31 Days of Spider-Man #30: Could Spider-Man 3 Be Saved?
(I debated about writing this entry, but it’s a topic I feel strongly on, so I figured it’d give me a lot to write about)
It’s pretty common knowledge that Sam Raimi’s third (and subsequently final) Spider-Man movie is pretty terrible. As an avid fan, I’m pretty biased, but it definitely ranks towards the top of my list of movies that left me feeling pretty disappointed as I left the theater. But what are some of the keys that could’ve saved the film, or at least kept it from being as big of a disaster as it was.
I’ll warn you right now, this one is going to be a bit of a geeky rant from the realm of “if I had done it....”. Proceed at your own peril.
#1) Build up villains
One of the biggest pitfalls of the film is something that’s happens in several superhero movies before and since. There are too many villains, and as such, few of them get enough time in the spotlight. Spider-Man 3 had Sandman, the second Green Goblin (Harry), and the Venom. Sandman could sneak in as second fiddle to one of the other villains, but a the other two definitely need time to be given strong characterization and depth.
Bringing the return of the Green Goblin in early on and then switching focus on and off from him makes his story feel like an afterthought. If Harry’s story had been built up over time, piece by piece, slowly becoming more of a threat, leading to a climactic showdown, instead of two friends bickering off and on, the story would’ve peaked nicely.
Venom needs more time to build too. Trying to squeeze the introduction, rejection, and return of the alien costume into just one piece makes it less interesting. The alien costume story is much more interesting if there are small clues dropped along the way, hinting that there is something more sinister in the works
I only have one issue with Sandman in Spider-Man 3, and I’ll get to that in a bit. All in all, he’s a good “brute force: villain, his backstory doesn’t have much depth to it, which is fine.
A few tweaks here and there and keeping the alien costume, Green Goblin, and Sandman in the film could’ve worked. Put Sandman on the run, and Spidey, with his new costume, is intent on tracking him down, slowly becoming more powerful and as a result, reckless. Meanwhile, we see Harry watching Spider-Man, planning, plotting, practicing with and improving the Green Goblin equipment. Maybe even have him cause some minor havoc here and there. Eventually, Spider-Man manages to find Sandman and takes him down, with surprising ease, making him even more cocky. With his new attitude, he sees what the new Green Goblin’s been up to and decides he can take care of him no problem. The two battle, leading to Spider-Man to win again, only now he sees what he’s done...to his best friend Harry. There’s the sudden shock makes him realize that the alien costume has corrupted him, forcing him to find a way to reject it and remove it from his body. (Hey, isn’t there something that they say about power and responsibility?) Peter is free and back in red and blue, but wait there’s an epilogue. Down on his luck Eddie Brock is walking around in some rough area, cursing about how Peter Parker and Spider-Man ruined his life, when suddenly he’s joined by a strange black substance. What’s going to happen now?! Well, I guess we’ll have to wait til the next movie!
#2) Give the Stacys due diligence
One of the two things I’ve said time and again as I’ve complained about Spider-Man 3 is “You don’t make Gwen Stacy a worthless character”. It’s something I stand by to this day. Gwen i should never be reduced to just some random girl that a misbehaving Peter makes Mary Jane jealous with.
By the same token, Capt. Stacy deserves a better story too. His tragic end might not be as memorable as Gwen’s, but it’s still worth noting.
Fixing this and bringing in some nods to the original comics a could’ve been as simple as killing Capt Stacy. In the fight that ensues from Sandman attacking during the festival honoring Spider-Man, what if Captain Stacy pushed an innocent bystander out of the way of flying debris and what if it was Eddie Brock? You’ve got more fuel to Eddie’s hatred and now you’ve got something to make Gwen more interesting.
#3) Don’t make Uncle Ben’s death accident
This was the other thing that just left me nerd raging at Spider-Man 3. Simply put, it negates Spider-Man’s motivation to make the consequences of his choice not to do the right thing nothing more than an “oops”. Making Sandman the killer just doesn’t make sense. If they want to tie it back, make him the getaway driver who observes Uncle Ben getting shot. If he should feel guilty, it should be as an accomplice to a murderer, not because his finger slipped