guy, playing me, as the Lizard. I looked at it and I went ‘No’. Following that Marc [Webb, director] let me know all the physicality, all the physicality you'll see in the Lizard is my own.”

There is only one trailer for the movie at the moment on the official Sony Pictures Amazing Spiderman webpage with links to Facebook, and for getting Updates for the movie I would guess, but no screen shots on the site yet.

I have to wonder with such little content on the movie’s official webpage if this shows a lack of confidence in the series re-boot by Sony and Marvel Entertainment? In any case the movie is set for release next summer on July 3rd.